History

The Institute's library was established as a scientific reference library in 1905 under the direction of Prof. Dr. D. Finkler. Over the last few years, it has undergone significant development.

In 1996, it broke away from the Medical Microbiology Library, moving to the ground floor of the former Director's Residence (Thofernhaus). Following the move, third-party funds allowed a student assistant's position to be created. This expanded the services on offer considerably.

The library was greatly enriched by the bequest of Prof. Thofern, who had managed the Bonn Hygiene Institute from 1971 until 1994. Large portions of his private scientific library, in particular on the fields of his key activity water hygiene, were added to the library.

Today, the reference library has more than 1000 monographs, 32 publication series, 24 serial magazines, a large archive and a stock of teaching videos and slides.

Users have a PC with Internet connection at their disposal, allowing a search for magazines in other institutes. An alphabetical catalogue and a computer-assisted library catalogue, in which all monographs are listed and updated weekly, make it easy to get an overview of the literature on any particular subject.

Given the constant addition of current literature and the available magazines, the library has grown into a preventative medicine information centre.