Carnegie

Carnegie

der Stifter der Carnegie Bibliothek in Reims.
Text aus der Broschüre der Bibliothek: Rheims Central Library is a product of the French Revolution and the confiscation of books that occured at the expense of the city's churches. Throughout of the whole of the 19th century it was located on the first floor of the Hôtel de Ville. The First World War proved to be a major milestone in its history. In 1917, a German shell hit the Hôtel de Ville setting it on fire and resulting in half of the collections going up in flames. Fortunately the most prescious collections (close to 100'000 documents) had been safely stored underground, thus ensuring their survival. After the war had ended, the Carnegie Endowment for international Peace, founded in 1910 by the American tycoon Andrew Carnegie, decided to contribute towards putting Europe's devasted areas back on their feet and granted Rheims 200'000 Dollars to built a new library. The American founding explains why you can see the Stars and Stripes alongside the Rheims coat of arms on the front of the library.