70k Books Found in Hidden Library in This Germany Home (2023)
bookstr.com
bookstr.com
In the US people put "Little Free Libraries" in their yards. They're all over the place in the Seattle area.
"Over the summer, ordinary Germans who spotted his [Peter Sloterdijk] books in my hands engaged me in conversation on trains, in coffee shops, at universities, and in bookshops." [0]
[0] https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/02/26/a-celebrity-ph...
and a rave
Living in Germany, I can confirm that it’s part of the everyday scenery here (Stadtbild).
> and a rave
I can confirm that techno culture is a deeply rooted part of the urban landscape. However, the era of massive, free street parades effectively ended with the 2010 Love Parade tragedy in Duisburg, where a crowd crush claimed many lives. For years, such large-scale public raves vanished due to strict safety regulations. It’s only recently that we’ve seen a revival with 'Rave The Planet' in Berlin—an event led by the original Love Parade founders that attempts to bring techno back to the streets, though under much tighter organizational control.
Germany is a lot more conservative than Denmark, so I wouldn't be surprised if they where more reluctant to throw out books. On the other hand, other than myself, how many people really want to read random novels from the 1970s or a 140 year old book on economics, telling you that Trump is wrong about tariffs?
Maybe with the advent of LLMs, old books will get a resurgence. If a book is printed in the 20th century, at least I know it's written by humans.
Similarly, sorting and measuring all the books by height and weight may have been a part of the project of planning the shelves in the first place. It does look like an attempt at efficient packing, which I suppose you would need to keep that many books in that house and relates to the structural engineer's surprise that the the weight was well distributed as well. (Professional libraries have made mistakes in planning the weight of shelves because books are heavier than you think they are, especially when shelved. That was an interesting finding.)
All of that implied work is more shame that the likeliest outcome after the owner's passing is that the books will be separated from the shelves and the house. It almost feels like the whole thing should have been preserved as a museum. I suppose it helps that there will at least be photos and notes about it like this article.
“With an assumed average weight of 300 to 400 grams per book, the weight of around 15 modern cars is currently stored in Schröder’s detached house.”
350 grams x 70,000 books = 24,500 kg. About 54,000 lbs.
Can a ‘typical’ house bear that weight??
Modern builds codes require living areas to support 30-40 pounds per square foot live load so while you wouldn't want to pack it all in a 1k sq ft second floor apartment, it's doable in a larger space.
If it's an old house that was overbuilt before building codes were optimized, chances are it can support it. It also matters a lot whether this is an upper story, or just a single floor detached house sitting on a concrete foundation.
If you manage to squeeze 400 people weighing an average 150 lbs each into the average 400 sq ft apartment room, it will probably suffer structural damage unless it's a on a solid ground floor. That's one of the factors that goes into calculating the room and building "occupancy limit" signs you see in public places.
[0] https://youtu.be/Wn5EgkuQb5U?t=293 (4:53)
I like to browse/read/study books on various subjects (have a large collection of my own) which lead me to the realization that it is only by reading books and getting exposed to new ideas that one can engage in better self-reflection leading to a more comprehensive self-awareness.
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Swerve
De rerum natura - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_rerum_natura
PS: I just submitted this which you might also find interesting - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47295304
A quick Google search gave me exactly what you pointed out i.e. Chapter 8, Pages 182-202 which somebody had uploaded.
I went at the end of the 2 or 3 day sale, and it still looked full. They were charging fair prices for the used books, but were going to pay to haul the remainder to the dump. I’m still unhappy about the waste, even though I mostly understand it.
I tried selling some on Amazon. That doesn't work at all.
Where ebay gets ahead is buying a box of books, rather than individual books.
That's not a library, it's an imitation of a library built by someone who doesn't understand what a library is for.
― Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
"There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion.
"If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the 'medicine closet' and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That's why you should always have a nutrition choice!
"Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity."
-- Umberto Eco
For some great quotes; see Umberto Eco on Writing, Reading, Books, and More - https://bigother.com/2026/01/05/umberto-eco-on-writing-readi...
This is an intriguing essay by Eco as part of a book review; On Unread Books - https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/11/02/on-unread-boo...
Back the 1920s having a personal library was fairly common for people with more than two dimes, they had this thing called an 'Ex Libris' which roughly translates as 'from the books of'. This was a little piece of paper, often very nicely designed that you glued to the first page of a book and then you could borrow it freely and sooner or later it would find its way back to you.
This was the rough equivalent of wikipedia, only a lot slower and less convenient. Then encyclopedias (which existed for a long time) became larger and larger, I had one from the 18th century that got lost in a move but it was a work of art, so much effort had gone into making that. The encyclopedias of the newer ages were however far larger and covered more subjects. Ever year a new batch of pages or the occasional reprint was the norm. And then personal libraries went the way of the dodo. Every time one of my family members dies there is always the same question: what will happen to all the books. These people - and me too - spent a fortune on their books, untold tens of thousands over a lifetime. They were well read, not 'browsing' information but actually reading - and occasionally writing.
That library in the article is exceptional in one way: that it does not look like it was shared. But I can totally sympathize: some people are focused on the number of digits on their bank account, others derive their sense of wealth and accomplishment from their bookshelves. I don't own any books I have not read, but I do understand people buying books that they intend to read at some point but never get around to.
As these things go, I'd be happy have a million more book hoarders, even if they don't read them all, so they can be passed on to the next generation of booklovers, assuming they can still be found.
Exactly my sentiment!
Everything today has been tied down to making money or gaining name/fame. There is no concept of studying "knowledge for knowledge's sake". And yet everybody knows that it is precisely only the latter mindset which has enabled Humans to build all their grand civilizations and technologies.