1914day.year
World War I: The library of the Catholic University of Leuven is deliberately destroyed by the German Army. Hundreds of thousands of irreplaceable volumes and Gothic and Renaissance manuscripts are lost.
German troops deliberately burned the Catholic University of Leuven’s library in August 1914, destroying hundreds of thousands of irreplaceable volumes and manuscripts.
In the opening weeks of World War I, German forces occupied Leuven, Belgium, and set fire to the university’s famed library.
Over 300,000 books and countless Gothic and Renaissance manuscripts were lost in the blaze.
The act of cultural vandalism sparked international outrage and became a symbol of wartime atrocities against civilian heritage.
Scholars, librarians, and the public around the world condemned the destruction in protests and relief efforts.
After the war, an international campaign led to the library’s reconstruction, with donations from countries across the globe.
The new library, inaugurated in 1928, stands as a testament to the resilience of knowledge and the importance of preserving cultural treasures.
deliberately destroyed