The important Poswick Library, a collection of French-language works, is being transferred to the holdings of the University and City Library of Cologne. The generous donation was honoured with a ceremonial handover on 3 May 2024.

Frater Réginald-Ferdinand Poswick, a Benedictine monk from the Abbaye de Maredsous (Belgium) and also a member of the Cologne Library Society, together with his brother André Poswick, donated the important historical library of his father, Baron (Prosper) Poswick (1907-1992), to the University and City Library of Cologne last year.

It was a donation with a long history. The former director of the University and City Library of Cologne, Professor Wolfgang Schmitz, had already endeavoured to acquire the extensive library. The late politician's collection of more than a thousand volumes contains works on Belgium. The French-language collection includes works from the fields of history, literary studies, regional and local history, antiquity, art history, bibliographies and book history.

With our collection on Belgium and Luxembourg, we are a leader in Germany. The Poswick Collection is therefore a valuable addition.