The history of NSK, the National and University Library in Zagreb, Croatia’s largest library, spans more than four centuries. From its beginnings as the library of the Jesuit grammar school in the Upper Town of Zagreb to its current, modern location and role, NSK has been systematically developing its collections and strengthening its position in Croatia’s society.

Today, NSK is one of Croatia’s major cultural and research institutions and the central point of the Croatian national library system.

Part of the old building of the National and University Library in Zagreb.

1607

Arrival in Zagreb, Croatia’s capital, of the Jesuit order and the establishment of the Jesuit grammar school with an accompanying library

1669

By the Charter of King Leopold I, the Jesuit grammar school acquires the status of the Academy and becomes Academia Zagrabiensis, the forerunner of today’s University of Zagreb, which today celebrates its Day on 3 November, commemorating the 1671 validation of its status as a university by the Croatian Parliament

1776

After the disbanding of the Jesuit order, Academia Zagrabiensis continues with its provisional activities until 1776, when it becomes the Royal Zagreb Academy of Sciences (Regia scientiarium academia Zagrabiensis) and the former Jesuit library is made the new Academy’s integral part

1777

The Royal Zagreb Academy library receives and extensive collection of historical material including 757 book volumes and 50 manuscripts by bequest from clergyman Adam Baltazar Krčelić, who stipulates in his deed of gift that the donated material must be made available to the public

1816

The library significantly grows in national and public importance through the introduction of legal deposit regulations, entitling it to a free copy of all publications of the University of Pest

1837

Legal deposit regulations start applying to the entire territory of Croatia and Slavonia

Antun Kukuljević, who acted as the head of all schools in Croatia, changes the library’s name into Nationalis Academica Bibliotheca, thus adding to its role as the Zagreb Academy’s library that of the national library, in which dual capacity the library has been operating to the present day

1874

Following the discontinuation of the Royal Zagreb Academy of Sciences’ work and the founding of the Franz Joseph I Royal University in Zagreb, the library becomes part of the University, continuing to act in its capacity as a national library

1913

With over 125,000 volumes, the library moves from the present-day building of the University of Zagreb into an art nouveau architectural masterpiece in Zagreb’s Marko Marulić square – designed by Rudolf Lubynski, it was the first building in Croatia, but also in this part of Europe, built specifically to house a national library

Old building of NSK, the National and University Library in Zagreb.

1988

The laying of the foundation stone of the library’s new building, made necessary by the rapid growth of the library’s collection, whose nearly 2 million items at the time greatly exceeded the capacity of the library’s building in Marko Marulić square, designed to house 500,000 volumes

1995

The opening of the library’s current building, designed by Marijan Hržić, Davor Mance, Zvonimir Krznarić and Velimir Neidhardt, the so-called “glass cube”, as the library is frequently referred to in architectural terms, on 28 May, as part of the celebrations of the fifth anniversary of Croatia’s independence

The building of the National and University Library in Zagreb.

2019

Owing to the library’s having being made the seat of Croatia’s 2020 presidency of the Council of the European Union, one third of the library’s building left unfinished since 1995 is finally completed, making the library’s entire premises ready to be used in fulfilling the library’s tasks