Library card
Click here for the online form required in order to apply for a library card.
What do you need to bring with you when you pick up your library card?
- A German or EU identification card or passport. If a German address is not included on your identification card, you also require official confirmation of your residency in Germany in the form of a Meldebestätigung.
- For free/reduced-fee library cards: student ID
- Applicants between the ages of 14 and 18 require a supplemental -> parental consent form (PDF, in German only) (annotation: link to State and University Library Carl von Ossietzky).
- Legal entities require a supplemental -> application for collective use (PDF, in German only) (annotation: link to State and University Library Carl von Ossietzky).
- Record of employment / work contract from University of Hamburg
- Record of employment / work contract from a state university in Hamburg
- Proof of any other grounds for a fee reduction, such as receipt of state benefits in accordance with Book II (Unemployment Benefit 2) and Book XII of the German social security code (Sozialgesetzbuch, SGB), an apprenticeship, participation in the federal volunteer service or in the voluntary social year (Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr)
Please provide originals of all documents (e.g., ID cards and passports).
Library card fees
Students and academic staff of Hamburg state universities in accordance with Section 1 of the Hamburg Higher Education Act (Hamburgisches Hochschulgesetz, HmbHG) | €0 |
School students at comprehensive schools | €0 |
University and secondary school students enrolled at other private or state-recognized schools, academies, universities, and universities of applied science (annual library card) | €5 |
Annual library card | €30 |
Six-month library card | €18 |
One-month library card | €10 |
Legal entities (annual library card) | €120 |
Apprentices/trainees, members of the federal volunteer service or persons completing a voluntary social year (annual library card) | €0 |
Recipients of employment benefits or benefits in accordance with Book II (Unemployment Benefit 2) and Book XII, SGB (annual library card) | €5 |