If you wish to return books, please check in on the 1st floor.

The Martin Opitz Library Team

On 19 November 2026, Andreas Kossert will present his new book Elsa’s World: In the Footsteps of My Grandmother. A Family History from Łódź, published in 2026, at the Martin-Opitz-Library.

In his most personal book to date, historian and bestselling author Andreas Kossert traces the life of his grandmother Elsa and her roots in Łódź, Poland – a city that was once a “promised land” for his German ancestors. He tells the story of his family, from the arrival of German colonists in the eighteenth century and the city’s rapid rise as a textile centre to Elsa’s daily life under German occupation during the Second World War, lived in the shadow of terror and mass extermination. After the war, she faced expulsion, internment and, ultimately, the loss of her homeland. Through his grandmother’s story, Kossert creates an intimate portrait of his family while also painting a sweeping picture of Central European history, related with striking emotional force and sensitivity. Elsa’s life, shaped by hope and loss and defying simple national labels, reflects the wider European tragedy of nationalism and war – and makes her story as relevant today as ever.

Andreas Kossert was born in 1970 and studied history, Slavic studies and politics. He holds a doctorate in history, worked at the German Historical Institute in Warsaw and has lived in Berlin since 2010, where he works as a historian and author. His books on the history of Masuria (2001) and East Prussia (2005) were warmly received. His subsequent publications include the bestseller Kalte Heimat. Die Geschichte der deutschen Vertriebenen nach 1945 (2008), Ostpreußen. Geschichte einer historischen Landschaft (2014) and Flucht – Eine Menschheitsgeschichte (2020). His work has been recognised with several awards, including the Georg Dehio Book Prize in 2008, the NDR Kultur Non-Fiction Book Prize in 2020 and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation’s Political Book Award in 2021.

The reading will take place in the lecture room on the second floor of the Martin-Opitz-Library. Admission is free. We look forward to welcoming you.

Info Flyer (PDF)

We currently use two main scanners for digitisation. Our primary scanner, a Bookeye 4 V1A, can scan items up to DIN A1+ in size. In theory, it can scan at resolutions of up to 600 DPI, although we generally use a resolution of 300 DPI.

During scanning, the materials being digitised are held in place by a glass plate to ensure optimum scan quality. The resulting digital images can then be further processed, for example by correcting colours or aligning pages correctly.

To digitise older works with particular care and avoid damage, book cradles are used to support the books. These allow, for example, one side of a book to be lowered or the book to be scanned in a V-shaped position. The glass plate is not used for these scanning processes.

Our second, smaller scanner, the Booktek 5 Scanner, can scan formats up to DIN A2+ and is used when several printed items need to be scanned at the same time.

The acquisition of a Widetek WT36-600 scanner will make it easier in future to scan maps and make them available in digital format.

Once our building work has been completed, you will of course once again be able to scan materials yourself on our premises. You will also be able to use our Zeutschel microfiche and microfilm scanners, our flatbed scanner and our photocopier, free of charge or for a small fee, as applicable.

On request, the library also offers a digitisation service through the document delivery service eBooks on Demand (EOD). Books from our older holdings (published up to 1900) can be digitised and supplied as PDF files.

Further information about scanning and photocopying and eBooks on Demand can be found here: SERVICES.

Please direct any enquiries about eBooks on Demand to:

Mr George Müller

Email: george.mueller@herne.de

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The Martin-Opitz-Library is funded by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the City of Herne, and the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association (LWL) supports the MOB with an annual grant.

Extensive fire safety improvement works are currently being carried out at the Martin Opitz Library. As a result, access to books and other media may be restricted until early 2027. In addition, periods of increased noise levels are to be expected while construction measures are being implemented.

The library reading room will remain available for use until further notice.

If you would like to consult books or other media at the Martin Opitz Library, we kindly ask you to check the library’s website in advance for information on upcoming works and to enquire by email whether the required holdings are accessible and available for use.

Thank you for your understanding!

The aim is to strengthen companies and municipalities in matters of sustainability through networking, the exchange of experience and advisory support. The project focuses on conserving resources, reducing energy consumption and making processes more efficient in the long term. It is funded by the Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Since the launch of the 14th ÖKOPROFIT introductory project on 17 June 2025, the library has already initiated and implemented a wide range of organisational and technical measures. An internal “Sustainability Working Group” was established to centrally manage and coordinate all activities, accompanied by measures to continuously raise awareness among staff. In addition to networking within the “Green Library” network, the institution maintains regular dialogue with the building management department of the City of Herne (GMH Herne).

At a technical level, the environmental programme includes the gradual replacement of lighting systems, the deactivation of inefficient lighting units and the consistent switching off of electrical equipment to avoid standby losses. These measures are complemented, among other things, by demand-oriented and optimised heating control as well as reduced data storage. Climate-relevant structural and spatial changes will be implemented in 2026/27. In future, sustainability criteria will play an increasingly important role in the procurement of work equipment and materials. In addition, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) “Quality Education” and “Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions” serve as guiding principles for the MOB.

Future plans for sustainable electricity and heat use include, among other measures, the installation of a photovoltaic system.

Participation in the ÖKOPROFIT project has been certified and serves as evidence of actively implemented environmental protection measures.

Further information on the project is available on the following websites:
www.oekoprofit.nrw.de
www.wirtschaftsfoerderung-dortmund.de/okoprofit

The official project brochure is available for download here.

This publication reflects on twelve years of research conducted within the Collaborative Research Centre/Transregio 138 “Dynamics of Security: Securitization in Historical Perspective” (2014–2025).

The volume focuses on key questions and perspectives in historical and social scientific security research in light of recent political and societal developments. Based on a constructivist understanding of security, the contributions explore how security concepts, threat perceptions, and practices of securitization emerged, evolved, and became politically effective in different historical contexts. The authors examine both continuity and change in understandings of security and their implications for political orders, social conflicts, and forms of collective action. The contributions demonstrate how historical perspectives can help contextualize and critically assess contemporary challenges such as pandemics, wars, and geopolitical tensions.

The volume highlights the multifaceted nature of security as a historically contingent and contested concept and emphasizes the relevance of historical security research for understanding contemporary political and societal developments.

Bibliographic details:
Hein-Kircher, Heidi / Kirst, Sarah / Langenohl, Andreas / Lim, Il-Tschung (2026): Security Revisited. Perspectives on Security in Changing Times, in: SFB/TRR 138 Working Paper Series, Special Issue, Marburg: Philipps-Universität Marburg.

URI/Open Access access to the publication:
https://open.uni-marburg.de/items/497790c6-c31e-4c4d-ae2b-faabe7c8498e

Collections
SFB/TRR 138 Working Paper Series