Collections

The private archives include personal and family archives as well as archives of non-governmental legal entities.

These include the administrative archives of Bern’s Burgergemeinde and the archives of the Bernburger societies and guilds.

This special collection includes manuscripts dating from late antiquity into the 17^th century.

This special collection offers access to the diverse visual cultural heritage of Bern and its Burgergemeinde.

The library holdings comprise a reference library with publications on the archival collections and historical libraries. 

In 2026, as part of a four-month project, initial provenance investigations were carried out across all the collections of the Burgerbibliothek.