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The Österreichische Nationalbibliothek is the Austrian national library, and, with 7.4 million items in its collections, the largest library in Austria. It is located in the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. It was founded by the Habsburgs and was originally called the Hofbibliothek, changing to its current name after 1918.
The collections consist of: papyri, manuscripts, ancient and rare books, maps, globes, music, portraits, graphics, photographs, autographs and posters as well as works in and on Esperanto and other artificial languages are stored in the various collections and are available for scientific research.
The Austrian National Library is situated at Heldenplatz, the outer plaza of the Hofburg and was built under the reign of Emperor Francis Joseph, as part of what was to become the Kaiserforum (imperial forum), which, however, was never completed. In the northeast, it is bordered by the Leopoldinian Tract of the Hofburg, in the southeast by the New Hofburg, and in the southwest by the Ringstraße, from which it is separated by the Äußeres Burgtor (Outer Castle Gate). The northwestern part, where there are no buildings, offers a view of the Ringstraße with the Austrian Parliament, the Vienna Rathaus (Town Hall), and the Burgtheater.
On the plaza, there are the two equestrian statues of Prince Eugene of Savoy and Archduke Charles of Austria, who are remembered as great military leaders.
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