23 street libraries

Arriving in Dusseldorf this month, I visited the nearest three street libraries (offener Bücherschrank, I used to be unsure of the translation but now I think I'll go for street libraries!) and wondered whether there were any others that I wasn't aware of, beyond the six I had visited so far. The official website told me that they just opened the 23rd within the city boundaries. Looks like I have some work to do. Here is the list, and I'll mark in bold the ones I've visited. While I was writing up this entry, I managed to increased the count to 13, with a tram excursions to Wersten and Benrath, Pempelfort and Derendorf,

City Centre:

• Mannesmannufer, next to KIT (Kunst im Tunnel)
• Kö-Bogen

  Angermund (way out north, behind the airport!):

• Kreuzung Angermunder Straße, In den Blamüsen und Kirchweg

  Benrath:

• Marktplatz

  Bilk:

• Friedensplätzchen (photo below) - this one is my local and the one that got me hooked. Both the range of offerings and the turnover rate are amazing. Without exaggeration, it's worth visiting every day.

  Derendorf and Pempelfort (north of the city centre) - these five are lined up very neatly:

• Frankenplatz
• Roßstraße, intersection with Klever Straße/Jülicher Straße
• Maria-und-Josef-Otten-Platz (Marschallstraße/Blücherstraße)
• Rochusmarkt
• Berty-Albrecht-Park (near the centre of this lovely park which stretches a long way, more than 1 km)

  Flingern:

• Hermannsplatz near S-Bahn Flingern

  Friedrichstadt:

• Fürstenplatz

  Gerresheim:

• Apostelplatz
• Gerricusplatz (historic centre of the town, worth visiting)
• „Roter Platz“ on the corner Hatzfeld- and Heyestraße, near S-Bahn station

  Grafenberg:

• Staufenplatz near eponymous tram station

  Kaiserswerth:

• Markt

  Knittkuhl (way out east, not served by the otherwise perfect tram system!):

• In der Flieth

  Oberkassel:

• Werner-Pfingst-Platz

  Volmerswerth:

• Volmerswerther Straße (next to the loop where the tram turns around)

  Wersten:

• Liebfrauenstraße
• Ickerswarder Straße Ecke Kölner Landstraße

  Zooviertel:

• Brehmplatz

Here is a historic photo I took of the one in Bilk back in 2014:

Might add a few fresh ones when I get home and process all my photos.

Note also that this is an actual gas light behind the book shelf. Obviously problematic in this day and age, but also very quaint and historic. On my quest for more libraries, I am discovering some lovely parks and squares, and also a lot more gas lights. Around the market square of Benrath I saw more than 20 of them.

PS Here's a book I took home from one of them during the August exploration (not sure which one, actually) and very much enjoyed reading. Typical for the random stuff I discover there in that I would never have thought to look for let alone pay for it but am very glad I found it.

UPDATE 24.9.2023 took the tram to Gerresheim today (and S-Bahn back) to explore another five libraries. They have 3 in Gerresheim, an adorable little town that became part of the city in 1909, but preserved its character, and anothr two were on my path there and back. So that should bring up my total to 18 (after correcting the previous total to 13). Five to go.

UPDATE 24.2.2024 Made the expedition to Angermund on the S1, and took in the library at Brehmplatz on the way there, three to go. Also starting a list with links to other cities below:

UPDATE 23.5.2024 Went to the Kunstpalast for an exhibition and realised that Oberkassel isn't all that far from there, just across the bridge. So I ticked that one off too. Two to go.

UPDATE 26.8.2024 Did another tram journey to Benrath and visited the library at Ickerswerder Strasse on the way which I overlooked on the previous trip. Now there's only the Knittkuhl one left - getting there is a bit of a challenge, will have to find something else in that direction to make it worth the journey.

Street libraries elsewhere:

• Münster