Naval Library

The Naval Library (Marine-Bibliothek), later called the Imperial and Royal Naval Library (K. u. k. Marine-Bibliothek), was founded at the supreme command of the Austrian Navy in Venice in 1802, at the initiative of the Minister of Navy and War, Archduke Charles. From its very foundation, it was a scientific and professional library intended for the needs of the navy.

In 1850, the entire collection of the Naval Library was moved from Venice to Trieste. At the request of the Navy Commander, Maximilian, and Archduke Ferdinand, in the 1860s Pula was developed as the main naval port of the Austrian Navy.

In accordance with the plan of Navy Commander Vice Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff for the reorganization of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, in 1869 the Hydrographic Office (Hydrographische Amt) was founded in Pula, which included the Naval Library as a separate department.

With the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, the library was taken over by the Italian army. After the capitulation of Italy in 1943, Pula was occupied by the German army (Wehrmacht), which in 1944 transported the entire collection of the Naval Library by train to the Czech Republic. From there it was returned to Vienna in 1950 and housed in the War Archive.

Finally, in 1975, a larger part of the preserved collection of the Naval Library (about 20,000 volumes) was returned to Pula "as a sign of good will" by the Republic of Austria, where it was assigned to the Scientific Library (now the University Library).

In 1996, the Naval Library was moved to the House of Croatian Defenders (former Marine-Casino) in Pula and in 1997 it was reopened to the public.