Abstract

In 2009 the Salzburg university library started a research project on the provenance of its book holdings to find out if the Studienbibliothek, forerunner of the current library, received volumes stolen by the Nazis between 1938 and 1945. The essay briefly traces the history of the university institutions of Salzburg (Benedictine University founded in 1622 and Paris Lodron University founded in 1962) and of the university library and give an account of the project of identification and restitution of looted books undertaken by the library, placing it within the framework of the NS-«Provenienzforschung» and the Austrian reparation policies for the restitution of works of art and cultural heritage stolen during National Socialism.