History

During the creation of the Baghdad Department in 1955, a library was established in addition to the office premises and was subsequently regularly expanded and enlarged. A separate classification system arranged according to overarching subject matter was created and which still remains in use today in all four of the department's libraries, although in a more developed form. In 1980, Rainer Michael Böhmer extended the institute with a large library room. After the outbreak of the Iraq-Iran war in September 1980, parts of the Baghdad institute were relocated to Berlin, including a large portion of the library's holdings. This resulted to their division which still is effective today. To date, the smaller part of the collection still remains in the branch office's premises in Baghdad. In Berlin the holdings have been supplemented continuously since 1984 through donations and duplicate and exchange acquisitions, and where they are being kept in repository whilst consultable upon request.