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German Library Fire Destroyed 50,000 Books NewsMax WiresWEIMAR, Germany -- A fire that hit a historic German library earlier this month destroyed twice as many books as previously thought, with some 50,000 works suffering irreparable fire damage, officials said Tuesday. The Sept. 2 fire at Weimar's Duchess Anna Amalia Library tore through the roof and top floor of the 16th-century rococo palace housing the library, destroying classic books from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries in the city where the nation's most revered writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, spent much of his life. Story Continues Below "The damages are much more terrible than we thought on the night of the fire," Hellmut Seemann, the president of the foundation that supports the library, told reporters. In addition to the books lost, Seemann said that about 62,000 books were damaged, about 20 percent of the library's collection. Restoring those books will cost up to $73 million and take some seven years. The books lost in the fire will be listed in an online database to be made available to the public, library director Michael Knoche said. In addition, 37 paintings, including a 1760 portrait of Countess Anna Amalia by Johann Friedrich Loeber, were destroyed. Another 100 paintings, 80 sculptures and 20 drawings were damaged but can be restored, officials said. Fire investigators have still not pinpointed the exact cause of the blaze, although earlier this month they said that a faulty electrical cable may have been responsible.
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