State of Conservation (SOC)

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The State Party submitted on 30 January 2007 the report on the restoration work carried out at the Anna Amalia Library following the fire of 3 September 2004. After the debris was removed all efforts focused on securing the structure. A project team, comprised of architects, structural engineers, experts on climate and wood protection as well as restorers of wood, stucco plaster and paint, was created to implement measures to secure and restore the building. During 2005, the timber structure (Grünes Schloss) and the Coudray-Annex need extensive restorative work. New wood was added to the old structure which has been dried, treated to resist the growth of fungus and technically reinforced.

Furthermore, it was decided to restore the “centre of old books” (the office of the Duchess Anna Amalia Library, the department for old books, including book restoration and a special reading room). Spaces selected to facilitate museum visits to the Rococo-Hall and the book tower will include an entrance lobby, exhibition room in the Renaissance-hall on the ground floor, as well as an introductory room on the first floor.

In early 2006, tests for developing restorative methods and obtain cost estimation and a schedule for all the restorative works were completed. In December 2006, plaster and colour of the façade were reconstructed based on reliable historic findings obtained during a period of extensive research. The reopening of the building is foreseen on 24 October 2007, the birthday of Duchess Anna Amalia.