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I'm a writer, editor, baker, knitter, and lifelong history lover. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, I spent my childhood inventing and acting out stories of brave princesses and gutsy ladies (always in AMAZING gowns!).
I moved to the glorious, history-soaked city of Edinburgh over 10 years ago and felt like I'd finally come home. I now live just outside 'Auld Reekie', in a beautiful seaside town in East Lothian.
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![Library of the Week: University Library at Leuven, Belgium
In honour of Remembrance Day, this week we have a library that became a symbol of wanton destruction during World War I, and turned a lot of public opinion against Germany.
In 1914, German soldiers rampaging through Belgium burned the library, destroying hundreds of thousands of books and manuscripts, including works dating back to the medieval period. The rest of the city of Leuven (or Louvain as it was known then) suffered too, with nearly 250 civilians killed, another 1500 deported to Germany, and over 1000 homes destroyed.
The atrocities and destruction in Leuven provoked outrage around the world. Neutral countries started to distance themselves from Germany, and Prime Minister H. H. Asquith wrote, 'the burning of Louvain is the worst thing [the Germans] have yet done. It reminds one of the Thirty Years' War...'
A new library building was built after the war, with help from American funding. Donors from all over the world helped rebuild the library's collection; one of the chief donors being the John Rylands Library in Manchester, whose librarian, Henry Guppy, used his prominent position to appeal for donations from individuals and institutions across Britain. The first consignment was sent in 1919, and by the time the appeal closed in 1925, over 55,000 volumes had been collected.
And then, World War II happened. The library was destroyed by the Germans AGAIN in 1940, but proving you can't keep a good book house down, it was rebuilt and now houses a collection of around 4 million books.
#library #WorldWar1 #Belgium #RemembranceDay](https://scontent-sea5-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/893438699_18473262937186308_3253847771740690335_n.heic?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=101&ccb=7-5&_nc_sid=18de74&efg=eyJlZmdfdGFnIjoiQ0FST1VTRUxfSVRFTS5iZXN0X2ltYWdlX3VybGdlbi5DMyJ9&_nc_ohc=t3QcGli5bhUQ7kNvwECAyuD&_nc_oc=Ado3ksxqwMInAjTM7Nbfyd4vLSQFvvingRhCa1AtEHc14HQxXyc7YB-QnRJTAAkfKmI&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-sea5-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=b_QUAEm9W9gcvlC-1OHAjg&_nc_tpa=Q5bMBQL_IQPKIWqw24Q_RE1xKalxv8uruV9Xk4cPTsbSQRENhs_92xZLdoUulM_4LgOYGoNxQuagFEs9&oh=00_AQR2iZnewhsIT3Tm9KhODScxIRjmrYlE2x57jFeQfXwFgQ&oe=6AF8FF9E)
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