Fonds Baumer

The Fonds Baumer is a special library for the knowledge of the Eastern Churches. It consists of about two thirds of the original private library of the former lecturer for Eastern Church Studies Iso Baumer (in Freiburg 1988-99), of almost one third of the private library of Prof. Dr. Dr. Wolfgang Baumer. Raymund Erni Luzern, Titular Professor of Eastern Church Theology in Freiburg (1957-1977) and Professor of Dogmatics at the Faculty of Theology in Lucerne (1940-1973, as well as for Liturgical Studies from 1959), and to a very small extent from the library of the Catholica Unio (Papal Approved Work for Eastern Church Aid). Iso Baumer (*1929) had been involved with the Eastern Churches since he was 20 years old, and although he initially embarked on a different career (Romance linguistics, Italian and French literature and philosophy) he remained faithful to the study of the Eastern Churches, which were at the centre of his work, when in 1980 he prepared to thoroughly examine the life and work of Prince Max of Saxony (1870-1951, from 1900 until his death Professor of Liturgy and then of Eastern Christian Languages and Literatures in Frreiburg). This work culminated in three volumes, published in 1900, 1992 and 1996; another major work was the History of the Catholica Unio (1921/24-1999) - all published by the then Universitätsverlag (today Academic Press). The Baumer Fund includes books and brochures on all Eastern Churches, some of which are no longer to be found, with a particular emphasis on the Armenians, Melkites and Russians; in addition to strictly scientific treatises, there are also thick illustrated books (art, architecture), because the study of this matter, text volumes, as well as many prayer books from the Eastern Churches (liturgy texts or prayers for private use) in all the corresponding languages. Iso Baumer succeeded in bringing the three libraries together and donating them to the university.

The Baumer Fund is housed in the Library of History and Theology (BHT) at the University of Miséricorde, Fribourg.
Access to the BHT via the catalogue: Kantons- und Universitätsbibliothek Fribourg