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The Warburg-Haus is emblematic of the close intertwining of the personal life and scientific endeavors of the prominent art historian Aby Warburg, who lived during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As the eldest son of a Jewish banking family in Hamburg, he ceded his inheritance to his brother at the age of thirteen, with the condition that the family would cover the cost of all the books he needed throughout his life. This arrangement led to the establishment of the Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg (K.B.W., Warburg Library of Cultural Studies) at Helwigstraße 116 in Hamburg Eppendorf, built in 1925-26, a house devoted solely to hosting books, a book bank of sorts.

The central elliptical space of the building, complete with an adjacent garden, served both as an auditorium and a study area, which Warburg referred to as the "Arena of Sciences." He designed the reading room with an elliptical ceiling to reflect the Renaissance’s cosmological ideas of freedom, inspired by Johannes Kepler's discovery of elliptical planetary orbits. The ellipse symbolizes a balance between opposites, such as myth and logic or movement and inhibition, and Warburg saw it as a form of energy that maintains tension between these contrasts. He called the lamps, planets.

To organize the library's collection, Warburg developed a color-coded system known as the "law of the good neighbor," placing works on the history of natural sciences alongside books on magical thinking, divination, astrology, and alchemy to illustrate the transition from cultic-magical thought to modern science. Because only a small portion of the library was open for direct access, advanced technology facilitated the delivery of books from storage to the reading room without disturbing visitors.

After Aby Warburg's death in 1929, the Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek faced significant financial losses due to the worldwide economic situation, but it was only after the Nazis came to power that the research institute was truly threatened. An agreement was reached to move the library and its staff to England for initially three years. On December 12, 1933, the cargo ship Hermia set sail from Hamburg to London, transporting books and an extensive photographic collection. This forced "long-distance lending" transformed into a lasting success as the Warburg Library of Cultural Studies became the Warburg Institute in London, emerging as a prominent humanities research center.

Today, the Warburg-Haus and its reestablished Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek maintain strong ties to the Warburg Institute in London, continuing their legacy as an interdisciplinary forum for art history and cultural studies. They host programs, lectures, and discussions that foster intellectual exchange among scholars, students, and the public.

Derived from materials provided by the Warburg-Haus.

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