Karl Siegismund (1861-1932)

Publisher and 1st Chairman of the German Publishers’ and Booksellers’ Association 1910-1916
Oil painting: Karl Siegismund
Karl Siegismund, oil painting (detail), 1916
German National Library

Karl Siegis­mund (1861-1932)

Publisher and 1st Chairman of the German Publishers’ and Booksellers’ Association 1910-1916

For patriotic and scientific reasons we are attempting […] to create in Leipzig a collection of all public or private printed matter published in relation of to the current war.

Karl Siegismund, submission to the General Command of the XXIV Army Corps, October 1914

Without the renowned Berlin publisher Karl Siegismund there would be no German National Library in Leipzig today – indeed, a nearby street bears his name. Siegismund, who held a number of honorary positions throughout his career in the book business and who maintained good contacts with the highest offices of the German Reich, was a strong advocate of the war collection. His contacts to the military remain for the most part unknown.

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