Gustav Wahl, who was appointed Director of the newly-formed Institution of the German Publishers’ and Booksellers’ Association in January 1913 at the age of 35, left office in 1916. His resignation surprised the public. Wahl, who in the four years of his brief time in office laid the foundation for the work of the library, called a war collection into life in the autumn of 1914, which contributed considerably to making the Deutsche Bücherei famous beyond the borders of Germany.