The Royal Library in Copenhagen (Det Kongelige Bibliotek) is the national library of Denmark and university library of University of Copenhagen. It is the largest library in the Nordic countries. It contains numerous historical treasures; all works that have been printed in Denmark since the 17th century are deposited there. Thanks to extensive donations in the past the library holds nearly all known Danish printed works back to the first Danish book, printed in 1482 The library was founded 1648 by King Frederik III who seeded it with a comprehensive collection of European works. It was opened to the public in 1793.
In 1989 it was merged with the prestigious University Library (founded 1482) (UB1) and in 2005 it was merged with the Danish National Library for Science and Medicine (UB2), now the Faculty Library of Natural and Health Sciences). The official name of the organization as of 1 January 2006 is The Royal Library, the National Library of Denmark and Copenhagen University Library. In 2008 the Danish Folklore Archive was merged with The Royal Library.

The old building of the Slotsholmen site was built in 1906 by Hans Jørgen Holm. The central hall is a copy of Charlemagne's Palace chapel in the Aachen Cathedral. Black In 1999, a new building adjacent to the old one was opened at Slotsholmen, known as the Black Diamond. The Black Diamond building was designed by Danish architects schmidt hammer lassen.
Named for its outside cover of black marble and glass, it houses a concert hall in addition to the library. This new building was opened 1999. It is formed by two black cubes that are slightly tilted over the street. In the middle of them there is an eight storey atrium whose walls are white and wave-shaped, with a couple of transversal corridors that link both sides, and balconies in every store.

The atrium's exterior wall is made of glass, so you can see the sea and, in the other shore, Christianshavn's luxury buildings. Three bridges connect the Black Diamond with the old part of the Royal Library; those three bridges (two small ones for internal transport and a big one with the circulation desk) go over the road. In the ceilling of the big bridge there is a huge painting by Danish painter Per Kirkeby. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons BY-SA License. It uses material from Wikipedia content.