The butterflies continue to flutter: University Library extends insect exhibition until 23 August

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The current special exhibition at the Bibliotheca Albertina, ‘Insect Knowledge: Historical Books and Specimens on Entomology’, was originally due to end on 9 August. However, the exhibition featuring these tiny crawlers continues to attract a great deal of interest. The University Library is therefore extending the exhibition by two weeks and will continue to display magnificently coloured insect books from the UBL collection, as well as models from the University’s Zoological Collection, until 23 August 2026.

On 10 August, the exhibition organisers are also offering an additional family tour, and on 20 August, Dr Rainer Totzke (aka Kurt Mondaugen) and Dorit Löffler will be hosting a reading at Café Alibi featuring magical transformations: ‘Be ready for your insect!’. At the end of August, the Leipzig Summer Course on Manuscripts will take place for the tenth time, and this year it will once again be accompanied by a public evening event that brings precious medieval manuscripts from monasteries to life through music.

The exhibition

Insects both fascinate and baffle us. The exhibition at the Bibliotheca Albertina shows just how varied our knowledge of these strange creatures is. Historical books on insects from the 16th to the 19th centuries are displayed alongside specimens and models from the Zoological Collection.

The exhibition, which will itself undergo a metamorphosis over the course of the summer, shows how insects have been researched, described and imagined. A journey of discovery for families, the curious and book lovers.

Insect Knowledge. Historical books and specimens on entomology. From 8 May to 23 August 2026, Mon–Wed 10.00–18.00, Thu–Sun 10.00–21.00 in the exhibition space of the Bibliotheca Albertina, free admission.

Events

Guided tour:
‘Insect Knowledge: Historical Books and Specimens on Entomology’ on 9 August at 3.00 pm at the Bibliotheca Albertina; meeting point: foyer. With exhibition curator Thomas Thibault Döring

‘Be ready for your insect!’ – Spoken-word reading
and magic of transformation, 20 August at 7.30 pm at Café Alibi in the Bibliotheca Albertina.

As part of the ‘Insect Knowledge’ exhibition, featuring the Leipzig-based author and philosopher Dr Rainer Totzke (aka Kurt Mondaugen) and the artist and art educator Dorit Löffler from the research station ‘Vom Verschwinden’

Kurt Mondaugen and Dorit Löffler are the initiators of the interdisciplinary research station ‘Vom Verschwinden – On the Poetry and Philosophy of Insects’ (www.vomverschwinden.de). For over a year now, the station has been exploring, in various settings, whether and how global species extinction can be counteracted through aesthetic means. With ‘Be Ready for Your Insect!’, the two organisers offer an insight into their research – but above all, they invite you to a spectacular reading featuring artistic and philosophical magic of transformation that visitors are unlikely to forget in a hurry.

An event in cooperation with Transformatorenwerk Leipzig e. V.

Further events can be found at ub.uni-leipzig.de/ueber-uns/veranstaltungen