The Royal Danish Library

The Royal Danish Library is the Danish national library and University library. King Frederik the third founded the Library in 1648. The collection was at the beginning a part of the king’s private collection, later, under king Christian the seventh, the library was made open to the public. Today the library has buildings and departments at several other locations in Denmark. Combined, they house a considerable part of Denmark’s national cultural heritage and a great many historical collections that provide insight into European cultural traditions all the way back to early history and prehistory.

The Black Diamond is a modem waterfront extension to the Royal Danish Library’s old building, which apart from its function as a library, houses a number of other public facilities and activities including a 600-seat chamber music hall, the Queen's Hall, used for concerts, literary events, theatrical performances and conferences. The Royal Library has turned into Scandinavia’s principal scene for live conversations between leading international intellectuals, top politicians and artists. Known for its famous International Authors’ Stage that was founded in 2008 and takes place in The Black Diamond.

Former guests include amongst other writers and thinkers such as Herta Müller, Dario Fo, Günter Grass, Chimamanda Ngozi Adizhie, Haruki Murakami, Abdualrazak Gurnah, Mario Vargos Llosa, Marina Abramović and Salman Rushdie as well as leading international personalities such as Hillary Clinton, Kofi Annan and Emmanuel Macron.