Newspapers

The University and State Library of Münster has one of the largest newspaper collections in Germany.

Electronic newspaper offerings

Westfälische Nachrichten

The newspaper "Westfälische Nachrichten" (WN) can be read up to date in the WN archive (1946 to present) on PCs in the ULB Central Library, the Social Sciences Branch Library and the Medical Library. It is a desktop application. Individual articles can be saved but not printed.

Westphalian e-papers

At PC workstations in the ULB Central Library, among others, you have access to newspapers produced in Westphalia as e-papers, e.g. the "Münstersche Zeitung" (MZ). E-papers are newspaper editions in PDF format that are true to the original layout. Current issues can be accessed eight days after their publication date; older issues are available from 2013 onwards at the earliest.
List of Westphalian e-papers in the ULB Münster
More information on using the e-papers

Regional and national newspapers

Other newspapers can be read via databases such as wiso (press module with, for example, "Die Zeit" and "Handelsblatt"), the F.A.Z.-Bibliotheksportal, Süddeutsche Zeitung and The New York Times. A complete list of licensed newspaper databases can be found in DBIS.
Requirements for using the electronic newspapers

Historical newspapers

Digitised historical newspapers from North Rhine-Westphalia are available in the free portal zeit.punktNRW.

Physical newspaper offerings

Most of the physical newspaper holdings are stored in off-site stacks and once you have searched the desired volumes, they can be used as follows:

Printed newspapers can be ordered via an online form and are made available for use in the Law Library II (Bispinghof 24/25). The conditions for ordering and issuing can be found on the online form.
Newspapers on microfilm can be requested via the Special order service Central Library for use in the reading room.
Newspapers on microfiche can be requested via KatalogPlus for use in the reading room of the Central Library.

For reading and scanning the micro-materials, microform scanners are available in the DigiLab.

Search

All newspapers held by the ULB – both printed and electronic – are listed in KatalogPlus. When searching, it is advisable to restrict the "document type" to newspapers.
Further information on research can also be found on the website LOTSE: Newspapers.

As a state library, the ULB Münster primarily collects and archives newspapers distributed in Westphalia. The search for newspapers from a specific area in Westphalia will provide you with a list of newspapers from the desired location, including holdings information.

History of our newspaper collection

At the beginning of 2003, the two most substantial newspaper collections at the university were merged: the press archive of the Department of Communication (IfK) and the newspaper archive of the ULB. The resulting Newspaper Archive (ZuP) was housed in Bispinghof 24/25 (building of the Alte Universitätsbibliothek – former library building) and could be used on site until it was dissolved in this form in mid-2024.