The construction of the library was started by the architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and completed by his son Joseph Emmanuel in 1735. Copies of all Austrian publications, books by Austrian authors published abroad, and works on Austria are kept here. The collections contain more than 7.5 million copies of books, 180 thousand papyri, the oldest of which dates back to the XV century BC. The large central hall of the Prunksaal houses a collection of books by Prince Eugene of Savoy. Its dome is decorated with a huge fresco by Daniel Gran.→