A Maltese library has been inaugurated at the Linguistics Department of the University of Bremen.

The library was inaugurated by Malta’s honorary consul-general in Bremen, Thomas Stöcker and Thomas Stolz, Professor of Linguistics.

With 375 volumes, this is one of the largest collections of Maltese literature outside the Maltese islands. It has almost all publications published in Maltese since 2000. Besides the acquisitions made by the state of Bremen and the Bremen University Library, there are older acquisitions from Malta. Altogether, there are about 500 Maltese books.

Prof. Stolz said during the inauguration ceremony that: ‘‘With the special consideration of Maltese, we are, Germany-wide, unique, and also within a European perspective – with the exception of the academic institutions in Malta – we are unrivalled.”

In September 2009, the university will, for the second time, host the International Association for Maltese Linguistics within the framework of the Festival of Languages.

The association had been founded on the initiative of Prof. Stolz in 2007 in Bremen.