History writing depends on sources. This paper aims at presenting one of the biggest and not yet used inventory of material, which is located in Vienna and which has the potential of becoming a key source for historical research on schooling in Central and East Europe: The Vienna schoolbook and school reports collection, which can be counted among the greatest European collections (BBF Berlin, GEI Braunschweig, special collections of the University of Gießen and Heidelberg, etc.), is possibly the largest collection one single country owns in Europe. Its low degree of prominence forms a contrast to its size. So far not one publication has appeared especially addressing this collection. In the paper, the inventory of the library is presented as the result of the development of the Austrian school system (from the double monarchy including half of South-East Europe to the Austrian republic as of now) as well as the result of the history of the governmental official library (for which papers and documents of the library archives can be consulted). The aim is to uncover the topography of the literary stock of the Viennese collection which should reveal which research projects can be handled effectively based on its holdings. The SCHOOLBOOK collection encompasses approximately 120.000 schoolbooks, commencing with the introduction of compulsory schooling in 1774 up to the present day in German as well as in the languages of the crown lands of the Habsburg monarchy – today EU-countries or EU-applicant-countries. The schoolbook collection owes its stock to the centralism of the Austrian school administration, which was also executed in the schoolbook sector. Even today the collection is constantly extended by new publications and new editions. The 1972 introduced free provision of schoolbooks and equipment was a clear incentive for the schoolbook production. With approximately 150.000 school programs and ANNUAL SCHOOL REPORTS the collection, commencing with the year of 1815, comprises most of the complete publication stocks by secondary schools of the Habsburg monarchy and contemporary Austrian schools, as some of the latter still publish annual school reports. The collection further covers lecture and personnel listings of the universities of the Habsburg monarchy up to the year 1918 and from then onward of those which are located in today’s Austria.

The key part of this report is a survey of the stock in quantitative and qualitative regards; concerning the schoolbooks with regard to the year of publication, the nationalities or languages of the k.u.k. monarchy, the type of school and school subjects; concerning the school documents (school programs and annual school-reports) regarding their year of publication, the nationalities or languages of the k.u.k. monarchy, the location of the school, the type of school as well as the scientific contributions and their disciplinary affiliation. In connection with the exemplary identification of research questions the significance of schoolbooks and annual school reports is discussed critically. This concerns for instance the complex relationship between the schoolbook and the annual school-report on the one hand and the reality of teaching on the other.

Three outcomes are intended: - to get the Vienna collection better known for researchers in the field, - to initiate new (comparative) projects utilizing its huge inventory, - by all this: to support a better maintenance of the Vienna collection, which is partly in a poor shape as neither politicians, nor administrators recognize its unique historical value. Being no top priority of those government administrations which own it, the Vienna Collection is at risk to be dispersed or to be simply put away for good. By presenting the collection and its inventory at a Conference of the size and prominence of ECER, an important step could be done to maintain the collection and to improve its scientific use and maintenance.