File:Library of the Gatchina Palace Museum (10994666015).jpg

The Gatchina Palace was originally built in the late 18th Century for a Russian count; however, Catherine the Great eventually purchased the property and it became an imperial residence for the next century. It was a particular favorite of her son, Emperor Paul I, and was used by all subsequent czars until the Russian Revolution. In May of 1917, the provisional government declared Gatchina (as well as other royal residences in Peterhof and Tsarskoye Selo) to be now used for the recording of and preservation of the history of the palaces and their former residents. It opened to the public in 1918, and is still a museum-preserve which boasts a substantial rare book collection. The museum sustained heavy damage during WWII; according to the museum website, very few books were able to be evacuated and the library was looted by the German Army. Post-war, about half of the original holdings were returned.
This book stamp is from a book looted by the Nazis and sorted by Colonel Seymour Pomrenze, one of “the Monuments Men,” at the Offenbach Archival Depot.

There are two scrapbooks of archival markings from the books sorted at the Offenbach Depot in the Seymour Pomrenze Collection held by the American Jewish Historical Society (Call number P-933) There is a finding aid for the collection http://findingaids.cjh.org/?pID=1463157 The digitized scrapbooks are available http://digital.cjh.org/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=1666403 and http://digital.cjh.org/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=1665570.

For more information on this project check the Center’s blog: http://16thstreet.tumblr.com/tagged/Offenbach-Depot

Dr. Mitch Fraas, Acting Director of the Digital Humanities Forum at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries' Special Collections Center is working on a similar project for the German book stamps based on NARA microfilm of the volumes the American Jewish Historical Society currently holds. See http://viewshare.org/views/mfraas/offenbach-bookplates/
The Center for Jewish History would like to acknowledge the following: The American Jewish Historical Society, who graciously allowed the use of their archival materials and digital content; Mitch Fraas, Acting Director of the Digital Humanities Forum at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries' Special Collections Center, for his data and technical assistance in this project; David Rosenberg, Senior Manager for Communications, and Melanie Meyers, Senior Reference Services Librarian for Special Collections, for managing and creating the digital map; as well as Reference Services Librarian Zachary Loeb and Reference Services Assistant Ilya Slavutskiy for their work on translating and mapping.