The public library of Stuttgart, Germany is a minimalist's dream with a sleekly crafted crisp white design, both inside and out. On the outside, each vertical side hosts a nine-by-nine grid of cubes with windows open to the complex interior, which has five stories of open floors connected by staircases, giving a futuristic feel.

Stuttgart City Library

The Mafra Palace Library in Portugal is overwhelmingly intricate — a Rococo-style library and elegant architectural wonder with a towering cross-shaped hall and a domed intersection. Once the royal family's summer home, Mafra Palace contains a number of historical artifacts, with books and manuscripts that date all the way back to the 16th century.

The Mafra Palace Library

Known as the "Baroque Pearl of Prague," the Klementinum National Library is a perfectly preserved 16th- and 17th-century wonder with beautiful polished wood features, intricate carvings, and a collection of antique globes. It’s so breathtaking that a reviewer on TripAdvisor actually wrote it outshined seeing his firstborn son for the first time.

Klementinum National Library

Said to be the largest monastic library in the world, the Admont Abbey Library in Austria is fairly plain on the outside, but has an extravagant interior with Baroque details on the walls and ceiling. Having been under construction for several periods of time, it reflects significant periods of art styles — and even has secret passageways.

Admont Abbey Library

Once a monastery, Wiblingen Abbey in Germany is home to one of the most beautiful libraries in the world, containing art in a number of art forms other than the written word. It houses gorgeous, full-scale statues, grand columns, and vibrant, polished gold, pink, and blue accents throughout, and a painted fresco domed ceiling.

Wiblingen Monastery Library