The oriental and the east Asian collections of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek are historically grown holdings of international standing.

The oriental collection comprises 260,000 volumes in the following languages: Arabic, Armenian, Georgian, Hebrew, Yiddish, Mongolian, Persian, Tibetan and Indian languages.

The east Asian collection consists of approximately 310,000 volumes in the following languages: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese.

The reference library of the Orient and East Asia Department is located in the  East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room.

The approximately 16,500 oriental and east Asian manuscripts are preserved by the  Department of Manuscripts and Early Printed Books.