Cathedral Chapter Library and Archive
The Merseburg Cathedral Abbey Archive and the "famous and much-visited" Merseburg Cathedral Abbey Library are among the few institutions in Germany that can look back on over 1,000 years of history at the place where they were founded and preserve a collection of sources and books spanning more than 1,200 years. Despite all the losses caused by wars, plundering and looting, the archives and library of the Merseburg Cathedral Chapter still contain impressive testimonies to European cultural history to this day.
Stocks
The cathedral chapter archive primarily contains written material that has arisen from the course of business, jurisdiction and property management of the Merseburg cathedral chapter. The collection comprises almost 2,000 parchment and paper documents from the period between 974 and 1811, around 800 volumes of files, including very valuable copy books, and 131 mostly coloured parchment inscription plates. The 20 original documents of German kings and emperors from the 11th and 12th centuries are certainly one of the archive's greatest treasures.
Today, the library has almost 200 medieval and modern manuscripts and over 10,000 titles of printed works. With this collection, the Merseburg Cathedral Abbey Library is not one of the largest cathedral libraries in Germany. Nevertheless, individual manuscripts such as the Merseburg spells, the Merseburg Bible or individual incunabula make it one of the most famous libraries in Germany - the Merseburg Cathedral Abbey Library is a small treasure house of textual tradition.
History
The beginnings of the Merseburg Cathedral Abbey Library are closely linked to the re-establishment of the diocese by Emperor Henry II (1002–1024) in 1004 and the collecting activities of the first Merseburg bishops. The rich endowment by the ruler, who was canonised in 1146, included numerous manuscripts of very great age and of various origins. Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg (1009–1018).
The oldest surviving complete library catalogue from around 1565 gives an idea of the cathedral library's holdings in modern times: at that time, there were 173 manuscripts and 302 printed works. Theological, legal and historical writings formed the main part of the collection, while poetic and philosophical texts were clearly in the minority. This composition is particularly indicative of the daily needs of the Merseburg cathedral chapter in the theological and legal fields.
Between 1004 and the present day, the location of the archive and library within the Merseburg Cathedral chapter house has changed several times. Since August 2006, the archives and library of the Merseburg Cathedral Chapter have finally been housed in the newly refurbished chapter house.
Research
Would you like to view our exhibits for research? Then please use our multimedia archive KoRAX.
This is the online database of the archives and libraries of the Vereinigte Domstifter. The database will have further items added to it on a continual basis over the coming years. Using this resource, not only can you research exhibits but also access all sources in digital form. This means you can view them as many times as you like.
For on-site research, please contact the director of the Merseburg Cathedral Abbey Library and Archives:
Markus Cottin
Phone: +49 (0) 3461 82 33 73
Fax: +49 (0) 3461 72 06 21
m.cottin@vereinigtedomstifter.de
