Information on the digitization of medieval manuscripts in Bremen state and university library

Within the framework of a project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), SuUB Bremen is digitizing its complete collection of medieval manuscripts from 2020 to 2021. The manuscripts will be digitized in cooperation with Wolfenbüttel research library (Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel), enriched with metadata and made freely accessible on the portal Digital Collections of SuUB Bremen online and the HAB Wolfenbüttel. They will be indexed in Manuscripta Mediaevalia or the manuscript portal based on it and will also be searchable via the catalogue of the Common Library Network (GVK).

The holdings of SuUB Bremen include 124 medieval manuscripts, in addition to three codices from the art collections of Böttcherstraße (Kunstsammlungen der Böttcherstraße) on permanent loan. The codices were created between the 9th and the early 16th century and are diverse in content, language, writing and text form. Characteristic of the Bremen holdings are the frequent illuminations. Thematically, the collection is broadly diversified and includes not only theological and legal writings, but also literary texts, documents and chronicles. Thus the collection of medieval manuscripts of the SuUB Bremen represents the entire spectrum of high to late medieval culture of writing, intellectual and knowledge.

In preparation for the DFG project, some codices were digitized in 2016 in cooperation with the HAB Wolfenbüttel. These codices can be accessed via the Bremen portal Digital Collections.