The famous Ottheinrich Bibel is once again complete. The three volumes of this masterpiece, which was written in Regensburg during the 15th and 16th centuries, and which have belonged to the Bavarian State Library since 1950, have now been joined by the missing five volumes. With the purchase in London of the missing Bible volumes by the Free State of Bavaria, an important German-language cultural artifact has been secured.
Before the Ottheinrich Bible is stored safely in the vault, like the majority of the library’s treasures, it is set to go on tour to Berlin (until November 2, 2009 in the Deutsches Historisches Museum) as well as to two other cities. Prior to the journey, however, the gold and color pigments of the newly added volumes had to be secured, page for page.
The Ottheinrich Bible can be viewed on the Internet as a flash animation at:
In its complete form, the bible is an invaluable cultural document and is one of the absolute highlights of the historic holdings of the Bavarian State Library, one of Europe’s most renowned libraries. During its over 450 year history, around ten million volumes have been collected. Every year, around 150,000 new ones are added; top priority is always given to the preservation of these historic treasures. Alone 1.5 million volumes from between 1840 and 1970 are in the process of disintegrating completely due to acidic corrosion of the paper used back then. The rescue lies in digitalization. Together with Google, the State Library is, in the meantime, working to safeguard their holdings, ensuring that the library and its treasures, like the Ottheinrich Bible, are safe for the future and for future use. Undisturbed by it all, are the stone figures of Homer, Aristotle, Thucydides and Hippocrates who continue to greet all visitors to the State Library.
