Greifswald’s oldest books can be accessed digitally via another new portal. The Manuscript Portal (HSP) is the central online portal for handwritten books from the Middle Ages and modern times. These books are unique cultural artifacts and unique historical sources. The participating libraries from all over Germany make their historical works available to the public and researchers via the portal.

The Greifswald University Library (UBG) and the Library of the Spiritual Ministry in Greifswald as a historical church library have a rich collection of medieval manuscripts. These collections are an important part of the educational and cultural history of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In a project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Greifswald University Library (UBG) digitized the valuable works and presented the results via the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Digital Libraryand in the manuscript portal.

In the project, 104 manuscript volumes from the Greifswald Ministry of Spirituality and 55 volumes from the holdings of the Greifswald University Library were digitized. In total, this resulted in 83,375 image files with 72,293 pages. Together with previously digitized works, 165 manuscripts stored in Greifswald are now available via the M-V Digital Library and the manuscript portal.

Digitizing medieval manuscripts is a particular challenge. Before they can be scanned, bookbinders and conservators work on books with water damage, loose leaves, or defective bindings. In addition, the employees have to handle the valuable unique items with particular care.

You can learn a lot more here.