Collections
Manuscripts
The manuscript collection grew continuously throughout the history of the ULB. Apart from items once acquired for teaching purposes or originating from the same, the collection also includes items of the secularisation from the 19th century, manuscripts from the library of Johann August von Ponickau, holdings of the Thuringian-Saxon History Society as well as the Quedlinburg Abbey and Grammar School Library. After the Second World War, the collection further expanded by the acquisition of library holdings from private or ecclesiastical institutions.
There are digitsed catalogues on the following manuscript collections: the Ponickau manuscripts,the pieces of the Thuringian-Saxon Historical Society and the pieces with Hartwig signature (y-signature) (registered both in the Author Catalogue and the Subject Catalogue. All digitised manuscripts are researchable in Ha:Lit and OPAC.
Some of the manuscripts that entered the ULB after 1945 are only listed in card catalogues; we will research them for you: historische-sammlungen@bibliothek.uni-halle.de.
The ULB calls about 320 medieval manuscripts its own. About half of them are already available digitally, including the manuscripts from the Quedlinburg Abbey Library and all of the medieval manuscripts in german.
The collection contains, amongst others, outstanding pieces such as a gospel book with Carolingian illumination from St. Amand, the oldest surviving copy of the Sachsenspiegel or a late medieval pouch book.
Scholarly catalogues of the Quedlinburg manuscripts and the German manuscripts Inventory of the remaining Latin medieval codices See also: Handschriftenportal.
With around 300 items, the ULB Saxony-Anhalt has one of the largest autograph books collection in Germany. “Alba Amicorum” originated during the Reformation in the university milieu, when students asked their academic teachers for dedicated entries in their (text) books. This tradition developed into a book genre of its own, in which dedication entries from professors, fellow students, friends and relatives were compiled. The books of the ULB usually have a regional background.
Interview by WTV - Der Offene Kanal aus Wettin e.V.
A digital copy of the majority of the autograph books is available online.
The ULB’s collection of music manuscripts comprises around 3000 titles. Particularly significant are the items from the “Arno Werner Music Library” (1965-1955), which contains copies of works by well-known composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Bach, Hasse and other composers from Central Germany.
Music manuscripts are researchable for example in the "Répertoire International des Sources Musicales."
