Theologischen Handschriften
Item
Country
DE
Name of institution (English)
Hamburg State and University Library "Carl von Ossietzky"
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
deu
Contact information: postal address
Von-Melle-Park 3, D- 20146 Hamburg
Contact information: phone number
0049 40/42838-2233
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
auskunft@sub.uni-hamburg.de
Reference number
Cod. theol.
Type of reference number
Archival reference number
Title (English)
Theological manuscripts
Title (official language of the state)
Theologischen Handschriften
Language of title
deu
Creator / accumulator
Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg Carl von Ossietzky (Stabi)
Date note
14th century/19th century
Language(s)
deu
lat
por
Extent
951 volumes
Type of material
Textual Material
Scope and content
The Theologischen Handschriften is part of the extensive manuscript collection of the Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg. It is composed of Bible manuscripts and others on Liturgy, Patristics and Church History. This collection also includes two copies of Moses Raphael de Aguilar's "Reposta ahum Papel, qui aqui mandou de França uma pesoa de nossa naçao" (Answer to a paper that was sent here by a person of our nation), a polemical writing composed in 17th-century Amsterdam (Cod. theol. 1831 and Cod. theol. 1832). The volumes are wrongly identified as "Isaac Orobius: Antichristus sive Christianae religionis concussio", and were produced between the second half of the 17th century (Cod. theol. 1831) and the first half of the 18th century (Cod. theol. 1832). Toribio Pérez (2013) identified a fragmentary draft of a Latin translation of Aguilar's writing composed by Johann Christoph Wolf (1683-1739) in Cod. theol. 1831 (a sheet folded in quarto minor inserted between pages 8v and 9r).
Digital copies of these volumes are available online.
Digital copies of these volumes are available online.
Archival history
The State and University Library holds around 8,100 medieval and non-European manuscripts from a wide variety of subject areas. To date, almost half of these manuscripts have been indexed in the catalogue of manuscripts printed in the Hamburg State and University Library. Due to the war-related relocation in 1943-44, around 1,700 codices are still missing, despite the return from East Berlin (1989), Moscow (1990), Tbilisi (1996), and Yerevan (1998).
The history of the manuscript collection goes back to the beginning of the library, more than 500 years ago. Constantly increasing through donations from Hamburg citizens and scholars, the collection is mainly comprised of extensive material on European and Hamburg scientific and educational history and on the history of the Reformation and the North German Enlightenment, among other things.
Of particular importance are legacies from personalities from the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums and the Hamburger Akademischen Gymnasiums, and circles such as Sebastian von Bergen (1554-1623), Rudolph Capellus (1635-84), Johann Adolph Tassius (1585-1654), Marquard Schlegel (1605-53), Joachim Jungius (1587-1657), the Lindenbrog family, Lucas Holstenius (1596-1661) and Vincent Placcius (1642-99).
The library owes its greatest increase in the number of illuminated manuscripts to the two brothers Johann Christoph (1683-1739) and Johann Christian Wolf (1690-1770), who in turn bought 2,000 volumes from the library of the Frankfurt patrician Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach (1683-1734).
The history of the manuscript collection goes back to the beginning of the library, more than 500 years ago. Constantly increasing through donations from Hamburg citizens and scholars, the collection is mainly comprised of extensive material on European and Hamburg scientific and educational history and on the history of the Reformation and the North German Enlightenment, among other things.
Of particular importance are legacies from personalities from the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums and the Hamburger Akademischen Gymnasiums, and circles such as Sebastian von Bergen (1554-1623), Rudolph Capellus (1635-84), Johann Adolph Tassius (1585-1654), Marquard Schlegel (1605-53), Joachim Jungius (1587-1657), the Lindenbrog family, Lucas Holstenius (1596-1661) and Vincent Placcius (1642-99).
The library owes its greatest increase in the number of illuminated manuscripts to the two brothers Johann Christoph (1683-1739) and Johann Christian Wolf (1690-1770), who in turn bought 2,000 volumes from the library of the Frankfurt patrician Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach (1683-1734).
Administrative / Biographical history
The origins of the Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg date back to the 15th century. In 1479-81, Hinrich Murmester (1435-81), the mayor of Hamburg, founded a city library, which is considered the predecessor of the State and University Library. In 1610, the senator and later mayor Sebastian von Bergen (1554-1623) managed to obtain from the Senate the power to ask Hamburg citizens and members of the guilds to donate books and money to the Johanneum library. The increase in the number of holdings led to the establishment of a library hall in St. Johannis Kloster in 1648.
In the course of the 17th century, the library received different private book and manuscript collections from, for instance, the canon and lawyer Friedrich Lindenbrog (1573-1648), the mathematician Johann Adolph Tassius (1585-1654), the doctor and naturalist Joachim Jungius (1587-1657), the city physicist Paul Marquard Schlegel (1605-53), the cantor Thomas Selle (1599-1663), the director of the Vatican Library Lucas Holstenius (1596-1661; partial estate), the philologist Vincent Placcius (1642-99) and the Ducal Brunswick privy councillor and chancellor Heinrich Langenbeck (1603-69). These donations increased the inventory of the public library to 25,000 volumes. This increase also benefited from the decision taken by the senate, in 1696, that publishers and printers had to deliver the books they produced to the library.
The library received its most valuable addition through the donations of the brothers Johann Christoph Wolf (1683-1739) and Johann Christian Wolf (1690-1770). Johann Christoph Wolf was a professor of oriental languages at the Hamburger Akademischen Gymnasiums and a senior pastor at St. Catherine's Church, and he owned an important collection of books and numerous Occidental, Hebrew, and Oriental manuscripts. In 1739, he donated his private library to the city, including his extensive collection of letters from scholars. Johann Christian Wolf, a professor of physics and poetry at the same academy and head of the library, also bequeathed his book and manuscript collections to the city.
The city library grew to over 50,000 volumes, making it one of the most important city libraries in Germany. The building was then demolished, and a new one opened in the same area in 1751. In 1835, the library held 119,000 volumes. Once more, a new building was needed, which was founded in 1840. There, the collections grew rapidly. Towards the end of the 19th century, the library owned around 560,000 volumes, in part as a result of the new acquisitions of private libraries. When the University of Hamburg was founded in 1919, the city library was also given the functions of a university library.
In 1943, at the time of World War II, the library gathered around 850,000 volumes, of which more than 700,000 were destroyed in the air raids. It became the German library with the greatest war losses. Since the library building had also been destroyed, a building on Moorweidenstraße was used as a temporary facility. New buildings were built in 1960 (book depository) and 1968 (administrative facility). The keystone of the building complex, with the reading rooms, was only completed in 1982. One year later, on the 50th anniversary of the Nazi book burnings, the library was given the name of the journalist, writer, and pacifist Carl von Ossietzky (1889-1938). It has since been called the Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg Carl von Ossietzky.
The library currently has a collection of 5.3 million units. As the central scientific library in Hamburg, it serves the Hamburg universities and the scientifically interested population of Hamburg.
In the course of the 17th century, the library received different private book and manuscript collections from, for instance, the canon and lawyer Friedrich Lindenbrog (1573-1648), the mathematician Johann Adolph Tassius (1585-1654), the doctor and naturalist Joachim Jungius (1587-1657), the city physicist Paul Marquard Schlegel (1605-53), the cantor Thomas Selle (1599-1663), the director of the Vatican Library Lucas Holstenius (1596-1661; partial estate), the philologist Vincent Placcius (1642-99) and the Ducal Brunswick privy councillor and chancellor Heinrich Langenbeck (1603-69). These donations increased the inventory of the public library to 25,000 volumes. This increase also benefited from the decision taken by the senate, in 1696, that publishers and printers had to deliver the books they produced to the library.
The library received its most valuable addition through the donations of the brothers Johann Christoph Wolf (1683-1739) and Johann Christian Wolf (1690-1770). Johann Christoph Wolf was a professor of oriental languages at the Hamburger Akademischen Gymnasiums and a senior pastor at St. Catherine's Church, and he owned an important collection of books and numerous Occidental, Hebrew, and Oriental manuscripts. In 1739, he donated his private library to the city, including his extensive collection of letters from scholars. Johann Christian Wolf, a professor of physics and poetry at the same academy and head of the library, also bequeathed his book and manuscript collections to the city.
The city library grew to over 50,000 volumes, making it one of the most important city libraries in Germany. The building was then demolished, and a new one opened in the same area in 1751. In 1835, the library held 119,000 volumes. Once more, a new building was needed, which was founded in 1840. There, the collections grew rapidly. Towards the end of the 19th century, the library owned around 560,000 volumes, in part as a result of the new acquisitions of private libraries. When the University of Hamburg was founded in 1919, the city library was also given the functions of a university library.
In 1943, at the time of World War II, the library gathered around 850,000 volumes, of which more than 700,000 were destroyed in the air raids. It became the German library with the greatest war losses. Since the library building had also been destroyed, a building on Moorweidenstraße was used as a temporary facility. New buildings were built in 1960 (book depository) and 1968 (administrative facility). The keystone of the building complex, with the reading rooms, was only completed in 1982. One year later, on the 50th anniversary of the Nazi book burnings, the library was given the name of the journalist, writer, and pacifist Carl von Ossietzky (1889-1938). It has since been called the Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg Carl von Ossietzky.
The library currently has a collection of 5.3 million units. As the central scientific library in Hamburg, it serves the Hamburg universities and the scientifically interested population of Hamburg.
Access points: locations
Access points: persons, families
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
System of arrangement
The collection is organised under the general rules of libraries.
Links to finding aids
Existence and location of copies
Author of the description
Carla Vieira and Kevin Soares, 2022
Published primary sources
Linked resources
Filter by property
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Handschriften | Existence and location of copies |
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg Carl von Ossietzky (Stabi) | Collections (official language of the state) |