Cultural heritage saved from decay
City Library: Two important historical titles restored
Once again, valuable exhibits from the Chemnitz City Library's collection have been restored thanks to funding from the Coordination Centre for the Preservation of Written Cultural Heritage (KEK): the "Heydenweldt" by the priest Johannes Herold and five volumes of works by Hans Sachs.
The "Heydenweldt" by the priest Johannes Herold, published in Basel in 1554, is dedicated to antiquity and its world of gods. Herold lists the authors he quotes in a table on the back of the title page. One of the most prominent contemporaries is Georgius Agricola, born in Glauchau in 1494, who, as mayor of Chemnitz, led the city in difficult times and, as a polymath, wrote on various topics, especially mining and metallurgy. His "De re metallica" (twelve books on mining and metallurgy), published in 1556, became world-famous and is a unique historical source on mining and metallurgy, processing, geology and mineralogy. Herold was familiar with Agricola's writings. He names him alongside Socrates, Aristotle, Cicero and Sophocles.
The five volumes of the Kempten edition of the works of Hans Sachs, published between 1612 and 1616, which have also been restored, come from the library of the Chemnitz Lyceum, as evidenced by a stamp and the imprint "pro schol" on the binding. The educational institution, which was first mentioned in a document in 1399 and existed until 1835, was one of the four important Saxon Latin schools whose educational canon prepared boys for university studies. The Chemnitz Latin School played a prominent role in public life, with numerous theatre performances in the heart of the city contributing to this. It is therefore not surprising that a Hans Sachs edition was part of the Lyceum's library collection.
Hans Sachs (1494-1576), Nuremberg shoemaker and poet, created an extensive, multifaceted oeuvre consisting of master songs, proverbs, theatre plays and prose poetry. Even during his lifetime, Sachs' works, which are characterised by their closeness to life, witty ideas and drastic comedy, were read and performed.
By treating the paper, stabilising the stitching, restoring the bindings and adding missing clasps, the desolate condition of the volumes could be rectified, thus creating the basis for the preservation of this valuable cultural asset and its use. The Centre for Book Conservation in Leipzig was commissioned with the restoration based on the CEC 2021 funding of 5,000 euros.
The restoration was funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM), the Kulturstiftung der Länder (KSL) and the Koordinierungsstelle für die Erhaltung des schriftlichen Kulturguts (KEK).
The particularly valuable cultural assets in the Chemnitz City Library's collection include around 3,500 media published up to 1850. These include medieval manuscripts, incunabula and prints from the 16th to the middle of the 19th century. They have suffered considerable damage over the centuries due to use, the effects of war, fires, water, relocation and unfavourable storage conditions. In order to preserve this important cultural heritage for posterity, the Chemnitz City Library is continuously carrying out restoration work.
Funding for the restoration of seven incunabula was applied for and confirmed for 2022. The Chemnitz City Library would also like to take advantage of this funding programme again in 2023.