• Responsibility of: Kiel University Library, Department of Historical Collections
• Managed by: Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel
• Contact: Dr. Christian Heitzmann, Head of Department of Manuscripts and Special Collections
• Staff member: Kerstin Schnabel
• Funded by: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
• Project status: Start date: 1 September 2013
• Timetable: 6 year term (initially approved for 3 years to 30 August 2016, extended by 3 years to 30 August 2019) for approx. half the collection

Project description:
The aim of the three-year DFG (German Research Foundation) project of Kiel University Library and the Manuscript Centre of Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel is to produce a codicological description of and index the content of the medieval manuscripts from the Bordesholm Augustinian monastery, which form Kiel University Library's the oldest collection.
Of the more than 650 manuscripts and printed works, which the monastery accounted for at the time of its dissolution (1566), 139 manuscripts and 163 printed volumes are held in Kiel. This is not only the most important medieval manuscript collection in Schleswig-Holstein, but also, given its scope and completeness, a rare remnant of a pre-Reformation monastery library on a greater level. The Bordesholm collection is currently only accessible in the form of an antiquated printed catalogue from the 19th century (Ratjen, Henning: Zur Geschichte der Kieler Universitätsbibliothek. (The history of Kiel University Library) Kiel 1862-1863.), which does not offer any in-depth indexing by today's standards.
A manuscript catalogue in printed and Internet-based form is to be produced according to DFG guidelines. In addition, the entire collection is to be digitalised and testing of a new method for recording watermarks is to be carried out. This will create, on the one hand, a tool for various historical and philological disciplines that facilitates diverse approaches to research and unhindered access. On the other, it will provide the foundation for research into the monastic culture of knowledge in the Middle Ages. The region north of the Elbe, which has been neglected to date in both these respects, will thereby be indexed for research in one essential step.

Relation to other projects:
The indexing dates will also be incorporated into the Manuscripta Mediaevalia database.