100 Admont manuscripts online
Tuesday, 19 September 2017
In 2016, 100 medieval manuscripts from the collection at Admont Abbey were digitised in a complex process that was gentle on the old materials.
On 9 February, these first 100 digital copies went online during a ceremony in the manuscript room of Admont Abbey and are now freely available to researchers and interested parties. A co-operation with the Austrian Academy of Sciences enables free access to the manuscripts via the database www.manuscripta.at. The oldest manuscripts in the library can now be digitally analysed.
At this ceremony, the head of the abbey archive and library, Fr Maximilian Schiefermüller, was able to welcome not only Abbot Bruno Hubl, but also the newly elected Abbot Gerhard Hafner. The guests also included Provost Markus Grasl from the Augustinian canons' monastery in Reichersberg as well as numerous confreres from Admont Abbey and the neighbouring monasteries of Seitenstetten and Schlierbach. Economic Director Helmuth Neuner attended the event, as did many interested colleagues from the abbey's businesses and Admont Abbey High School.
Klosterneuburg Abbey is a cooperation partner for the digitisation of manuscripts. Abbey librarian Martin Haltrich is not only responsible for coordinating the project, but also for providing specialist staff for the digitisation. Together with Edith Kapeller, Julia Schön and Herbert Kramer, he reported on the digitisation process. Christine Glassner, Head of the Department of Writing and Books at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, then presented the manuscript portal www.manuscripta.at which from now on will be continuously enriched with Admont digitised material.
The event was musically framed by P. Florian Ehebruster OSB from Seitenstetten Abbey with atmospheric baroque pieces on the harpsichord.