- Berlin State Library (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin): Holds one of the largest collections of Persian manuscripts in Germany, largely acquired through 20th-century Orientalists like Oskar Rescher.
- Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Munich): Holds a vast collection of Persian manuscripts, including those acquired from the 17th century onwards, with 37.2 million media units.
- Gotha Research Library (Forschungsbibliothek Gotha): Contains early Oriental manuscripts, many acquired in the 18th and 19th centuries, including significant "Turk loot" (Türkenbeute) from military conflicts.
- Museum für Asiatische Kunst (Berlin): Part of the Turfan Collection, which contains various manuscripts and text fragments from Central Asia.
- Garshaspnama (Book of Garshasp): This famous epic poem, completed in 1066, is represented in various collections. While the oldest manuscript is in London (BM Or. 2780), fragments, copies, and folios exist in German holdings.
- Lughat-e Furs (Dictionary of Persian): Asadi Tusi’s famous dictionary, the oldest existing Persian dictionary based on poetic examples, is found in several of these collections.
- Folios: Specific illustrated folios from a Garshaspnama (such as the battle scene) are often found within specialized Islamic art collections in Germany.
- Qalamos: The primary database for searching Islamic/Oriental manuscripts held in German libraries, including those in Berlin and Leipzig.
- Digitized Collections: Many of these libraries, particularly the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, have extensive digital collections, with over 3.3 million digitized works available.
- Printed Catalogues: Detailed descriptions of these manuscripts can be found in the Verzeichnis der Orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland (VOHD).
- Collection Origin: Many Persian manuscripts in Munich, including potential literary works, came from the Quatremère collection.
- Accessibility: The manuscripts can be consulted in the Reading Room for Manuscripts and Rare Books.
- Digital Access: The Bayerische Staatsbibliothek is actively digitizing its collections, and many are available through their digital portal.
- Related Works: The British Museum holds a noted 1573 copy of Asadi Tusi's Garshasp-nama (Or. 12985), and another folio is in the National Museum of Asian Art.
Persian manuscripts of the State Libraries of Berlin and Munich entered in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register
Jalal ad-Din Rumi is considered as one of the most important Persian-language poets, philosophers and mystics of the Middle Ages. The Mevlevi order, the order of whirling Dervishes, goes back to Rumi, who is also known as Maulana (Mevlana in Turkish, "our master").
The manuscript from the holdings of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (BSB Cod.pers. 45) is the second of six books of Rumi's master work "Masnawi-ye ma'nawi" ("Spiritual Couplets"). The manuscript was created in 1307 and forms part of the earliest manuscripts of the "Masnawi-ye ma'nawi". The secondary entries in the margins of the pages, between the lines or the columns contribute to the high scholarly and text-historical importance of the manuscript. The Munich manuscript comes from the library of the well-known French Orientalist Étienne Marc Quatremère (1782 – 1857), which was acquired for the then Court Library in 1858.
The manuscript from the holdings of the Berlin State Library (Minutoli 21) comprises all six books of the "Maṯnawī-i maʿnawī" and contains around 25,000 verses. Crafted in the year 1337, the manuscript has two glossaries, which facilitate understanding the text with explanations, and additionally has margins in the form of supplements and variants. The manuscript forms part of the Minutoli collection, which was acquired in 1863 by the then Royal Library. The collection comprises 300 volumes, among them 117 Persian manuscripts.
Dr. Achim Bonte, Director General of the Berlin State Library – Prussian Cultural Heritage, and Dr. Klaus Ceynowa, Director General of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek: "The entry of the manuscripts by Jalal ad-Din Rumi in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register again underlines the importance attached to the two state libraries on an international level, due to their unique historical holdings."
BSB Cod.pers. 45 in the Digital Collections of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek:
https://mdz-nbn-resolving.de/details:bsb00036285
Minutoli 21 in the Digitized Collections of the Berlin State Library:
http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB00002D7400000000
Image material
The press images of the two manuscripts BSB Cod.pers. 45 and Minutoli 21 can be found at:
https://syncandshare.lrz.de/getlink/fi5Z1A4mK6LF3JJy8Qc2X3/
Press release for download
Press release (PDF, 215 KB)
Contact Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
Dr. Dorothea Sommer
Deputy Director General
Phone +49 89 28638-2205
sommer@bsb-muenchen.de
Ulrike Rehusch
Press and Public Relations
Phone +49 89 28638-2057
presse@bsb-muenchen.de
Contact Berlin State Library
Dr. Christoph Rauch
Head of the Oriental Department
Phone +49 30 26643-5800
christoph.rauch@sbb.spk-berlin.de
Barbara Heindl
Head of Press and Public Relations
Phone +49 30 26643-31900
presse@sbb.spk-berlin.de
