The ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica'' (''MGH'') is a comprehensive series of carefully edited and published

primary source In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under ...

s, both

chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

and

archival An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

, for the study of Northwestern and Central European history from the end of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

to 1500. Despite the name, the series covers important sources for the history of many countries besides Germany, since the Society for the Publication of Sources on Germanic Affairs of the Middle Ages has included documents from many other areas subjected to the influence of Germanic tribes or rulers (Britain, Czech lands, Poland, Austria, France, Low Countries, Italy, Spain, etc.). The editor from 1826 until 1874 was Georg Heinrich Pertz (1795–1876); in 1875 he was succeeded by

Georg Waitz Georg Waitz (9 October 1813 – 24 May 1886) was a German medieval historian and politician. Waitz is often spoken of as the leading disciple of Leopold von Ranke, though perhaps he had more affinity with Georg Heinrich Pertz or Friedrich Christo ...

(1813–1886).

History

The MGH was founded in Hanover as a private text publication society by the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n reformer

Heinrich Friedrich Karl Freiherr vom Stein Heinrich Friedrich Karl Reichsfreiherr vom und zum Stein (25 October 1757 – 29 June 1831), commonly known as Baron vom Stein, was a Prussia, Prussian Politician, statesman who introduced the Prussian reforms, which paved the way for the uni ...

in 1819. The first volume appeared in 1826. The editor from 1826 until 1874 was Georg Heinrich Pertz, who was succeeded by

. Many eminent medievalists from Germany and, eventually, other countries, joined in the project of searching out and comparing manuscripts and producing scholarly editions. The motto chosen, ''Sanctus amor patriae dat animum'' ("Holy love for the fatherland gives the spirit"), is explained as linking

Romantic nationalism Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...

with professional scholarship. In 1875, the MGH was established as a more formal institution with headquarters in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. In 1935, the organization was taken over by the state and renamed the ''Reichsinstitut für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde'' (National Institute for Older German History). This was abolished in 1945, at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. However, the institute was subsequently revived under its original name with the support of German institutions and the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The Monumenta Germaniae Historica Institute has been located in Munich since 1949 and possesses a large specialized library on the medieval history of Germany and Europe, including Church history, along with 130,000 monographs and approximately 150,000 dependent writings. It moved into its current premises in the building of the Bavarian State Library in 1967. The project, a major effort of historical scholarship, continues in the 21st century. In 2004 the MGH, with the support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, made all of its publications in print for more than five years available online, in photo-digital reproduction, via a link on the MGH homepage.

Divisions

The series falls into five main divisions, ''Antiquitates'', ''Diplomata'', ''Epistolae'', ''Leges'' and ''Scriptores'', with an additional smaller division of ''Necrologia''. Many subsidiary series have also been established, including a series of more compact volumes for school use (''Scriptores in usum scholarum'') and special studies (''MGH Schriften'').

References

Bibliography

* Reprinted in

External links

2015 list of publications

The MGH homepage

Digital MGH homepage

Monumenta Germaniae Historica on Archive.org
{{Authority control 1826 non-fiction books Book series introduced in 1826 History books about Germany Series of books Documents Text publication societies 19th-century history books Academic publishing 19th-century Latin books Germanic studies

History

Divisions

See also

References

Bibliography

External links