The Abbey Library of Saint Gall (german: Stiftsbibliothek) is a significant medieval monastic library located in St. Gallen, Switzerland. In 1983, the library, as well as the Abbey of St. Gall, were designated a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

, as “an outstanding example of a large Carolingian monastery and was, since the 8th century until its secularisation in 1805, one of the most important cultural centres in Europe”.

History and architecture

The library was founded by

Saint Othmar Othmar, (also ''Audomar'', c. 689 – c. 759) was a Medieval monk and priest. He served as the first abbot of the Abbey of St. Gall, a Benedictine monastery near which the town of St. Gallen, now in Switzerland, developed. Life Othmar was of Al ...

, founder of the Abbey of St. Gall. During a fire in 937, the Abbey was destroyed, but the library remained intact. The library hall, designed by the architect

Peter Thumb Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

in a

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

style, was constructed between 1758 and 1767. A Greek inscription above the entrance door, (), translates as "healing place for the soul".

Collections

The library collection is the oldest in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, and one of the earliest and most important monastic libraries in the world. The library holds almost 160,000

volume Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The de ...

s, with most available for public use. In addition to older printed books, the collection includes 1650 ''incunabula'' (books printed before 1500), and 2100

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

dating back to the 8th through 15th centuries; among the most notable of the latter are items of Irish,

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

, and Ottonian production. These

codices The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...

are held inside glass cases, each of which is topped by a carved

cherub A cherub (; plural cherubim; he, כְּרוּב ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'', likely borrowed from a derived form of akk, 𒅗𒊏𒁍 ''karabu'' "to bless" such as ''karibu'', "one who blesses", a name for the lamassu) is one of the u ...

offering a visual clue as to the contents of the shelves below; for instance, the case of astronomy-related materials bears a cherub observing the books through a telescope. Books published before 1900 are to be read in a special reading room. The manuscript B of the '' Nibelungenlied'' is kept here. A virtual library has been created to provide broader access to the manuscripts: ''Codices Electronici Sangallenses''. This project has been expanded to include codices from other libraries as well and is operating under the name e-codices. Currently, more than 600 manuscripts from the Abbey library of Saint Gall are available in digital format.

Manuscripts

Codex Sangallensis 18 Uncial 0130 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 80 ( Soden), is a Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament, dated palaeographically to the 9th-century. Formerly it was labelled by Wc. Description The codex contains a small part of the M ...

Codex Sangallensis 48 Codex Sangallensis, designated by Δ or 037 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 76 ( von Soden), is a Greek-Latin diglot uncial manuscript of the four Gospels. It is usually dated palaeographically to the 9th century CE, though a few palaeograp ...

Codex Sangallensis 878 Codex Sangallensis 878 is a manuscript kept in the library of the Abbey of St. Gall, in Switzerland. It dates to the 9th century and probably originates in Fulda monastery. It contains mainly excerpts of grammatical texts, including the ''Ars minor' ...

Notes

References

* Beat Matthias von Scarpatetti: ''Die Handschriften der Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen. Codices 547–669. Hagiographica, Historica, Geographica 8.–18. Jahrhundert.'' Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2003, . * Beat Matthias von Scarpatetti: ''Die Handschriften der Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen. Codices 1726–1984 (14.–19. Jahrhundert). Beschreibendes Verzeichnis.'' Verlag am Klosterhof, St. Gallen 1983, . *

External links