Wiesbaden Codex

Wiesbaden Codex

The massive tome stored under the shelf mark Hs. 2 of the Hessian State Library, which was incorporated into the library of the RheinMain University of Applied Sciences in 2011, is the most precious and valuable book in the collection because it contains the collected works of the medieval German abbess, polymath, and visionary Hildegard von Bingen, except for her medical and scientific treatises. It has been theorized that these were recorded in a second volume that has not survived or was ever complete. Dating from the late 12th century, it was begun around or just after the end of her life and was created in the scriptorium of Rupertsberg Monastery near Bingen.
Many consider the manuscript to be a relic and icon of the spirit of Saint Hildegard. It is sometimes referred to as the Wiesbaden Codex because of where it is stored, or the Giant Codex due to its size, or the Chain Codex for the iron chain that secures it. Measuring 46 x 30 cm, the codex contains 481 parchment folios and weighs 15 kg, but the facsimile presented here contains the musical section found on folios 466-481.

History of a Book Treasure

The codex was commissioned by one of Hildegard’s final secretaries, either Volmar von Disibodenberg or Guibert of Gembloux, who are also believed to have served as scribes. It was kept in the Rupertsberg Monastery until the 15th or 16th century, when it was rebound in the Johannisberg Monastery in the Rheingau region and fitted with its iron chain to secure it against theft before being returned to Rupertsberg. During the Thirty Years’ War, it was saved from destruction at the hand of marauding Swedish troops when it was brought together with a collection of relics received as gifts or collected by Hildegard to Eibingen, a daughter monastery of Rupertsberg.
During the course of Secularization, the manuscript passed into the possession of the Duchy of Nassau in 1814 and was placed in the Nassau State Library, which became the Hessian State Library. Its binding had to be repaired after the manuscript was damaged while being transported in 1928. It survived the Second World War undamaged despite being stored in Dresden and, unlike many other manuscripts in the Soviet Zone of occupation, was returned to Wiesbaden in 1948.