Bibliotheca Amploniana

The Bibliotheca Amploniana is one of the most important manuscript collections in Germany and is also the largest manuscript collection of a late medieval scholar that has been preserved in its entirety. It is the central segment of the holdings of manuscripts and old prints kept in the special collection of the Erfurt University Library.

In 1412, the physician and scholar Amplonius Rating de Berka left his collection (633 volumes of manuscripts) to the Collegium Porta Coeli (Amplonianum) in Erfurt, which he had founded. His scholarship holders were obliged to give the Collegium at least one book after completing their studies.

Today the Bibliotheca Amploniana contains a total of 979 manuscript volumes and 1882 incunabula and prints. Theological, philosophical and medical texts stand out from the collection in terms of both number and content. There are also numerous codices on grammar, rhetoric, poetry and classical authors as well as on civil and canon law or mathematics.

After the old university University was closed in the 19th century, the precious collection could be kept in Erfurt thanks to the commitment of the citizens. It has been the property of the City of Erfurt since 1908 and was transferred to the refounded University of Erfurt in December 2001 as a permanent loan.