Merseburg (dpa/sa) – The unique handwritten “Merseburg Spells” now have a double. The faithful replicas were presented to the public in Merseburg Cathedral on Friday. “The amount of work was enormous, but it was worth it,” said book restorer Annette Friedrich from the studio for book restoration and facsimiles “Goldene Esel” Halle. “Visitors won’t notice any difference from the original.”
Together with Rita Lass and Helmut Stabe, the work took around seven weeks, said Friedrich. The copy is the same as the original in terms of material – even in the smallest details.
The original spells are part of a liturgical collection of around 100 pages from the 9th/10th centuries. Century. The three double pages now available as facsimiles include not only the magic spells but also two other German texts, the “Frankish Baptismal Oath” and the “Merseburg Prayer Fragment”.
“The magic spells are among the oldest old German texts,” said Markus Cottin, head of the Cathedral Chapter Archives and the Merseburg Cathedral Library. They were written down by a monk more than 1000 years ago.
The first spell served the information after the liberation of a prisoner, the second the healing of an injured horse’s foot. The sayings were only rediscovered in 1841 in the Merseburg cathedral chapter library. The magic spells are among the most valuable holdings in the cathedral chapter library and, in accordance with a decree from 1930, are only rarely shown to the public. With the copy now made, the text remains permanently visible to visitors.
Saxony-Anhalt is committed to having the writings, which experts consider unique, included in the register of the Unesco world documentary heritage.
