English summary
Up to now Hebrew and Aramaic binding fragments in German archives and libraries have scarcely been examined. The central object of our conference „Genizat Germania“ is to resent and to evaluate manuscript fragments newly discovered in the binding of books and archival files in archives and libraries throughout Europe. The first project to systematically search for these fragments in Germany is part of the Historical Cultural Research Center Mainz – Trier (HKFZ). The name „Genizat Germania“ refers back to the Hebrew term „Geniza“ that discribes storerooms in old synagoges where discarded religious texts were hidden away in order to protect them from destruction. The purpose of secundary use of manuscripts in binding was different but, in fact, many fragments have been preserved that will change the
way we perceive the literary culture of the Jews in medieval Europe. The conference pursues three important issues
- to present the new findings of Hebrew binding fragments in Mainz and Trier in the context of similar binding fragments from Europe
- to draw the attention of archives and libraries to a new project of cataloguing and identifying at the University of Mainz
- to foster the systematical disclosure of further unidentified fragments in the stocks of collections in Germany.
We are happy to welcome top referents from the countries concerned and the different subjects on the conference.
For a full programm see the attached flyer.
See also: