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| Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt |
The new archive director of Darmstadt is a mysterious man; he is unseen, but the effects of his presence are felt. "He is of a more restrictive nature," said one of the other archivists, explaining why I could not look at original charters anymore (unless specially requested for the sake of seals or legibility) but should instead use the available microfiches. Now, I of course feel very strongly about the desirability of preserving medieval charters. In the interests of this high purpose, I forego the pleasure of (delicately and with scrupulously clean hands and always on a padded support covered in linen) handling them myself… not entirely without repining. On the bright side, this does put the microfiche section of How To Use A Library lessons I had in middle school to good use. My "home base" of Mainz's municipal archive has also putting me at the microfilm reader (in the tiny room also containing the printer and the coffee machine) to look at charters. I have successfully begged for exceptions to the rule there, though. Perhaps a memo went out telling German archivists that more strictness should be their new year's resolution. I still find widely varying policies. Some archives (Darmstadt, Würzburg) only bring out documents twice a day; others will get materials for you whenever you need them. In Mainz, it's been policy for years not to allow photographs; elsewhere, archivists have taken initiative in offering that I can photograph things! [Side note: if I take photos on my phone, I can turn said photos into a PDF and then export the PDF into the software program that I use to take notes on my computer. Who needs flying cars?]
This past week contained a journey to a new archive, this time in Worms. Worms' claims to fame, historically speaking, are its prominence in the Nibelungenlied, and the fact that Martin Luther made himself a public and obstinate heretic there in 1521 ("Hier stehe ich…") On Wednesday, my day was mostly spent looking at the account books of the city's leper hospital, but there was a two-hour lunch break in which I had nothing to do but eat a sandwich. I spent the rest of it biking around to look at churches. So, without further ado, Worms:
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| The Nibelungenlied section of Worms' archive library |
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| The Liebfrauenstift (from which Liebfraumilch comes) |
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| Liebfrauen, interior |
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| The wall of the vineyard |
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| The cathedral |
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| St. Andreas |
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| Fragment of a 1st-century Roman funerary monument |
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| The old synagogue, opposite the archive |
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