Dating from the 16^th to 19^th centuries, the manuscripts and prints were written in Latin, Low German, High German, and occasionally in French. The documents provide direct insight into the history of urban society. Occasional writings are among the most important biographical sources for research into the early modern period and are significant for numerous academic disciplines.

With the project “From baptism until death. Personal occasional writings at Bremen State and University Library (16th until 19th century). Indexing and digitisation” the DFG is supporting the indexing and digitization of occasional writings related to Bremen’s history. The project will run from 2025 to 2028, and the documents will be made available gradually. Some titles are already available within the SuUB's digital collection: https://brema.suub.uni-bremen.de/?lang=en

Documents as Windows into the Past

Most of the people mentioned in these documents lived and worked in Bremen. “These writings are like windows into the past that we can open to learn about life in Bremen long before our time,” says Anne Harnisch, who is head of the project. This type of source contains a wealth of material, especially on the lives of women about whom there are otherwise few written records.

The prints and manuscripts are stored in the library’s historical collections and as part of the project being processed, scanned, and made available to the public in the SuUB’s digital collections. In this way, they complement the existing range of full texts. In addition to meta data, an index of persons, and a calendar search, further filter options will be available in the future for more convenient searching.

Further Information:

https://www.suub.uni-bremen.de/home-english/catalogs-and-collections-/rare-books/

Contact:

Anne Harnisch
Head of the DFG project on Personal Occasional Writings (16^th-19^th Century)
State and University Library Bremen
Phone: +49 421 21859573
Email: anne.harnischprotect me ?!suub.uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de