dMGH - Die digitalen Monumenta Germaniae Historica (dMGH)

Link: http://www.mgh.de/dmgh/ [02. 05. 2013]

„Die digitalen Monumenta Germaniae Historica (dMGH)“ is a digitization of all editions that have been published in print by the Monumenta Germaniae Historica (MGH) since 1826. The MGH is one of the oldest and most renowned editorial projects in the world, which was founded in 1819 with the aim to provide editions of all main historical sources relating to the Holy Roman Empire in the Middle Ages. The publications, which follow sophisticated editorial rules that are widely accepted as a standard, are grouped in five main series (Scriptores, Leges, Diplomata, Epistolae and Antiquitates) which include historiographical texts and chronicles from late antiquity to the late Middle Ages (including the Liber Pontificalis), laws and legal texts, charters of the kings and emperors of the Holy Roman Empire (as well as the most influential lay princes), letters , books of commemoration, as well as poetical, theological and ethical writings. Besides critically edited and annotated texts, the dMGH also offer access to the introductions, commentaries, indices and illustrations contained in the individual volumes. In addition, the iMGH (Indices tomorum Monumentorum Germaniae Historicorum: http://www.mgh.de/dmgh/imgh/) allow access to a database of mediaeval place names and their modern equivalents, which is derived from the cumulative indices of all editions of the MGH. The database is yet to be completed, in the long run every place name will be identified by the corresponding geographic coordinates.

The dMGH is a joint venture of the Institute of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica (MGH) and the Bavarian State Library (both Munich). It was launched on 1^st July 2004. The digitization of all 360 volumes hitherto published was completed by the end of 2010. Since then, all newly published editions have been added to the dMGH after a period of three years of availability in print (“moving wall”).

The website is in German only. A word-search can be executed in the complete database, but can also be restricted to either source texts, text-critical annotations, complementary notes and other texts or to one of the publicational series (Scriptores, Leges, Diplomata, Epistolae, Antiquitates and other series). Results can be shown by means of the scanned pages or as OCR. Results can chosen to be arranged in respect to volume, title, year or relevance.

There is no possibility for the user to annotate, correct or add to the material directly, it is possible, however, to contact a member of staff via e-mail.

All levels of the dMGH are available on open access and for free, login is not necessary and, in fact, not possible.