History
The MGH was originally founded as a private text publication society by the Prussian reformer Heinrich Friedrich Karl Freiherr vom Stein in 1819. The first volume appeared in 1826. The editor from 1826 until 1874 was Georg Heinrich Pertz, who was succeeded by Georg Waitz. Many eminent medievalists from Germany and, eventually, other countries, joined in the project of searching out and comparing manuscripts and producing scholarly editions. The motto chosen by Klein, Sanctus amor patriae dat animum ("Holy love for the fatherland gives the spirit") is explained as linking Romantic nationalism with professional scholarship.
In 1875 the MGH was established as a more formal institution with headquarters in Berlin. It was taken over by the state in 1935 and renamed the Reichsinstitut für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde (National Institute for Older German History). This was abolished in 1945, at the end of World War II, but was subsequently revived under its original name with the support of German institutions and the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
The "Monumenta Germaniae Historica" Institute has been located in Munich since 1949 and possesses a large specialized library on the medieval history of Germany and Europe, including Church history, along with 130,000 monographs and approximately 150,000 dependent writings. It moved into its current premises in the building of the Bavarian State Library in 1967.
The project, a major effort of historical scholarship, continues in the 21st century. In 2004 the MGH, with the support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, made all of its publications in print for more than five years available online, in photo-digital reproduction, via a link on the MGH homepage.
Read more about this topic: Monumenta Germaniae Historica
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