Memory of the World

They recall cultural turning points in history and are a source of knowledge for the shaping of present and future societies. Since 1992, the UNESCO Memory of the Word programme has aimed at securing and making accessible these documents of exceptional value in archives, libraries and museums.

Memory of the World International Register

The UNESCO Memory of the World International Register currently contains 496 outstanding documents: valuable book collections, manuscripts, unique works, visual, audio and film documents. In Germany, a nomination committee appointed by the German Commission for UNESCO prepares nominations for the World Register. An international advisory committee, appointed by the Director-General of UNESCO, discusses the international admission of documents. The Director-General decides on inscription to the World Register every two years.

Documents from Germany

• Early cylinder recordings of the world's musical traditions (18931952) in the Berlin Phonogramm-Archiv (date of inscription: 1999)
• 42line Gutenberg Bible, printed on vellum, and its contemporary documentary background (2001)
• The literary estate of Goethe in the Goethe and Schiller Archives (2001)
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony no 9, d minor, op. 125 (2001)
• "METROPOLIS" Sicherungsstück Nr. 1: Negative of the restored and reconstructed version 2001 (2001)
• Illuminated manuscripts from the Ottonian period produced in the monastery of Reichenau (Lake Constance) (2003)
• Kinder und Hausmärchen (Children’s and Household Tales) (2005)
• Universalis cosmographia secundum Ptholomaei traditionem et Americi Vespucii aliorumque Lustrationes (2005)
• The Bibliotheca Corviniana Collection (2005)
• Letters from and to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz within the collection of manuscript papers of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (2007)
• Song of the Nibelungs, a heroic poem from mediaeval Europe (2009)
• Patent DRP 37435 “Vehicle with gas engine operation” submitted by Carl Benz, 1886 (2011)
• Construction and Fall of the Berlin Wall and the TwoPlus-Four-Treaty of 1990 (2011)
• Lorsch Pharmacopoeia (The Bamberg State Library, Msc.Med.1) (2013)
• Nebra Sky Disc (2013)
• The “Golden Bull” – All seven originals and the “King Wenceslaus’ luxury manuscript copy” of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (2013)
• Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei, draft manuscript page and Das Kapital. Erster Band, Karl Marx's personal annotated copy (2013)
• Documents representing the beginning and the early development of the Reformation initiated by Martin Luther (2015)
• Autograph of h-Moll-Messe (Mass in B minor) by Johann Sebastian Bach (2015)
• The Golden Letter of the Burmese King Alaungphaya to King George II of Great Britain (2015)
• Al-Masaalik Wa Al-Mamaalik (2015)
• Digital collections on linguistic diversity (2015)
• Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial (2017)
• Constitutio Antoniniana (2017)
• Codex Manesse (2023)
• Behaim Globe (2023)
• Documents on the history of the Hanse (2023)
• The illuminated manuscripts of Charlemagne's Court School (2023)

Our contribution

The German National Committee for the Memory of the World Programme was established in 1999. The main task of this expert-committee is to develop, review and evaluate German proposals for admission in the World Register. In addition, the committee is working on visibility of the UNESCO programme in the German public.