Wiesbaden Codex



The Wiesbaden Codex (also Riesencodex "giant codex"), Hs.2 of the Hessische Landesbibliothek, Wiesbaden, is a codex containing the collected works of Hildegard of Bingen. It is a giant codex, weighing 15 kg and 30 by 45 cm in size. It dates from c. 1200, and was started at the end of her life or just after her death, at the instigation of Guibert of Gembloux, her final secretary. The only segment of her work missing from the codex are her medical writings, which may never have existed in a finished format.

The codex does contain an extensive collection of her letters. According to scholar Lieven Van Acker, Hildegard in her last days agreed to the changes made by her editors in the collection. The format was designed by her first secretary, Volmar, and was edited heavily by Guibert of Gembloux; nonetheless, she apparently authorized the changes.

The Riesencodex was almost lost after World War II. It was appropriated by the Soviet Administration in 1947. In 1948, the new Wiesbaden State Library director Franz Götting and medieval scholar Margarete Kühn enacted a plan to return the codex. By using Margarete's reputation as a scholar, they were able to get the codex from the Soviets where they then switched it with a book of similar dimensions and weight. After the Soviets realized the switch in 1950, a deal was struck where if Dresden received several other valuable books, Wiesbaden would then be able to keep the codex.