High-caliber addition to the 'Schütz Collection' of the University Library

The recently acquired family album, which contains entries from the period between 1609 and 1613, leads directly into the closest personal environment of the youthful brothers Georg and Heinrich Schütz, who were particularly close to each other throughout their lives during their years in Kassel and Marburg. "The acquisition of the 'Schütz Family Book' for Kassel thus closes a century-old circle," says Claudia Martin-Konle, Executive Director of Kassel University Library.

The "Album amicorum" of Georg Schütz, or rather its 88 entries, not only reflects the circle of people who, together with the two Schütz brothers, attended the Kassel court school of Landgrave Moritz the Learned, the 'Mauritianum', or taught there. In the volume, which is adorned with nearly 40 coat of arms illustrations and appealing color illustrations, there are also entries by professors and fellow students with whom the two law students Georg and Heinrich Schütz had come into closer contact at the State University of Marburg. In addition and beyond that, the family record book depicts those academic circles in Jena and Leipzig in which the later Dr. iur. Georg Schütz moved during his further studies.

The outstanding musical talent of Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672), the most important German composer of the early Baroque period, was discovered early on by Landgrave Moritz of Hesse-Kassel and intensively promoted over many years. For this reason, Schütz remained closely associated with the landgrave and the Kassel court throughout his life and sent autographs of his compositions to Kassel, even after he had long since risen to the position of court kapellmeister in Dresden. Today, these are among the most valuable parts of the collection of the state library section of the UB/LMB Kassel and represent the world's largest collection of Schütz autographs and contemporary copies of his works. "We are very happy that we have now been able to expand our 'Schütz Collection' with such a wonderful object from the composer's closest family circle," confesses Dr. Brigitte Pfeil, Head of the State Library and Special Collections Department at the University Library.

As far as is known, the 'Album amicorum' had long been in the possession of the well-known Leipzig bookseller family Weigel, who since the 18th century had not only run an important book antiquarian and auction house, but in the 19th century had also built up a high-quality collection of old prints and manuscripts themselves. The original owner of the manuscript, Georg Schütz, died in 1637 in Leipzig, where he had married the bookseller's daughter Anna Grosse in 1619 and established himself professionally and socially. The family branch of his son Christoph Georg remained rooted in Leipzig throughout the 18th century. It therefore seems quite likely that the family album could have reached the Weigel Collection via the local book market or other local contacts as early as the 19th century.

Eva Claudia Scholtz, Managing Director of the Hessische Kulturstiftung, adds: "The family album of Georg Schütz is an 'old acquaintance' in the Kassel University Library, which has been under conservation care for a long time. It is therefore particularly fortunate to be able to enrich the collection focus on Heinrich Schütz in the 350th year of the famous composer's death with an acquisition from the written material of his closest brother. The research on the Georg Schütz family album will deepen the research circle on the family and at the same time focus on the history and intellectual circles of the universities of Marburg and Kassel, Jena and Leipzig."

The manuscript has been completely digitized and is accessible free of charge via the repository ORKA of the Kassel University Library:

https://orka.bibliothek.uni-kassel.de/viewer/metadata/1668762410566/1/-/

Contact

Claudia Martin-Konle
Kassel University Library
Senior Library Director
Tel: +49 561 804-2117
direktion[at]bibliothek.uni-kassel[dot]de

Dr. Brigitte Pfeil
Kassel University Library
Head of Department IV: Regional Library, Head of Special Collections
Phone +49 561 804-7344
pfeil@bibliothek.uni-kassel.de