SPK returns medieval manuscript to Poland
News from 06/17/2026
As part of the German-Polish Forum, various cultural artefacts have today been returned to the Republic of Poland; these had been confiscated or removed during the German occupation of Poland in the Second World War. The SPK is returning a medieval manuscript containing part of the text of the Polish anthem ‘Gaude Mater Polonia’.
The booklet, consisting of six parchment leaves, found its way – by means as yet unknown – to the Berlin State Library, where it was held as an external collection. It originates from the library of the seminary in Płock, whose holdings were looted and largely destroyed during the Second World War. The most valuable manuscripts from this library were taken to Königsberg by the German occupation authorities.
It has not yet been possible to establish conclusively how the manuscript subsequently came to be part of the Berlin State Library’s collection. However, visible stamps from the seminary library provide clear evidence of its origin. The three double-leaf pages were probably originally part of a codex from the late 14th century. They were presumably removed from it in the 16th or 17th century and used in another book. This is evidenced by traces such as soiling, creases and cuts.
“Friendly cooperation”
SPK President Marion Ackermann commented on the return: “I am very pleased that this manuscript, containing an early version of the hymn ‘Gaude Mater Polonia’ – a manuscript that bears witness to one of the darkest periods in the long history of German-Polish relations – can now return to Poland. We are linked today by a spirit of friendly cooperation with Poland’s leading cultural institutions, which we would like to strengthen further. For example, the State Library will soon be collaborating with four Polish libraries as part of a third-party-funded project, and from tomorrow the National Museum in Warsaw will be a guest at the Old National Gallery on Museum Island.”
The repatriations taking place within the framework of the German-Polish Forum symbolise the close German-Polish cooperation in coming to terms with historical injustices and are an expression of Germany’s responsibility towards Poland. Each of the cultural artefacts handed over has its own, often eventful, provenance history.
Further links
- The object in the online catalogue of the Berlin State Library
- Joint press release from the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, the Federal Ministry of Transport and the City of Pforzheim on the handover of cultural artefacts at the German-Polish Forum on 17 June 2026
- “InterNationalgalerie#1: National Museum in Warsaw” at the Alte Nationalgalerie