Scriptorium

Scriptorium — from the Latin scribo, scripsi, scriptus = «I write».
In a medieval monastery the Scriptorium was the workshop where all books of the library were written by hand, usually very elaborate and often illuminated with ornaments and miniature paintings. These books contained the complete knowledge of the times, not only the liturgical texts, but the artistic and scientific tradition and knowledge as well, as the monasteries were the forefathers of modern universities.

Monasteries were forefathers of Botanical Gardens as well, because the munks collected a great variety of plants in the wilderness and cultivated them in their gardens, not only for food, but equally for medical use and scientific studies.

Fortunate for all of us, there was never a monastery without a library or gardens!

In his field books Werner Rauh recorded not only information on plants that he collected and brought to Heidelberg Botanical Gardens and Herbarium HEID, but also observations of daily life, as well as considerations on ruins and historic sites. He wrote about a wide range of topics and interests. All this was written by hand similar to those historical writings done in the monasteries. This is why our project's URL starts with «Scriptorium».