Made in Germany

Auctioned for 32.5 million D-marks, it was the most expensive work of art in the world for a long time: an opulently illuminated masterpiece of the German Romanesque period, created for Duke Henry the Lion, the great rival of Emperor Barbarossa

Helmarshausen (Germany) — Around 1175–1188

The Apocalypse incunabulum by Albrecht Dürer: one of the greatest artistic and financial successes of the artist of the century due to its impressive woodcuts

Nuremberg (Germany) — 1498

Golden miniatures and a famous portrait for the Emperor: an opulently decorated Ottonian masterpiece from the famous scriptorium of the Reichenau monastery

Monastery of Reichenau (Germany) — Shortly after 997

From everyday common law to special feudal rights: the most important German legal text and the first German-language prose work of the Middle Ages with 337 picture strips as a witness to 14th century everyday life

Harz (Germany) — Beginning of the 14th century

A milestone in the history of mankind: probably the most splendid edition of Gutenberg's famous Bible, richly adorned with colorful, fantastical decorated borders and gold-glowing decorated initials

Mainz (Germany) — Around 1453

Created in the palace school of Charles the Bald and the cornerstone of the famous scriptorium of Regensburg: uniquely complex ornamentation and magnificent miniatures in a golden luxury codex from the Early Middle Ages

Abbey of Saint-Médard de Soissons (France) and Abbey of St. Emmeram, Regensburg (Germany) — Ca. 870 and 975–1000

Religious poetry in masterly perfection: 28 impressive shaped poems by the Carolingian scholar Hrabanus Maurus in fascinating geometric and figural forms, interspersed with Christian numerical symbolism

Fulda (Germany) — First half of the 9th century

The world's first modern atlas: scientific knowledge and refined art in the opus magnum of the great Gerhard Mercator with 107 masterfully engraved and geographically correct land and sea maps

Germany — First part: 1585; Second part: 1589; Third part: 1595

German-language prayers illuminated by one of the greatest masters of the 15th century: Stephan Lochner's masterfully historiated initials as a great testimony to the "Soft Style" of the International Gothic

Cologne (Germany) — 1451

Possibly the greatest masterpiece from Reichenau Monastery, illuminated in gold and found today on the UNESCO World Heritage list: the only preserved apocalypse from the Ottonian period, created either for Otto III or Henry II.

Monastery of Reichenau (Germany) — Around 1000–1020

Romanesque, Gothic and Byzantine elements in a masterpiece of calligraphy and illumination: a splendid gospel book of stylistic pluralism in the 13th century, adorned with magnificent miniatures

Goslar (Germany) — Ca. 1240

One last historically and artistically precious look at the cities of Europe shortly before the destruction of the Thirty Years' War: a journey back in time to the 16th century with more than 600 fantastic city views

Cologne (Germany) — 1574–1618

The oldest manuscript from the famous monastery of Reichenau and a UNESCO World Heritage Document today: a splendid Ottonian evangeliary in purple, gold and silver commissioned by Archbishop Gero of Cologne

Monastery of Reichenau (Germany) — Ca. 969

A masterpiece of the German Renaissance commissioned by the Fuggers: the secret teachings of alchemy in beautiful full-page miniatures pregnant with meaning

Probably Nuremberg or Augsburg (Germany) — Ca. 1531–1532

A late Codex Aureus from the rich Mainz cathedral treasure as a model for Johannes Gutenberg: The four holy gospels written with golden ink and adorned with 71 luminous miniatures in the fascinating early gothic jagged style

Mainz (Germany) — 1230–1250

A fascinating and magnificently illuminated insight into courtly life during the Middle Ages: Wolfram von Eschenbach's great Middle High German epic poem depicting the knight Willehalm in battle against the Saracens

Western Germany — Around 1320

A richly illuminated prayer book in use for over 650 years: the oldest surviving Ashkenazic manuscript and one of the most important sources of Jewish life in the Middle Ages

Rhine Valley (Germany) — 1272

A unique masterpiece of Ottonian book illumination from Cologne: the magnificent Gospels of Abbess Hitda for the convent in Meschede, decorated with 58 large-format miniatures on the life of Christ and an enigmatic dedication illustration

Probably Cologne (Germany) — Around 1000

The world-famous chronicle with its more than 1,800 beautiful cityscapes: the largest and perhaps most important project of early book printing with stunning woodcuts by Michael Wolgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff

Nuremberg (Germany) — 1493

The oldest preserved version of the famous story about Etzel and Hagen, Siegfried and Kriemhild: the Middle High German heroic epic as a treasure of literary and linguistic history, UNESCO World Documentary Heritage since 2009

Passau (Germany) — Second quarter of the 13th century

Numerous innovations in the world's second printed book: the first multicolor printing including two font sizes and printed decorated initials with a printed colophon and details of the date, printer and publisher

Mainz (Germany) — August 14, 1457

A richly illustrated history of mankind from Creation to the High Middle Ages: the first German-language world chronicle in prose is adorned with over 500 wonderful miniatures

Braunschweig or Lüneburg (Germany) — 1270/1279

Created in the famous Weingarten Monastery, the center of 13th century German illumination: golden miniatures and uniquely fanciful initials in the transition from the Romanesque to the Gothic

Monastery of Weingarten (Germany) — Between 1200 and 1232

Written by Emperor Maximilian I himself: one of the most important works of the German Renaissance in a luxury printed edition with 118 colored woodcuts by Hans Burgkmair, Hans Schäufelein, and others

Nuremberg (Germany) — 1517

A magnificent codex from Regensburg, left to the city council for 15 kilograms of silver: golden miniatures by Master Martinus depicting the tragic legend of the Trojan War in a unique German translation

Regensburg (Germany) — 1432–1456