In the years 1890 to 1899, more than 1,000 volumes of music – primarily 16th and 17th century sacred music originating from smaller musical centers in Saxony – were brought together and archived for conservation reasons. The church libraries of Glashütte, Pirna, Schellenberg and Schwarzenberg, as well as the city council library of Löbau, are among these lending institutions.

Due to WWII, the collections suffered great losses. Therefore, use of these materials has been somewhat restricted. In the last few years, three choir books from the St. Marien church in Pirna have been able to be restored.

Catalogue of Items Lost in the Wars [link]

Please see Wolfram Steude’s catalogue for more information about the manuscripts found in the archives.

Literature:

• Wolfram Steude: Die Musiksammelhandschriften des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts in der Sächsischen Landesbibliothek zu Dresden. - Leipzig, 1974
• Lothar Hoffmann-Erbrecht: Die Chorbücher der Stadtkirche zu Pirna. In: Acta musicologica. – 27 (1955), pp. 121-137