The University Library Freiburg has acquired a medieval chronicle that survived the 1944 air raid
Freiburg, 20/11/2025
In 1596, the ‘Dasselische und Einbeckische Chronik’ (Chronicle of Dassel and Einbeck) was printed in Erfurt. More than 400 years later, Canadian Frank Antonsen, a native of Freiburg, has donated the work, which bears the marks of the bombing of Freiburg, to the University Library Freiburg (UB). The chronicle is preserved in the UB and will be made available for research.
The copy of the ‘Dasselische und Einbeckische Chronik’ belonged to Frank Antonsen’s grandmother, Baroness Hanna von Minnigerode. She is buried alongside her mother Olly von Minnigerode in Freiburg’s main cemetery. Like the Dassel family, the von Minnigerode family belongs to Lower Saxony’s ancient nobility and was based near Göttingen. As the chronicle recounts the history of both families, the book was preserved and passed down through many generations as a testimony to their own family history.
The donor, Frank Antonsen, emphasises that he also handed the chronicle over to the University Library because of its material connection to the city of Freiburg: “Some pages have discoloured portions from water damage. The book survived the November 1944 aerial bombing of Freiburg, when the red roofing tiles were blown off our Mozartstraße-home and rain got into many of our possessions.”
“Some pages have discoloured portions from water damage. The book survived the November 1944 aerial bombing of Freiburg, when the red roofing tiles were blown off our Mozartstraße-home and rain got into many of our possessions.”
Frank Antonsen
Donor of the ‘Dasselische und Einbeckische Chronik’
The copy survived the bombing of Freiburg and is therefore not only a testament to the Minnigerode family history, but also to the history of the city of Freiburg. Thanks to this generous donation, this cultural asset will now be preserved for the public and future generations.
