Münchener DigitalisierungsZentrum (MDZ)

The Munich Digitization Center (Münchner DigitalisierungsZentrum - MDZ) has been making the rich collections of the Bavarian State Library (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek - BSB) available online since 1997. MDZ acts as the central innovation and production unit of BSB for the development, testing and implementation of new products and processes related to such a versatile and wide-ranging topic as "digital library". This center manages one of Germany's largest and most important digital collections; This collection encompasses millions of digitized items containing the priceless cultural heritage of the BSB. The materials MDZ has digitized include tens of thousands of Western and Eastern manuscripts, one of the world's most comprehensive collections of incunabula (books printed before 1501), German rare prints from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries (under projects VD16, VD17, VD18), historical maps, musical scores and magazines. The Center has also been one of the important partners of the Google Books project and has provided a large amount of content to international platforms such as Europeana (European Digital Library). All this rich cultural heritage made accessible by MDZ can be studied free of charge by researchers and enthusiasts around the world.