The subject area of the codices germanici monacenses (Cgm) comprises more than 10,500 manuscripts from the 9th century to the present. It represents the second-largest collection after the collection of Latin manuscripts.

The approximately 1,450 medieval manuscripts represent an important section of the literature spectrum of this period handed down to us. Texts in Old High German form one focal point of the collection. One prominent example is the "Liber Evangeliorum" by Ottfried von Weissenburg (Cgm 14, written at the beginning of the 10th century in Freising).  Heliand (Cgm 25, written in the middle of the 9th century in Corvey), a bible epos written in alliterative verses, is an important work from the Old Low German or Old Saxon language area. Important texts from this period can often be found in the form of codicils or the like in Latin manuscripts, for instance the "Wessobrunn Prayer" (Clm 22053) and the "Muspili" (Clm 14098). The other focal point of the collections is represented by courtly narrative literature in Middle High German. In this context, the manuscripts "Parzival" (Cgm 19, around 1240-1250) and  Willehalm (Cgm 193, III, around 1270-1275) by Wolfram von Eschenbach as well as "Tristan" (Cgm 51, around 1240-1250) by Gottfried von Strassburg should be mentioned. Among other famous items are manuscript A of the "Nibelungenlied" (Cgm 34, last quarter of the 13th century) and the  Ottheinrich Bible (Cgm 8010, middle of the 15th century).

Among the modern manuscripts are autographs by prominent persons such as Martin Luther ("Ermahnung zum Frieden" [Admonition to Peace] 1525; Cgm 4101), Adalbert Stifter ("Der Nachsommer", Cgm 8072) and Richard Wagner ("Die hohe Braut", draft for an opera libretto; Cgm 9366 a/b).

Autographs and parts of modern papers sometimes bear the shelf mark "Cgm", but are usually categorised under the shelf marks "Ana", "Autogr." or "Fasc.germ.".

 Overview of Holdings [PDF file, German]

 Catalogues (German)