Over 800 Rare Nepali Manuscripts To Return From Germany
Kathmandu, April 26: Nepal is set to reclaim more than 800 rare historical manuscripts from Germany after a handover agreement was signed between the Embassy of Nepal in Berlin and Heidelberg University. The agreement was formalized on April 23 at the Centre for Asian and Transcultural Studies (CATS) in Heidelberg.
Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Sagar Prasad Phuyal and Professor Dr. Axel Michaels signed the agreement for the return of the Walter Rindfleisch Collection, a significant archive of Nepal’s historical manuscripts. Spanning from the 13th to the 20th century, the collection includes over 800 items, notably around 460 fragile palm-leaf manuscripts written in Sanskrit and Nepal Bhasha (Newari) in the Bhujimol script.
The archive also contains royal edicts, court documents, Tantric and Sanskrit texts, Ayurveda manuscripts, personal writings, travel diaries, and historically important correspondence. Officials noted that some palm-leaf texts represent among the earliest known manuscript traditions of Nepal.
The collection had been entrusted by a private German collector to Professor Michaels with the intent of returning it to Nepal. Before repatriation, the manuscripts underwent extensive conservation, digitization, and cataloguing under his leadership, supported by the Heidelberg University Library.
Receiving the manuscripts, Phuyal expressed gratitude to all involved, stating that the gesture demonstrates respect for Nepal’s cultural heritage and supports ongoing efforts to recover and preserve historical assets. He also acknowledged the role of scholars at Heidelberg’s South Asian Institute Heidelberg in advancing research on Nepal.
Vice-Rector Professor Dr. Marc-Philippe Weller reaffirmed the university’s commitment to academic cooperation and ethical stewardship of cultural heritage. Professor Michaels described the collection as possibly the largest compilation of Nepali palm-leaf manuscripts outside Nepal, noting that while digitization will enable global academic access, their physical return marks a significant step in cultural restitution.
Head of the South Asian Institute Professor Dr. Hans Harder praised the role of the institute and CATS in preserving and preparing the manuscripts. Professor Dr. Christiane Brosius highlighted the Nepal Heritage Documentation Project and emphasized collaborative preservation efforts, especially after the 2015 Nepal earthquake.
Researchers Dr. Manik Bajracharya and Dr. Rajan Khatiwoda also outlined the processes of cataloguing, conserving, and preparing the manuscripts for return.
Both Nepal’s embassy and Heidelberg University expressed their commitment to strengthening academic and cultural ties, underscoring the importance of heritage preservation and people-to-people connections between Nepal and Germany.
The manuscripts will now be transferred to Nepal and handed over to relevant national authorities for preservation, research, and public access.
