Nepal Research Center

The Nepal Research Center was a continuation of the research project Nepal-Himalaya, which was established in 1960 in Kathmandu with the aid of the Thyssen-Foundation and the German Research Foundation. It was operated by the German Oriental Society (Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft [DMG]) from 1974 until 31 March 2014. The aim was to explore the high mountain region of Nepal and its inhabitants. The NRC harbored and supported the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project (NGMPP), which was established in 1970. Here, German Sanskritists and Tibetologists worked side by side with experts from Nepal, filming manuscripts from public and private collections in order to contribute to the preservation of precious materials. By contractual agreement, the original films remain in the National Archives of Nepal, whilst copies are stored in the Berlin State Library on behalf of the DMG. Since the outset of the project more than 70,000 manuscripts comprising nearly 3 million folios have been filmed.

The new regulations for using the microfilm depot can be found here (German).