Berlin, November 19, 2015
A unique Church services book that was taken to Germany during the Second World War has been returned to the Novgorod State Museum-Reserve in Russia.
The “Service Book” of 1651, which had been taken by occupying forces, was handed over to Novgorod residents, the museum reported to Interfax on Thursday. The seal on the pages of this rare book indicates that it was taken away precisely from Novgorod.
“The book was handed over in Berlin at the international forum dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the German-Russian museum cooperation. The book was given to Director General of the Novgorod State Museum-Reserve Natalia Grigoryeva by Director of the Berlin State Library Barbara Schneider-Kempf,” the agency’s spokesman said.
At the moment the rare book is at the Russian Federation’s embassy in Germany, from where, after settling of a number of procedural matters, it will be delivered to Moscow and from there to Novgorod.
