During the 1980s and 1990s, the late Bavarian businessman and philatelist Josef Peter Rindfleisch assembled an exceptional collection of historical and literary materials from Nepal. Spanning several centuries, these sources document major political, social, and cultural transformations and testify to the importance of multilingualism and transregional exchange in the making of Nepal’s cultural heritage. The collection comprises travel diaries, palm-leaf rolls, paper documents, manuscripts, and other archival materials. Particularly noteworthy is its holding of palm-leaf documents, which ranks among the largest collections of its kind outside Nepal and includes some of the oldest items in the collection.

History and Repatriation

Josef Peter Rindfleisch wished the collection to be returned to Nepal, a commitment later reaffirmed by his son, Walter Rindfleisch. The materials were entrusted in February 2018 to Axel Michaels at Heidelberg University for scholarly assessment, preservation, and cataloguing. From 2022 onward, the project Postcolonial Restitution in the Digital Age, funded by Heidelberg University’s Flagship Initiative Transforming Cultural Heritage, supported the digital documentation and contextualization of the collection and helped prepare its repatriation.

Following consultation with the Rindfleisch family and cooperation among Nepalese and German institutions, the formal handover agreement was signed in Heidelberg on 24 April 2026 by Sagar Phuyal, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Embassy of Nepal, and Axel Michaels. The originals are to be preserved by the National Archives of Nepal, while their digital reproductions and catalogue metadata ensure continuing access for researchers in Nepal and internationally.

Cataloguing and Conservation

A condition survey was undertaken in August 2022, followed by an extensive conservation campaign in September 2023. All 465 palm-leaf rolls were stabilized using minimally invasive methods, including careful humidification, cleaning, and repairs with Japanese paper and cellulose-based adhesive. Several bound volumes were also treated for mould damage and rebound. The entire collection was then digitized: the palm-leaf documents were scanned while safely unrolled during conservation, while the paper documents and bound volumes were imaged with specialized equipment at Heidelberg University Library.

The cataloguing, conservation, and documentation of the collection have been carried out through the collaborative efforts of the following individuals:

• Coordinator: Axel Michaels
• Cataloguing Team: Manik Bajracharya, Pabitra Bajracharya, Simon Cubelic, Rajan Khatiwoda, Rajendra Shakya, Sanjay Shakya, and Ramhari Timalsina
• Conservators: Marc Barnard, Kumiko Matsuoka, and Naoko Takagi
• Contributors: Pradip Ghimire, Chaaru Jain, Bastian Jantke, and Julia Shrestha

Collection Overview

The Josef Peter Rindfleisch Collection comprises distinct groups of historical sources. The metadata are presented into the following sections:

Research Significance

The collection brings together different types of sources that are rarely found in a single archive. The palm-leaf deeds shed light on legal and documentary practices during the Malla period, while the paper documents offer insights into the administration of Nepal under the Śāha and Rāṇā rulers. The travel diaries and correspondence illuminate Nepal’s connections with the wider Himalayan region, British India, and Europe, as well as its involvement in major historical events such as the First World War. These materials open up research in several directions, including:

• law, landholding, credit, taxation, and religious endowments;
• state formation and administrative history;
• the materiality and diplomatics of paper and palm-leaf documents;
• Rāṇā diplomacy, travel, hunting, and relations with British India;
• slavery, military service, caste, and social history; and
• multilingual writing practices in Newari, Nepali, Sanskrit, and English.