GAW at sponsoring event 2,500 years of knowledge at University of Graz

Booksponsoring at the library of Graz University:

Have you ever given life-support to a book?
From ancient Ethiopian parchment to a Baroque star atlas: The University of Graz is the home of unique testimonies to world history.
And it is important to secure the future of these treasures for as long as possible, this is why the project “2,500 Years of Knowledge” brought together individuals and companies like GAW that sponsored the preservation of original scientific and cultural artifacts. 

We received an exclusive tour of the special collections, gained insights into the library’s work and could take a close look at the work of the restorers.

“Our” book (with the preservation sponsored by GAW) is a natural science book from 1578 in Venice/Italy, written by Orontio Fineo. It covers arithmetic, geometry, cosmography and sundial studies.
It was absolutely fascinating to take a closer look at this century-old treasures. Sigrid Tertinegg, Marketing Manager and Christian Makari, Sales Manager from GAW technologies had also the chance to ask questions to the experts who take care of the sponsored books. 

Especially one piece in this room has even earned world-wide recognition, because the oldest fragment of a bifolio in codes form was discovered two years ago at the University of Graz. This Egyptian papyrus fragment from 260 BCE predates existing codices by 300-400 years, making it the first direct precursor of the codex form.
It is called “mummy book” because the fragment was found in 1902 in the wrapping of a mummy, therefore making it also an example of ancient “paper-recycling”.

Find out more about this amazing discovery here: Graz Mummy Book

Sigrid Tertinegg: “GAW technologies is proud to support this great initiative to help to preserve important parts of cultural heritage, We would like to thank the University of Graz for this opportunity and hope that many more companies and individuals will join in order to secure even more historical scientific works.”

Buchpatenschaften Uni Graz - Buchpatenschaften der Universitätsbibliothek Graz

When we look into the future:
Does the history of paper / of hand-written bookmaking need to be changed?
And paper has been used for writing for at least 2,500 years – and approximately 20 years ago the paperless office was proclaimed.
A lot has changed in the meantime, but will we still be using paper in 20 years from now?

February 2026