Editorial guidelines

1. The archival holdings

At the heart of the present online edition there are the nuncial reports of Eugenio Pacelli (* 1876, Pope Pius XII from 2 March 1939, † 1958). On the basis of a cooperation with the German Historical Institute in Rome and the Vatican Apostolic Archives, these reports have been edited critically, annotated and furnished with summaries ever since 2008 within the scope of a long-term project financed by the German Research Foundation. It ran for twelve years. In addition to the reports, the directives the nuncio received from the Roman Curia, primarily from Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri, were included into the edition.

The relevant sources are kept in the Vatican archives, which commonly open their holdings according to the succession of pontificates. The period relevant to the edition, during which Eugenio Pacelli was nuncio to Bavaria (1917-1925) and to the German Reich (1920-1929), includes years of the so-called 3rd period, which comprises the pontificate of Benedict XV (1914-1922), and the 4th period, the pontificate of Pius XI (1922-1939). The following archives were consulted:

1.1 Vatican Apostolic Archives

The Vatican Apostolic Archives (Archivio Apostolico Vaticano, AAV) keep the holdings of the nunciatures in Munich and Berlin that are central to the edition and can be accessed with the help of inventories. The altogether 109 archive boxes of the Munich nunciature (Arch. Nunz. Monaco, vol. 307-415) and the 102 archive boxes of the Berlin nunciature (Arch. Nunz. Berlino, vol. 1-102) contain the drafts of the nuncial reports as well as the directives received from the Roman Curia. The division of the archives, which is due to Pacelli's temporary double accreditation as nuncio in Munich and Berlin, is only nominal, since (1) the reports from Munich and Berlin are numbered consecutively and (2) documents from Pacelli's first years in Munich can also be found in the archive of the Berlin nunciature, although he was only active in Berlin from 1920 onwards. When referring to the archives of the Munich and Berlin nunciatures we can therefore collectively speak of "Pacelli's nunciature archive".

The nunciature assigned a protocol number to each single report. A separate count for encrypted telegrams was introduced in October 1917. These numbers are noted in the internal protocol book used by the nunciature, in which all outgoing and incoming correspondence was recorded chronologically. These protocol books have survived up to August 1925, covering Pacelli's entire time as nuncio in Munich. The books pertaining to the following years were destroyed when the nunciature building in Berlin burnt down during World War Two. However, since the nuncial reports were not counted separately, but build up a list with all the other correspondence, the protocol books can only serve as the starting point for a systematic identification of the nuncial reports and directives.

The final versions of nuncial reports can be found in various holdings of the AAV. The series "Segretaria di Stato", for which there is no inventory in the AAV, is particularly relevant, especially the subseries "Guerra" and the year series "Anno 1917" to "Anno 1930". The holdings of the Consistorial Congregation, today's Congregation for Bishops, were only partially handed over to the AAV. Its series "Ponenze", the printed discussions of the dicastery's plenary assemblies, as well as the "Positiones" on the German dioceses are relevant to the edition. Moreover, individual nuncial reports of the 3rd and 4th period can be found in the holdings of the Congregation of the Council. So far, however, there is no inventory for these holdings yet.

1.2 Historical Archive of the Section for Relations with States

The holdings of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs (Congregazione degli Affari Ecclesiastici Straordinari, AA.EE.SS.) pertaining to the 3rd and 4th period are arranged according to countries. Ever since 1 January 2011, they are no longer kept in the AAV, but in the Historical Archive of the Section for Relations with States (Segreteria di Stato, Sezione per i Rapporti con gli Stati, Archivio Storico, S.RR.SS). The final versions of Pacelli's nuncial reports are not only kept in the relevant country series "Baviera" and "Germania", but were also filed by subject and thus assigned to other country series. Superficial finding aids are available for each series.

1.3 Other congregational archives

Further final versions of Pacelli's nuncial reports were, among others, sent to the following recipients:

• the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Propaganda Fide); the respective documents can today be found in the Historical Archive of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples (Archivio Storico della Congregazione per l'Evangelizzazione dei Popoli, ASPF), especially in the holdings of the "Nuova Serie";
• the Congregation for Seminaries and Educational Institutions (Congregation of Studies), now the Congregation for Catholic Education; the respective documents can today be found in the Archive of the Congregation for Catholic Education (Archivio della Congregazione per l'Educazione Cattolica, ACEC), especially in the holdings keeping the printed minutes of the meetings of the Cardinals' Commission, in which nuncial reports were used as a sort of template;
• the Holy Office; the respective documents can today be found in the Archive of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Archivio della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, ACDF), especially in the holdings Sanctum Officium (SO), more particularly in the series Censurae Librorum (CL) and Rerum Variarum (RV);
• the Congregation for the Oriental Churches; the respective documents can today be found in the Archive of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches (Archivio della Congregazione per le Chiese Orientali, ACO), here especially the in the holdings of the "Pontificia Commissione pro Russia".

1.4 Archive tree

The edition offers an archive tree that can be used to search the holdings of the Vatican archives.

2. The concept of the edition

2.1 Defining a nuncial report

A nuncial report is understood to be all correspondence of a nuncio or the staff of a nunciature with the Secretariat of State and other Roman authorities, especially congregations (cf. the definition proposed by Wolfgang Reinhard, Nuntiaturberichte, in: LThK³ 7 [1998], col. 948f.). Pacelli's nuncial reports were usually written in Italian.

2.1.1 Draft

The draft of a nuncial report is either handwritten or typewritten by one or more hands.

The writers identified are nuncio Eugenio Pacelli, auditor Lorenzo Schioppa, auditor Luigi Centoz and the secretaries Noradino Torricella, Maurilio Silvani and Linus Mörner OFMCap. Their respective handwritings were attributed by means of comparative analyses of the manuscripts in the Vatican archives. Clearly attributed handwritten passages such as greetings and signatures served as a starting point here. In some cases, the handwriting could not be identified with certainty. Conclusions about the authors of typewritten documents can only be drawn in individual cases taking into consideration the further stages of drafts.

The writers usually corrected their own texts as well as those written by others. Their revisions include insertions and deletions, which can be found close to the respective passage of the text or in the margin; the writers used common correction marks or resorted to typewritten or handwritten additions. As a rule, Pacelli was the last one to edit a report. In the Pacelli edition the genesis of a report is depicted with the help of the so-called layer model.

For the drafts the nunciature used sheets without imprint or slip sheets. In the case of handwritten texts, paper layers of varying thickness were made up. The double sheets were either laid one inside the other or – in case of long reports – one behind the other. The sheets were then folded vertically in the middle so that each page consists of two columns. The text was written down on the front and on the back, in most cases in the right-hand column; the left-hand side was generally reserved for corrections. The first sheet's left-hand column contains information on the addressee and date, usually a subject. The protocol number was noted down in the upper right-hand corner. In the case of typewritten drafts, a single sheet was clamped and written across the entire width, but only on the front side. All obligatory information precedes the text, the protocol number being written down in the upper right corner.

Not for every report sent to Rome a draft could be found. We can only speculate whether missing drafts might be found in the future, if we must consider them lost or if they were not produced at all.

The drafts were not intended for external use and remained in the archives of the nunciature.

2.1.2 Final version

The final versions are the nuncial reports sent off by the nunciatures in Munich and Berlin and received in Rome.

As a rule, the final versions are typewritten. In individual cases, either Pacelli or one of the nunciature's employees handwrote them on paper. Pacelli or another person may have made minimal changes to the typewritten text that was written out (deletions and insertions). In some cases, the recipient or another employee of the authority that the report was addressed to marked or commented on the text in the document, most frequently on the head of the letter; who marked these documents can be deduced from the colour the notes were written down; up to now, a clear assignment, however, has not been possible.

The final versions were written on the prefabricated letter paper of the nunciatures in Munich or Berlin. The pre-printed forms bear the inscription of the nunciature in the upper left corner and sometimes the papal coat of arms. The letterhead contains the protocol number assigned by the nunciature, indications of place and date (upper right corner of the first page) as well as the subject (below the imprint on the left). Apart from that, the addressee is always recorded in the lower left corner of the first page. A final version is always concluded with the sender's handwritten signature. In general, it was Pacelli who signed the reports, even if he had not written the draft. In his absence, the auditor signed the reports, in some cases also one of the secretaries.

In the archives, only the respective final version as well as enclosures could be found, whereas the envelopes were only found in exceptional cases.

2.1.3 Telegrams

The nuncial reports to the Roman Curia could also be sent as telegrams. Moreover, encrypted telegrams were sent to the Secretariat of State.

The text was either printed on a strip of paper glued to the form of the Roman telegraph office or handwritten on the form. The recipient as well as the telegram's date and time of receipt (the year often being omitted) were typed or handwritten on the form. The date can also be gathered from a date stamp of the Secretariat of State or the receiving authority. The protocol number of the nunciature was not telegraphed.

We distinguish between two kinds of encrypted telegrams:

• A draft is specified as a "telegram to be encrypted". The note "Cifra" or "Da Cifra" shows that the telegram was supposed to be sent in encrypted form. The edited text is the text drafted by Pacelli or an employee of the nunciature.
• A final version is specified as a "decrypted telegram". The note "Cifra" or "Da Cifra" shows that the telegram was sent in encrypted form. The recipient noted the decrypted texts in typewritten or handwritten form on paper without imprint or on slip sheets; in some cases, the date and time of dispatch and receipt were recorded on top of the page. The edited text is based on the decryption carried out by the Secretariat of State.

The encryption was principally based on numerical sequences. The nunciature received the instructions for encryption from the Secretariat of State (cf. documents no. 1207 and no. 1209).

2.2 Defining a directive

Directives are understood to be all correspondence from the Secretariat of State and other Roman authorities, especially congregations, to a nuncio or the staff of a nunciature. Directives could also be sent by telegram. They were principally written in Italian, sometimes in Latin.

The directives were written on the prefabricated letterhead of the respective Vatican authority. The various pre-printed forms bear their respective inscription in the upper left corner and sometimes the papal coat of arms in different colours. Moreover, the letterhead bears the protocol number, place and date (upper right corner of the first page) as well as the subject (left below the imprint). Apart from that, the addressee is always recorded in the lower left corner of the first page. A directive is always concluded with the handwritten signature of the sender. The nunciature's protocol number is handwritten in the upper right-hand corner.

As a rule, the directives are typewritten; only in rare cases they were handwritten. Sometimes, they are available in print, especially in case of circulars sent to all nuncios worldwide. In some cases, Cardinal Secretary of State Gasparri or the substitute in the Secretariat of State Giuseppe Pizzardo attached their cards to a sheet, which is then to be regarded as an attachment; these cards are also considered as directives and therefore included in the edition. A directive's text may have been subsequently provided with deletions and insertions. It may also be that marks and comments on the text or anywhere on the document were added by employees of the Munich and Berlin nunciatures, in most cases on the letterhead. In this case, who marked them can be deduced from the colour the notes were written down; up to now, a clear assignment has not been possible.

2.3 Defining attachments / "allegati"

If a document was attached to a nuncial report or to a directive, it is considered as an "attachment". Usually, one or a few attachments are enclosed to a report, but occasionally a report may be accompanied by a larger number of "allegati".

The attachments are in various languages, either typewritten, handwritten or in printed form. They were sent as originals, copies, transcripts and/or translations. There are letters from various correspondence partners, telegrams, certificates (such as birth, baptismal or marriage certificates), inventories, receipts, pastoral letters, mass stipends, memoranda, speeches, minutes, proofs, book and essay publications, stocks, newspaper articles, etc. Moreover, various objects may be attached to a nuncial report or directive, e.g. photos, cheques, cash, devotional objects, maps etc.

2.4 Including documents into the edition

The following documents have been included in the edition as "nuncial reports":

• all letters from the Munich and Berlin nunciatures to the Cardinal Secretary of State resp. to the Secretariat of State,
• all letters to other members of the Secretariat of State (such as substitute Federico Tedeschini or secretary Bonaventura Cerretti),
• all letters to other Roman congregations (such as the Holy Office or the Congregation of Studies).

In addition, there are the corresponding directives from the Roman Curia.

Letters from the following positions within the nunciature archives in Munich and Berlin are only included if they contain politically relevant subjects:

• "Oboli" (donations): in these frequently short letters the sums of money sent to the Holy See are stated.
• "Messe" (Mass stipends, etc.): attached to these frequently short letters there are forms in which the number, name and sum of money donated are specified.
• "Prigionieri" (POWs and civilian prisoners): reports on POWs and deportees make up a large part of the nunciature's correspondence from 1917 to 1919. Quite often, private letters from POWs and to POWs were forwarded as attachments to nuncial reports. Moreover, the receipt of directives from the Secretariat of State was acknowledged, in which the nuncio was asked to obtain information on POWs or to forward the request to other offices concerned. Apart from that, lists and forms were sent that informed about the whereabouts of prisoners of various nationalities. We only included those reports from this position in which Pacelli addressed the attitude of the German government to the papal commitment to the prisoners, pastoral care in the prison camps or the nuncio's visits there.

In case both the draft and the final version of a nuncial report were found, a separate document structure was created for both of them. A separate document number was assigned to both of them. The final version was always transcribed, annotated and furnished with a summary. All drafts pertaining to the years 1917 to 1919 were transcribed in the so-called "layer model". The drafts pertaining to the years 1920 onwards were only transcribed if

• content-relevant modifications were made in the corrections. If the corrections are to be considered purely stylistic, a document structure with the corresponding information in the document header was created, whereas the text itself was not edited in the document body. The writers involved in the draft, however, are specified. In the addendum it is then noted: "Dieses Dokument wird vorerst nicht ediert" ("This document is currently not being edited").
• telegrams to be encrypted are concerned. In the deciphering process in the Secretariat of State, minor or major errors often occurred, which is why it is vital to know the original text.
• no copy of the nuncial report could be found. In this case, a final version was reconstructed on the basis of the last correction stage of the draft. For this, a separate document structure was created, which is then annotated and furnished with a summary.

Only the final versions kept in the Munich and Berlin nunciature archives are included in the edition as "Weisungen" ("directives"), whilst drafts kept in the Vatican archives are not included. If no final version, but only the corresponding draft could be found, the latter is edited.

The documents enclosed to the final version of a nuncial report or a directive are edited as "Anlagen" ("attachments"). If the attachment is not (or no longer) filed together with the nuncial report in the archives, it may have been filed elsewhere. In case it is found, it is edited according to this version; if it is not found, it must be considered lost. In this case, an empty document structure is created containing the information that can be reconstructed from the nuncial report, the directive or any other documents. Newspaper articles are not edited, since several newspaper holdings are available online, e.g. Bavarian newspapers on the website of the "Münchener DigitalisierungsZentrums" (MDZ), German newspapers on the portal "ZEFYS" of the Berlin State Library, newspapers from the Prussian Rhine Province on the homepage of the Bonn University and State Library, international newspapers on the website of the "International Coalition on Newspapers". Links to the articles are provided in the corresponding documents of the Pacelli edition (cf. for example document no. 7906 for the Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung or document no. 684 for the Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung). Documents already published elsewhere are not edited either, except for particularly important documents as the text of Benedict XV's Papal Peace Initiative or documents that are indispensable for understanding the context of a specific topic.

In certain cases, letters that were neither sent off in Munich or Berlin nor in Rome are also included as "nuncial reports" or "directives". This is because Pacelli also corresponded with Rome when he was in Rorschach in Switzerland (via the apostolic legation, from June 1920 via the nunciature in Switzerland). The papal envoy in Bern, Luigi Maglione, for example, forwarded Gasparri's telegrams to Pacelli when he was in Rorschach because of the uncertain political situation during the revolution in Bavaria of 1919.

Private and confidential letters are an exceptional case. Pacelli primarily sent them to Cardinal Secretary of State Gasparri or to Giuseppe Pizzardo, the substitute in the Secretariat of State, with whom he was on friendly terms. These letters were not written on the nunciature's letter paper, but on sheets of different formats lacking any kind of letterhead or address, both handwritten and typewritten. They are not listed in the protocol book. In accordance with the broad definition of a nuncial report, these letters are included in the edition as well. They provide an unobstructed view behind the scenes of the nunciature and Vatican politics and precious insights into Pacelli's personality.

All correspondence was usually sent by diplomatic mail, but it also reached Rome by courier. Telegrams were sent in encrypted or unencrypted form via the corresponding telegraph offices. Moreover, it was possible to send a telegram by telephone.

3. The web database

3.1 DENQ

Ever since 2005, a number of projects have been realized at the German Historical Institute in Rome that can be subsumed under the name DENQ. DENQ stands for "Digital Editions of Modern Sources" and describes a procedure for the digital edition of historical documents. It is particularly helpful since it supports scholars in all phases of their editorial activities, i.e. from the moment the original texts are recorded in the archive to research in an online database.

DENQ's software is essentially based on an open-source XML database that has been extended by PHP and Java modules. It is therefore not bound to commercial software producers. When developing the system, emphasis was placed on only using formats and techniques that can be considered stable in the long run. XML (Extensible Mark-up Language) is a licence-free, open standard that can be read and written in any text editor. This format is also advantageous because developments in the field of special XML databases allow data to be directly stored, managed and analysed in XML. This makes it possible to store data in a future-proof format and at the same time provide complex solutions in the form of web database systems.

The Pacelli project initially worked with Microsoft Word 2003. When it turned out that Word 2010 no longer supported the XML format, the project switched to the XML editor oXygen in 2014. The editor not only offers a variety of useful technical solutions, but above all makes a decisive contribution to long-term archiving.

3.2 Layout

The edition has two columns in which two documents can be displayed simultaneously next to one another: the first one initially appears on the left; in the right-hand column, if available, the corresponding draft or final version of the respective nuncial report can be opened in comparative view.

A shade of grey with low brightness was chosen as the font colour of the document. In the edited text, blue font colour marks the links to short biographies and keywords. Links to other documents mentioned in the text also appear in blue. Footnotes placed in the original document are reproduced as "original" footnotes with the character used in the document. Apart from that, "editorial" footnotes were inserted by the editors in order to explain the genesis of the text and to provide information on the entries made by the recipient, such as underlining or cancellations in the margin.

3.3 The "layer model" for mapping different revision stages

The different stages of development and revision of a nuncial report from its first written version to the final version sent to Rome is depicted using the so-called "layer model", which displays the individual editing steps as well as the development of the text as a whole. Overlays provide information on the respective writer's immediate corrections; the "layer model" allows later revisions by all writers involved to be traced by means of "layers". By linking the two systems, the complex work process is displayed.

The respective writers are named in a separate "Schreiber" ("Writer") section in the order of the editing process. Progressing from left to right, the single editing levels can be selected via mouse click. All previous corrections are always contained in the subsequent layers.

The surnames of the secretary, the auditor and the nuncio are named in the "Schreiber" section. Manuscripts that cannot be assigned are classified as "Unbekannte Hand" ("Unknown hand"). In case of typewritten documents "Stenotypist" ("shorthand typist") is indicated. All persons involved in the genesis of a report are assigned a specific font colour according to their respective function: nuncio Eugenio Pacelli appears in black, the auditors in green, the secretaries in red. If the writer is unknown, as is frequently the case with shorthand typists, the colour blue is used.

In the edited text deletions of any kind are indicated by means of a simple horizontal line through the middle of the upper-case letters. Insertions are indicated in angle brackets. In the original document found in the archive, they can be recorded anywhere, e.g. above or below the text in question, in its margin, but also on another page. Any marks in the original document left by means of correction marks to indicate the place of insertion are not reproduced in the edited text.

3.4 The search options

There are various search options. The simplest is the "overall search" of all records, a full-text search of all parts of the database. In the hit list the most important information on a document is displayed. At centre, the document number is indicated followed by information on the type of document and an excerpt from the text with the corresponding search result. The entire document is displayed if you click on the document number.

If you choose "Suche in Dokumenten" ("Search in documents") you will find extended search options. Here, the final version or the draft of nuncial reports, directives and attachments can be included in any combination. Moreover, your search can be filtered in the drop-down menu, e.g. according to the attributes "Dokumentnummer" ("document number") or "Protokollnummer ("protocol number"). The "Datum" ("Dateline") field can be used to limit the search to documents pertaining to specific time periods.

In case you do not want to make a specific search request, the database offers the possibility to browse the archival holdings. Go to the two "trees" displayed left at the bottom of the screen. In the so-called "chronology tree", all documents are displayed in chronological order. Click on the year to open the respective months. If you click on the month, you get an overview of which documents were authored on which day of the month. At a glance, you see the date and the type of document. Click to display it. The "archive tree" indicates the location of the documents in the Vatican archives. Its structure therefore follows that of the respective Vatican archives. Here you can browse the fascicles looking for Pacelli's nuncial reports or for directives. This kind of search also enables to find documents that were filed in one and the same fascicle due to related content. Besides, a "topic tree" was created, which offers a German-language list of the central topics addressed in the edition and assigns the corresponding documents to them hierarchically. The topic tree went online in 2017.

The databases on biographies and keywords can be used to connect the documents with each other. If you, for example, click on an entry in the text of a document, a pop-up window opens up that basically replaces the classic footnote. The preview popping up shows which information can be expected. If you click on "mehr" ("more"), you get further information. If you click on "Vollansicht" ("full view") at the end of the pop-up, you are redirected to a new page. Here, you can see the number by which the biography or keyword is linked in the nuncial reports. Below, the text sources and bibliographical references on the subject are listed. All documents linked to a particular biography or keyword are then displayed. Simply clicking on them therefore offers yet another possibility to search for thematically related nuncial reports.

4. The document's structure

An edited document is subdivided into three sections:

• In the "document header", information on the document is provided in a standardised order, which is arranged in two columns and written in German. The final versions of a nuncial reports as well as the directives are furnished with summaries. They are displayed in italics.
• The edited text can be found in the "body of the document", which may be followed by a "Zusatz" ("addendum") field.
• Following a hyphen, the "Dokumentfuß" ("document footer") contains information on the date the document was first published online as well as the recommended quotation style and a permalink. In case a document was modified after it went online, the date of the last change is indicated. Original and editorial footnotes as well as the boxes "Biographies" and "Keywords" follow at the end of the document.

All entries are made on the basis of the information gathered from the document itself or based on its nature. Information deduced subsequently is indicated by square brackets and explained by an editorial footnote. Square brackets also contain the placeholders for information that is not available ("Ohne Ort" [no place]; "Ohne Protokollnummer" [no protocol number]; "Ohne Nummer" [no number]; "Ohne Datum" [no date]; "Kein Betreff" [no subject]).

4.1 The document header

4.1.1 The document number

The number assigned by the editors in order to identify the document is displayed as "Dokument Nr." ("document no.").

4.1.2 Categorizing a document

Below the "document no." it is indicated which category (nuncial report/directive/attachment) a document belongs to. Subsequently, you will find information on whether the document was typewritten ("Masch."), handwritten ("Hds.") or printed ("Druck"). After that, the variant is indicated: final version or draft, encrypted or decrypted telegram, or reconstructed document; in the latter case, we can, of course, not tell whether the document was handwritten or typewritten.

• Nuncial report

  The following variants may occur:

  • Nuncial report, final version, handwritten/typewritten/printed
  • Nuncial report, final version reconstructed on the basis of the draft, handwritten/typewritten
  • Nuncial report, draft, handwritten/typewritten
  • Nuncial report, draft (cancelled), handwritten/typewritten
  • Nuncial report, telegram, final version, handwritten/typewritten
  • Nuncial report, telegram, final version reconstructed on the basis of the draft, handwritten/typewritten
  • Nuncial report, telegram, draft, handwritten/typewritten
  • Nuncial report, decrypted telegram, final version, handwritten/typewritten
  • Nuncial report, decrypted telegram, final version reconstructed on the basis of the draft, handwritten/typewritten
  • Nuncial report, telegram to be encrypted, draft, handwritten/typewritten

• Directive

  The following variants may occur:

  • Directive, handwritten/typewritten/printed
  • Directive, telegram, handwritten/typewritten
  • Directive, decrypted telegram, handwritten/typewritten
  • Directive, handwritten/typewritten, draft
  • Directive, telegram, handwritten/typewritten, draft
  • Directive, decrypted telegram, handwritten/typewritten, draft

• Attachments

  Attachments are categorised as follows:

  • Attachment, letter, handwritten/typewritten/printed
  • Attachment, memorandum, handwritten/typewritten/printed
  • Attachment, publication, printed
  • Attachment, article, handwritten/typewritten/printed
  • Attachment, photo/film
  • Attachment, other, handwritten/typewritten/printed

4.1.3 Sender

The persons identified as senders of the document because of their signature are recorded under the heading "Absender" ("sender"). The surname is first indicated followed by the first name, the spelling being based on the corresponding biography.

4.1.4 Addressee

The persons or institutions named in the address line are recorded under the heading "Empfänger" ("recipient"). As with the sender, the spelling of the name is not based on the document, but on the biography.

4.1.5 Place

As a rule, the place where the respective document was written can be deduced either from a typewritten or handwritten indication by the author, the emblem on the letterhead or a stamp imprint. The place is not indicated as written down on the document, but in German.

4.1.6 Date

The date indicated in the edition is either the date typed or noted down on the respective document or that indicated on a printed template or as an imprint, e.g. by means of a stamp. This date may differ from the date the document was dispatched and from the date recorded in the protocol book, which, however, is not noted. There may therefore be discrepancies between the draft and the final version of a nuncial report, since the final version sent to the Roman Curia may only have been issued one or more days after the draft was sketched.

In case of telegrams, the date is indicated according to the typewritten or handwritten entries of the date of receipt on the telegram form, which, however, often does not contain information on the respective year. The date can also be ascertained from a date stamp of the receiving authority. In case of decrypted telegrams, the information on the date of transmission is used.

The date is indicated in a standardised form: day, month (written out in full), year. If the date can only be deduced, the entry is given in square brackets. For terms ante or post quem, the date is followed by "vor" ("before") or "nach" ("after"). In the search options the international standard ISO 8601 is used: YYYY-MM-DD.

4.1.7 Title and/or author

In case of attachments of the categories memorandum, publication, article and photo/film, the heading "Titel" ("title") is used to indicate the respective title or to offer bibliographical information. It is given in a standardised form. If the attachment does not have a title or if it is unknown, this is indicated by "[Kein Titel]" ("[No title]").

In case of attachments of the category memorandum, a separate heading offers information on the "Verfasser" ("author"), which may either be a person or an institution. In case a person was identified biographical explanations are offered, whereas in the case of institutions a keyword is provided. In case no information on the author was found, this heading is not displayed.

4.1.8 Numberings by the nunciature and the Vatican

In the case of nuncial reports and directives, the protocol number assigned to the respective document by the nunciature is recorded under the heading "Protokollnr." ("protocol no."). In the case of directives, the protocol number assigned to the document by the respective sender in the Roman Curia is noted under the heading "Protokollnr. Vatikan" ("protocol no. Vatican"). A new counting was started with each pontificate.

If no protocol number was indicated on the original document, the entry "[Ohne Protokollnummer]" ("[without protocol number]") is given. If the protocol number can be reconstructed from the protocol book of the Munich nunciature, it is inserted in square brackets and provided with an editorial footnote explaining the circumstances. If a protocol number was assigned twice, this is noted in the "Zusatz"-field with a reference to the other document the protocol number was used for.

In October 1917, both the nunciature and the Secretariat of State introduced a separate count for encrypted telegrams. The nunciature's encryption number is recorded under the heading "Verschlüsselungsnr. Nuntiatur" ("encryption no. nunciature"). The encryption number of the Secretariat of State is recorded under the heading "Verschlüsselungsnr. Vatikan" ("encryption no. Vatican"). If no encryption number was indicated on the document, the entry: "[Ohne Nummer]" ("[without number]") is given. Decrypted telegrams received from the nunciature were often given a different encryption number by the Secretariat of State. We can only speculate on the reasons why; a wrong decryption of the numbers may be an explanation.

In case of attachments originally sent to the Munich and Berlin nunciatures from third parties or written there for third parties, the nunciature's protocol number is indicated under the heading "Protokollnr." ("protocol no."), provided it is recorded on the document or can be reconstructed from the protocol book. All necessary explanations are given in an editorial footnote. If a protocol number of the Roman Curia is found on attachments originally sent to the Roman Curia as documents from third parties or written there for third parties, this is indicated under the heading "Protokollnr. Vatikan" ("protocol no. Vatican"). The heading "Protokollnr. extern" ("external protocol no.") refers to protocol numbers on documents authored by institutions outside the Curia.

4.1.9 Links between drafts, final versions, directives and attachments

This heading is used to assign the documents to each other. The final version of a nuncial report is linked to the draft of the same nuncial report by means of the document number indicated under the heading "Entwurfsnr." ("draft no."). The draft of the nuncial report is linked to the final version of the nuncial report by the document number indicated under the heading "Ausfertigungsnr" ("final version no."). The draft and the final version are displayed in two screen windows. The respective attachments are linked to the nuncial report (draft and final version) or to the directive by means of the respective document numbers indicated under the heading "Nuntiaturbericht Nr." ("no. of nuncial report") or to the heading "Weisung Nr." ("no. of directive"). In order to compare the two texts more easily, the header can be collapsed and, if necessary, the search bar on the left margin can be moved to the side.

4.1.10 References to other editions

If a nuncial report or a directive has already been published, the source is indicated in the "Edition" section. Sources accessible online are linked.

: In the case of nuncial reports and directives that contain attachments, a select box "Anlagen" ("attachments") is provided indicating the number of attachments in brackets. It contains a list of all attachments recorded in the respective document. All corresponding details such as the title, the correspondence partners or the author and the date the attachment was authored are indicated.

4.1.11 Archive reference number

The indication of the archive reference number for all documents follows the guidelines of the respective archives. Under the heading "Archivsignatur" ("archive reference number") the respective archive is listed first, followed by the respective holdings and, as far as possible, the precise indication of where the documents was discovered.

As far as the Vatican Apostolic Archives (AAV) are concerned, the holdings pertaining to the Munich and Berlin nunciatures ("Arch. Nunz. Monaco" and "Arch. Nunz. Berlino") are of particular interest for the present edition. In both cases the respective positions (pos.) and fascicles (fasc.) are indicated, followed by the folio number (fol.). Positions Arch. Nunz. Monaco 398 and 403 are an exception, each consisting of only one fascicle, which is accordingly called "unico". Moreover, documents relevant to the edition were found in the series "Segr. Stato, Guerra (1914-1918)" and "Segr. Stato, Anno 1917-1930". In both cases the respective rubric (rubr.) and fascicle (fasc.) are indicated. Furthermore, documents from the holdings of the Consistorial Congregation ("Arch. Concist.") were included in the edition: on the one hand documents kept in the series "Ponenze", which is arranged by year, number and protocol number of the Consistorial Congregation; on the other hand documents from the series "Positiones", which is arranged by diocese or country (Germania) and protocol number of the Consistorial Congregation. The documents from the Congregation of the Council ("Congr. Concilio") are arranged by series ("Positiones"), year and position (e.g. 5324). The reference number for documents of the Historical Archive of the Secretariat of State (S.RR.SS.) consists of the holdings (AA.EE.SS.), the designation of the respective country series (e.g. Italia), the year (e.g. 1914-1918), the position and the fascicle. Additionally, documents may be arranged by volume (vol.) or by box (scatola). The documents from the Archive for the Evangelisation of Peoples (ASPF) are kept in the so-called "New Series" (Nuova Serie) and are arranged by position and rubric (rubr.). The reference number in the Archive of the Congregation for Catholic Education (ACEC) is based on the protocol number of the congregation. In the Archive of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (ACDF), the holdings "Sanctum Officium" (SO) and therein the series "Censurae Librorum" (CL) and "Rerum Variarum" (RV) are of particular importance, the indication of which is supplemented by the year and file number. The documents relevant to the edition from the Archive of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches (ACO) are kept in the fonds Pontificia Commissione Pro Russia and are arranged according to positions (pos.).

The last indication in the "archive" heading, "fol.", refers to the pages according to the foliation in the archive. The pages' front side is marked with an "r" (recto), while the back side is indicated by a "v" (verso). If the indication refers to one sheet only, "rv" is recorded. Pages that were overlooked during foliation were later specified with the number of the preceding page; in these cases, the archivists added "bis" (lat. twice) for the first following page and "tris" (lat. three times) for the second following page. The pages are thence called "bisr" and "bisv" and "trisr" and "trisv". Additional sheets may also be designated by means of letters in alphabetical order. In case the archives made errors in numbering or in filing this is explained in editorial footnotes. Documents from holdings or volumes that have so far not been sorted remain unpaginated and are labelled as "[Ohne Nummer]" ("[without number]") in the archive heading. In the case of multi-page documents, the editors inserted a pagination, which is explained in an editorial footnote.

4.1.12 Summaries

In the case of the final versions of nuncial reports and directives, the archive reference number is followed by a summary in italics.

4.1.13 Writer

In the case of drafts of nuncial reports the various stages of revision are indicated by means of the so-called layer model. Following the archive reference number, a list of the writers involved in the draft is given, which allows to display the genesis of a report by clicking on it.

4.1.14 Subject

The subject of nuncial reports and directives, referred to as "oggetto" in the Italian document, is indicated, the final punctuation mark (full stop) being, however, omitted. The subject lines in the draft and the final version of a nuncial report may differ.

4.1.15 Specification

In some cases, explanations on nuncial reports and directives are given under the heading "Spezifikation" (specification). Here, you will find indications such as "riservato" ("reserved"), "confidenziale" ("confidential"), "personale" ("private"), etc. as well as references to attachments ("con inserto", "with enclosure") or indications such as "Rapporto di Mons. Schioppa in assenza del Nunzio" ("Report by Mons. Schioppa in the nuncio's absence"). These specifications may also be given with regard to attachments; the information furnished in the respective languages of the attachment such as "Geheim" ("secret"), "Confidenziale" ("confidential"), "Streng vertraulich" ("highly confidential"), "Strettamente confidenziale" ("highly confidential"), "Persönlich ("private"), "Abschrift" ("copy"), "1 attachment", "Nachdruck gestattet und erwünscht" ("reprint authorized and welcome"), etc. or specifying notes left on the attachment such as "Kopie" ("copy"), "Abschrift" ("copy"), "Telegramm" ("telegram"), "Übersetzung" ("translation"), "Traduzione" ("translation") are recorded, marks are noted and punctuation marks are adopted.

These explanations are edited as a text, while special features are recorded in an editorial footnote. Specific information that can only be deduced, such as "[Übersetzung]" ("translation") or "[Kopie]" ("copy"), is given in square brackets.

4.2 The body of the document

4.2.1 The edited text

On the edited text of the nuncial reports, directives and attachment, see "5. Constitution of the text".

4.2.2 "Zusatz" (addendum)

The heading "Zusatz" is arranged in two columns in order to distinguish it from the edited text. It may contain the following information:

• transcriptions of long texts or insertions that are not be attributed to the report. These e.g. include notes and extensive marks by the recipient that call for a precise description.
• general explanations of the document by the editors.
• explanations in case it is impossible to unambiguously assign a document to a certain document type.
• explanations in case the edited text was used in manifold ways, e.g. if it was both sent as a nuncial report and as an attachment. If several identical versions of the text were found in the Vatican archives (e.g. copies of a document), no reference is made.
• if necessary, it is noted: "Dieses Dokument konnte in den Berliner und Münchener Nuntiaturakten/in den Beständen der vatikanischen Archive bisher nicht nachgewiesen werden" ("This document was not found in the Berlin and Munich nunciature archives or in any other holdings of the Vatican archives").
• if a document was not finally edited, it was noted: "Dieses Dokument befindet sich derzeit noch in Bearbeitung." ("This document is currently under construction").
• if applicable, the heading contains the note: "Dieses Dokument wird nicht ediert" ("This document is not being edited"). This e.g. applies to newspaper articles or to photographs enclosed as attachments.
• in the case of drafts of nuncial reports that are not edited, because they only contain insignificant corrections and show hardly any differences from the final version, the following is indicated: "Dieses Dokument wird vorerst nicht ediert" ("This document is not being edited for the time being").

4.3 The document footer

The edited text and the addendum are followed by a half hyphen that marks the beginning of the document footer.

4.3.1 Footnote apparatus

There are two kinds of footnotes: those used in the original document and those used by the editors. In the case of the former, the character used in the document is reproduced. The editorial footnotes set in the document header and in the edited text are numbered consecutively. If you click on the footnote, you are automatically directed to the corresponding footnote at the end of the text.

Editorial footnotes are used in case information is missing in the document but can be deduced as well as for explaining reconstructed documents or illegible passages, for illustrating the genesis of final versions and directives and for marks and comments by the recipient (underlining, strikeouts in the margin, strikethroughs, additions and indications on the further use of a letter).

4.3.2 Date of first online publication

Under "Online seit" ("Online since") it is noted when a document was first published online.

4.3.3 Recommended quotation

The recommended quotation and the permalink to the document as well as the current access date are noted here.

4.3.4 Date of last modification of the document

If a document was modified after it was published online, you will find a corresponding date entry in the "Letzte Änderung" ("Last Changed") section.

4.3.5 Select boxes "Biographien" ("Biographies") and "Schlagwörter" ("Keywords")

The "Biographien" box contains the names, dates and functions of all persons recorded in a particular letter and lists them in the order in which they are named. The "Schlagwörter" box contains the same information on all mentioned and explained facts.

5. Text constitution

The Pacelli edition has faced various challenges: firstly, with 20,848 documents, a large number of texts had to be dealt with; secondly, quite different text genres were to be edited; thirdly, the texts were written by a large number of people that possessed different linguistic styles and abilities; fourthly, these texts are available in various editing stages, sometimes in translations, and they were written in different languages. Due to this heterogeneity, it was up to the editors to decide individually for each case how to proceed with the respective documents, which is indicated by square brackets.

5.1 Writing paper

The figurative elements on the letter paper as well as printed or stamped additions, archive stamps and page numbering are not recorded. The texts written down on the reverse side of the waste paper used for drafts and for transcribing the text of coded telegrams are not taken into account either. The addressing information and the incoming mail or protocol number of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs in the Secretariat of State in the lower left corner are, however, included in the document header.

5.2 Typeface

In the edition, all kinds of highlighting markings applied to the original document (by colouring, underlining, blocking, italicisation, font mixing, majuscules, altered font size, combined highlighting, etc.) are uniformly reproduced by underlining. This also holds true for headings that are not specifically marked.

Paragraphs and page breaks are reproduced in standardised form. Paragraphs are always simplified and without indentation. A page break is followed by a blank line and another line in which the page count is displayed. Hyphenations are retained at page breaks. The page count starts with the second inscribed page and is displayed in bold.

The division of comparative juxtapositions as well as of tables and series is retained. The column layout of documents (e.g. columns in daily newspapers) is not adopted. If, in the case of nuncial reports, entries are made on the left half of the page, which normally is left blank, this is not commented on either. Enumerations are recorded including their enumeration marks or numbering; they are separated by a space and recorded without indentation.

When transcribing the text we abstained from a diplomatic transcription and from explaining the typeface by means of diacritical marks. Line falling, hyphenation, formatting such as indentation, centring and left- or right-justification at the gutter margin, blank lines and typographical signs as structural elements, such as dashes or asterisks, are neither reproduced nor marked. The continuous edited text appears in full justification.

In accordance with the aforementioned regulations on typeface, all greetings and closing formulas are set left-justified and line breaks are adopted. The signature is uniformly set off on a new line; markings, e.g. on telegrams, are silently dissolved. No special explanation is offered in the case of typewritten copies of nuncial reports, directives and attachments that contain a handwritten closing formula.

5.3 Punctuation

The following standardisations have been made:

• The punctuation of the original is retained, except for the silent correction of obvious errors, e.g. double characters.
• We use straight inverted commas throughout. By means of this standardisation the different typographical forms are unified. This also goes for equal signs used instead of inverted commas. A repetition of the inverted comma at the beginning of each line is omitted. Analogously, single inverted commas are represented by simple straight inverted commas set at the top. Apostrophes are also given the straight form.
• Hyphenations adopted at page break that appear with a double divis in the original document are displayed with a single hyphen.
• Dashes are displayed in a typographically correct form according to their respective function as hyphens or dashes.
• Ellipsis points in the original document are consistently represented by the ligature of three dots "...", regardless of the specific number.
• Missing or multiple spaces are corrected and not furnished with an annotation. Marks for subdividing the text of telegrams, such as "=" or "-" are not taken into account or silently resolved.
• If abbreviations require spaces in accordance with the standard, a fixed space is always inserted (example: "u. a." instead of "u.a.").
• The underlining of superscript suffixes, especially in enumerations, is not displayed.
• Uniform use is made of an asterisk to indicate the year of birth (Unicode 002A) and the cross to indicate the year of death, as well as the cross placed before the name in the signature (Unicode 002B).
• Original footnotes in the document template are taken over with their footnote character at the respective location within the edited text. The text of the annotation, regardless of its placement in the original document, is reproduced after completion of the edited text, indicating the sheet on which the insertion is located.
• Ordinal numbers are taken over according to their appearance in the original document, e.g. 1^a, 2^o, 1^er.

5.4 Interventions in the text and editorial standardizations

Capitalization and hyphenation are orientated at the original document. In the case of obvious spelling mistakes, emendations are made. That means that slips, word duplications, and incorrectly placed accents are silently corrected. Please note:

• Words indicated twice by the author in anticipation of the page or sheet change are disregarded.
• Insertions, deletions, and corrections to the original document, the marking of which would only affect reading comfort, but add nothing substantial, are incorporated into the edited text without note.
• In the case of typographical errors due to omissions of one or more letters or of a word, it may be necessary to insert these in square brackets for better understanding. Letters are not substituted; the text as it is written down in the original document remains evident.
• This also holds true for punctuation. Omitted quotation marks are e.g. added in square brackets, since a reference by means of "[sic]" would be misunderstandable in these cases.
• If a passage is not clearly decipherable, the presumed text is placed in square brackets and an explanation is offered in an editorial footnote.
• In the case of indecipherable letters, words, word sequences, or numbers, the type and number, if ascertainable, is placed in square brackets; e.g. "[zwei Wörter unlesbar]" ("two illegible words]") or "[Zahl unlesbar]" ("[number illegible]").
• Abbreviations in the original document are not resolved. On the abbreviations used in the edition see 7. "List of Abbreviations".
• Era-specific variations, irregularities among the original documents as well as orthographical peculiarities and outdated expressions remain. "[sic]" is used whenever misunderstandings arise or a negligence on the part of the edition may be suspected. Incorrect spellings of names, terms, or institutions are commented on in biographies and keywords.

5.5 Special rules for the various languages

The edition considers peculiarities resulting from the way the respective languages developed in the course of time. This means:

5.5.1 Italian

• "j" is replaced with an "i", e.g. "-ij" becomes "-ii", whilst the masculine plural suffix "-ii" is replaced with a simple "-i".
• Accents marking a difference in meaning (such as "è" in contrast to "e") are silently added in case they are missing in the original document. In all other cases, the edition follows the original document. Obsolete or incorrect accents in the original document are recorded according to today's rules.
• Abbreviations are reproduced according to the original document and, if necessary, furnished with a superscript. Diacritical punctuation, such as a superscript stroke (as in "Emo"), is omitted.

5.5.2 German

• The German umlauts are rendered according to the original document. If necessary, the inconsistency of the minuscule "ö" and the majuscule "Oe" resulting from the technical conditions of certain typewriters is preserved.
• The variation of "ss", "sz" and "ß" is preserved. The handwritten characters for long-s and round-s are resolved into "s".
• An abbreviation represented by an overstrike is silently resolved. This above all applies to the strokes placed over "m" and "n" for doubling.

5.5.3 French

• The French diacritical marks are silently added in case they are missing in the original document.
• Obsolete or incorrect accents in the original document are recorded according to today's rules.

5.5.4 Languages of non-Latin alphabets

• Texts with non-Latin alphabets are transcribed true to character.

6. Annotation

The edition's aim is to make the documents, which were mainly written in Italian, accessible not only to a narrow specialist audience, but to a large historically interested public. Therefore, both the final versions of the nuncial reports and the directives are furnished with summaries, biographies and keywords in German. As far as attachments are concerned, the authors of newspaper articles, publications and memoranda as well as the senders and recipients of letters are biographically identified.

6.1 Summaries

In a classical way the German summaries outline the essential contents of the reports and directives locating them in their historical and theological context.

Once the annotations concerning persons and keywords were completed, all summaries pertaining to documents of a certain year were compiled. In order to assure a certain scientific quality, all drafts of the summaries were discussed in regular team meetings and brought together with the findings of the editorial work and the annotations, in order to be e.g. able to include the genesis of a report in the summary or to ensure a uniform terminology.

6.2 Biographies

The biographical notes cover all persons mentioned in the text, either directly by name or indirectly by circumstantial evidence, i.e. by a reference to their profession or kinship. Quite a few of them can only be identified due to our thorough knowledge of the documents kept in the Vatican archives, e.g. those files kept in the archives of the nunciatures in Munich and Berlin that are not edited here. The explanation of biographical facts therefore frequently opens up the context of an edited document.

As far as possible, a person's name, life data, functions as well as a chronology of the most important biographical data are indicated. The biographies therefore have a clear structure: the "Biographie Nr." ("Biography no."), the count used by the project, is followed by the "Name" of the respective person (surname, first name and, if applicable, title or affiliation with a religious order). After that, "Lebensdaten" ("life data") and "Kurzinformation" ("brief information") are indicated, which includes a specification of the respective person's office or function. In the "Details" a curriculum vitae is offered. In case a curriculum vitae that meets scientific requirements can already be found on the Internet, you will find the note "Für weitere Informationen beachten Sie bitte die Hinweise unter Quellen und Literatur" ("For further information, please see the notes under Sources and Literature"). In the field "Zusatz" ("Addendum") problems with assignments are discussed, if necessary; moreover, further information is offered here or e.g. acknowledgments for received information are formulated. In order to obtain further online information on the person in question, a list of links is offered in "Weitere Web-Ressourcen (GND-Beacon)" ("Further web resources, GND beacon") as well as the indication of the "VIAF number" (the international authority file).

Literature is not only listed in the biographical records of the Pacelli Edition, but directly linked, in case it is available online. The project makes use of the possibilities of the Gemeinsame Normdatei (GND) of the German National Library and its cooperation partners. If available, the GND identification number of a person is given and the name is automatically linked to the records of the GND, which contain all essential biographical information. The identification numbers help to assign different name variants already noted in the system and to prevent confusion between persons with the same name. Apart from that, the GND number can be used to find the personal online records in the "Beacon" file format, made available by numerous participating institutions (see de.wikipedia.org). The Pacelli edition automatically links to these in the field "Weitere Web-Ressourcen (GND-Beacon)" ("Further web resources (GND Beacon)"). It also makes its biographies available in Beacon format. The edition is therefore automatically linked to in numerous prominent places, which significantly increases its visibility.

Further evidence is given in the fields "Quelle" ("Source") and "Literatur" ("Literature"). Moreover, it is noted when the corresponding biography went online. As a last point you will find the "Empfohlene Zitierweise" ("Recommended quotation") and the date of the last change. Via a select box, you can navigate to the documents linked to the biography ("Verknüpfte Dokumente").

The edition contains the profiles of 5,392 persons that have been referenced biographically. In view of the mass and the highly disparate state of research on the individual persons, different depths of commentary were determined for the biographies:

• If entries on a person are already available in online standard works such as "Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie" (ADB), "Neue Deutsche Biographie" (NDB), "Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon" (BBKL) or "Akten der Reichskanzlei. Weimarer Republik online", the project refrained from creating a biographical note of its own, since its scientific value would be disproportionate to the time required for writing it. To quote an example: there are articles on Wilhelm Marx (biography no. 13016), a politician of the Centre Party and Reich Chancellor, in the BBKL, the NDB and the "Akten der Reichskanzlei". Moreover, there is a biography by Ulrich von Hehl. Therefore, no biography of Marx was prepared in the Pacelli edition. In case the edition yields new information on persons not included in the relevant reference works, however, these are specifically noted. For example, the industrialist Peter Klöckner (biography no. 247) is biographically referenced via corresponding entries in the NDB and in the "Akten der Reichskanzlei". However, the "Akten" do not say that in 1922 he was elevated to the rank of Commander of the Order of St Gregory by the Pope for his services in financing the purchase of the Berlin nunciature building. This reference was added.
• Most of the biographies of priests and religious have been compiled on the basis of the so-called "Schematismen" of the individual dioceses. For example, Otto Breiter (biography no. 2114), who in 1919 was a deacon in the diocese Munich, was found in the Schematismus of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. He had already been assigned a GND number, which, however, only refers to those of his writings that can be found in the libraries. Other projects will surely benefit from the research of the Pacelli project, since in many cases biographical information on persons as Breiter is presented for the first time.
• Likewise, many biographies of lesser-known individuals can only be presented after the relevant literature has been systematically evaluated or with the help of the Internet. For example, the name of Egidio Lari (biography no. 18), secretary of the nunciature in Switzerland, was found in the relevant literature on the Swiss nunciature as well as in the "Annuaire Catholique", the French version of the "Annuario Pontificio". In order to find information on Friedrich Vüllers (biography no. 38), district administrator in Jülich, the relevant literature on the administrative history of his district was consulted. Some first information on Bernard de Lamy (biography no. 12082), delegate of the French High Commission in the Rhineland, was found online. Lamy is not mentioned in the relevant literature on the Rhineland occupation and on the city of Düren; his first name and birthday were, however, found in an online index of the Archives Nationales in Paris.
• Often, the edition itself provides the first clues to the life data of persons. Apart from that, a specific archival research in other holdings of the Vatican archives may yield further results. The relevant literature on the Catholic merchant and banker in Berlin Franz Semer (Biography No. 244) previously only contained short references. The information provided by the edition makes his biographical profile clearer. At Pacelli's request, he received the title of supernumerary privy chamberlain for his services to the purchase of the Berlin nunciature building. Semer was confident enough to ask Pacelli for papal honours for other personalities. Moreover, Semer was involved in transferring highly sensitive files of the Centre politician Matthias Erzberger to Pacelli. Further information, such as that concerning Semer's relationship with Adolf Cardinal Bertram, could be obtained from Bertram's estate in the archiepiscopal archives in Breslau.
• In some of his nuncial reports, Pacelli does not mention the name of his informants, but merely refers to a trusted person. As far as possible, the identity of these persons is historically reconstructed. We may therefore assume that the Reichstag deputy of the Centre Party mentioned in document no. 1080, whom Pacelli asks to make sure that a telegram from the Bavarian envoy to the Holy See about Pope Benedict XV's stance towards the conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia in the summer of 1914 is not read out in the Reichstag, is Ludwig Kaas (biography no. 11016). In the Concordat negotiations, Pacelli worked closely with Kaas. Very probably, the anonymous politician of the Bavarian People's Party who sent the Holy See a memorandum on Bolshevik agitation in Austria (documents no. 330 and no. 558) is the founder of the BVP and well-known Bavarian "separatist" Georg Heim (biography no. 8047). He vigorously advocated the union between Austria and Bavaria and the exclusion of Prussia that was favoured in the memorandum. In other cases, it is more difficult to identify persons. For example, we were unable to clarify the identity of Pacelli's confidant mentioned in the nuncial report (document no. 236) on a dispute between Munich's Archbishop Faulhaber and the Jesuit Kösters (biography no. 29057). If we have a look at the nuncio's confidants mentioned in other edited documents, however, we may assume that it might have been one of the following four Jesuits: Leopold Fonck SJ (biography no. 1095), Clemens Blume SJ (biography no. 2069), Franz Ehrle SJ (biography no. 5003) or Heinrich Sierp SJ (biography no. 19083).
• Nevertheless, there are persons mentioned anonymously in the edition in whose cases it was impossible to assign a name, let alone determine biographical information. For example, there is a directive (document no. 3617) that mentions an anonymous donor who donated 150 lire to the clerical seminary in the POW camp in Limburg. In another case (document no. 8208), a poor Italian priest residing in Munich (biography no. 29039) asked for papal support, which the Holy See granted him (document no. 3358). In another directive (document no. 5350), Gasparri quotes a report by a woman from Calais (biography no. 1067) about the deportations in German-occupied France, which is based on the account of a repatriated Frenchman (biography no. 1068). It is questionable whether the letter of the aforementioned woman from Calais, and thus her name, would be found by an elaborate search in the country series of the AA.EE.SS. In any case, the amount of work involved and the expected result for the questions guiding the edition are out of all proportion. If therefore no reliable information could be found with reasonable effort and if the person is mentioned only once, further research was abstained from.

Especially with regard to central figures of contemporary history, the edition provides important additions to so-far existing biographies. In such cases, it makes sense to write evaluative biographical comments that e.g. also explain how Pacelli's relationship to the persons in question developed over the entire period of the edition. These comments are displayed in the "Analyse" ("Analysis") field. The biography of Munich's Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber (biography no. 6001) serves as an example.

6.3 Keywords

The notes on keywords explain relevant facts, events, institutions and associations. Their structure is kept quite simple: The "Schlagwort-Nr." ("keyword no.") assigned by the Pacelli project is followed by the "Titel" ("Title") of the keyword and an explanation in the "Kommentar" ("Comment") field. As with the biographies, both the "Zusatz" ("addendum") field and the "Analyse" ("Analysis") field can be used. In the "Quelle" ("Source") and/or "Literatur" ("Literature") field, all relevant evidence is given. Finally, the common notes "Online seit" ("Online since"), "Empfohlene Zitierweise" ("Recommended quotation") and "Letzte Änderung" ("Last change") follow. Via the document select box the documents linked to the keyword "Verlinkte Dokumente" ("Linked documents") can be navigated to.

Since there are 4,545 entries, the annotation goes into various depths. The comments can therefore be assigned to the following categories:

• Most of the comments provide background information that is suited to the needs of the edition, based on literature, source publications, and Internet resources. Thus, keyword no. 1030 explains what a "Visitatio liminum Apostolorum" is; keyword no. 4019 explains why the Holy See did not maintain diplomatic relations with Italy during Pacelli's time as nuncio; keyword no. 18083 lists the central events of the first phase of the revolution in Bavaria of 1918/19; keyword no. 16059 explains what the "Suchomlinow trial" was; keyword no. 8016 explains the history and duties of the Congregation of the Council; keyword no. 2091 gives an overview of the development of the right to elect bishops in Prussia, from the bull "De salute animarum" of 1821 to the regulations of the CIC of 1917 and the provisions of the Prussian Concordat of 1929.
• A considerable part of the comments is based on information obtained from the edition itself or from further research in the Vatican archives. Keyword no. 13056 "Übergabe der den Vatikan betreffenden Akten Matthias Erzbergers an das Münchener Nuntiaturarchiv" is an example of this. Frequently, the edition offers new information that goes far beyond what is known from literature, as in the case of keyword no. 1104 on the Saxon Catholic Congress in Dresden in 1919.
• Other keywords reproduce text passages referred to in the edited documents, e.g. canons of the CIC of 1917, articles of the Weimar Reich Constitution, or the draft of the Reich School Law of April 22, 1921, paragraph 4 (keyword no. 40).
• The same applies to bibliographical references that complete book titles mentioned in reports naming them according to today's standards (keyword no. 10012 on Sägmüller's "Lehrbuch des Katholischen Kirchenrechts").
• Wherever possible, there are links to newspaper articles mentioned in the nuncial reports, showing the enormous opportunities an online edition principally offers (keyword no. 389 that contains a link to the Journal des Débats).
• In addition to the global comments on topics that come up in several documents and are therefore linked to all of them, there are individual comments providing information on facts that only come up in one single document. They e.g. point out decryption errors in the decrypted telegrams that decisively change the meaning of the documents (e.g., keyword no. 25081: "Entschlüsselungsfehler bei Telegramm 394", "Decryption error in telegram 394"). Or, as in keyword no. 8051, the content of an edited document is corrected by another edited document: in the directive (document no. 10245) a letter from the bishop of Baden is mentioned. The diocese of Baden was considered to be the archdiocese of Freiburg, which is why one would assume that it was a letter from the then Archbishop of Freiburg, Karl Fritz. The sender of the letter, which is also edited as an attachment (document no. 788), however, was the Prince-Bishop of Breslau, Adolf Bertram.

Just as for the biographies, evaluating analyses have also been prepared for the central keywords of the edition, which go beyond the previous state of research. Here, the main focus is on the information gained from the edition itself showing how Pacelli positioned himself on the respective topics (Weimar Constitution, concordat with Bavaria, liturgical movement, etc.). Keyword no. 11129 on the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch of March 13, 1920, and keyword no. 19047 on the "Stimmen der Zeit" serve as examples here.

7. List of abbreviations

Abbreviation	Entire word / expression in German	p.r.n. translation / English expression
acc. ric.	accusa di ricevimento	acknowledgment of receipt
affirm.	affirmative	affirmative
All., Alleg.	Allegato	attachment
Anm. d. Ed.	Anmerkung der Editoren	editors' notice
Apost., Aplico/Aplica	Apostolico/-a	apostolic
art.	articolo	article
C	[Copiato]	copied
c. a.	corrente anno	of this year
c.c	conto corrente	cheque account
Can.	Canonico	canon [member of a cathedral chapter]
can.	canone	canon [as in the CIC]
capov.	capoverso	paragraph
Card.	Cardinale	cardinal
Cav.	Cavaliere	Cavaliere
cfr.	confer / confronta	cfr.
CJ	Congregatio Jesu	Congregation of Jesus
col.	colonna	column
Comm.	Commendatore	Commendatore
corr.	corrente [mese]	current [month]
CSsR	Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris	Redemptorists
D.	Dominus	Mister / Sir
d. f. m.	di felice memoria	of blessed memory
d. J.	des Jahres	of the year
d. m.	"dicto mense" oder "detto mese"	of said month
d. M.	des Monats	of the month ...
devmo, dev.mo, dmo	devotissimo	most respectfully
di ven. m.	di venerata memoria	of blessed memory
ds. Js.	dieses Jahres	of the year ...
e segg.	e seguenti	et sequentes
ecc.	eccetera	et cetera
Ecza, Eccza	Eccellenza	Excellency
Eccmo/-i, Ecc.mo/-i	Eccellentissimo/-i	The Most Excellent [bishops]
Emo/-i	Eminentissimo/-i	The Most Eminent [cardinals]
Enc.	Enciclica	encyclical
fasc.	fascicolo	fascicle
fol.	folio/-i	folio
fto, f°	firmato	undersigned
gez.	gezeichnet	signed
gl. r., glor. regn.	glorioso regnante / gloriosamente regnante	gloriously reigning
HP	Horsepower; Horse Power	Horsepower (HP)
Illmo/-a	Illustrissimo/-a	The Most Reverend
L.	Lire	Lire
l. c.	locus citatus	loco citato
l. Js.	laufenden Jahres	current year
l. Mts.	laufenden Monats	current year
l'on.	l'onorevole	esteemed
lett.	lettera	letter
M. R.	Molto Reverendo	most reverend
M., M.i	Marchi	Mark
MAfr	Societas Missionariorum Africae	White Fathers [Society of Missionaries of Africa]
Mgr., Mgre, Mons.	Monsignor(e)	Monsignor
MSC	Missionarii Sacratissimi Cordis	Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
N. B.	Nota bene	Nota bene
N., N°., No., Nr.	numero	number
NN./NN.i	numeri	numbers
N.N.	Nomen nominandum	Nomen nescio
O.M.C., OFMCap	Ordo Fratrum Minorum Capuccinorum	Capuchin order
obblmo, obb.mo, obbmo	obbligatissimo	most humbly
OCC, OCarm	Ordo Carmelitarum Calceatarum	Carmelites
OCD, OCarmD	Ordo Carmelitarum Discalceatarum	Discalced Carmelites
OCist	Ordo Cisterciensis	Cistercians
OFM	Ordo Fratrum Minorum	Franciscans
OFMConv	Ordo Fratrum Minorum Conventualium	Minorites
OH	Ordo Hospitalarius Sancti Johannis de Deo	Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God
OP	Ordo Fratrum Praedicatorum	Dominicans
OSB	Ordo Sancti Benedicti	Benedictines
OSM	Ordo Servorum Mariae	Servites
OVM	Ordo Visitatio Mariae	Salesian sisters [Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary]
p. p., p. p.to	prossimo passato	of the past month
P., PP.	Padre, Padri	Father
p.v.	prossimo venturo	of the next month
pag.	pagina	page
per es.	per esempio	for example
pos.	posizione	position
Proton., Protonot.	Protonotario	protonotary
r	Recto	recto
r. c. c.	[risposto con cifrato]	answered with encrypted telegram
R.mo/R.mi, Rmo/Rmi, Re-vmo/Revmi	Reverendissimo/-i	Most Venerable
Rapp.	Rapporto	report
Rev.	Reverendo	venerable
ric.	ricevimento	receipt
RR. PP.	Reverendi Padri	Venerable Fathers
rubr.	rubrica	rubric
S.	Santo/-a; sacro/-a	Saint
s. a.	scorso anno	past year
S. A. S.	Sua Altezza Serenissima	Her / His Serene Highness
S. C.	Sacra Congregazione	Sacred Congregation
S. C. Cist.	Sacra Congregazione Concistoriale	Sacred Consistorial Congregation
S. E.	Sua Eccellenza	His Excellency
s. m.	scorso mese	past month
S. R. C.	Santa Romana Chiesa	Holy Roman Church
S. S.	Sua Santità	His Holiness
S. V.	Signoria Vostra	Your Highness
Sac.	Sacerdote	priest
SCSC	Congregatio Sororum Caritatis Sanctae Crucis	Sisters of the Holy Cross Menzingen
seg., segg.	seguente/-i	following
Sig.	Signor(e)	Mister
SJ	Societas Jesu	Jesuits
SS.	Santi; Santissimi	Holy; Most Holy
SVD	Societas Verbi Divini	Society of the Divine Word
u. p.	ultimo passato	last month
u. s.	ultimo scorso	of the past month
umilmo, umo, u.mo	umilissimo	most humble
v	Verso	verso
v.	vedi	see
V. E.	Vostra Eccellenza; Vostra Eminenza	Your Excellency; Your Eminence
V. E. R.	Vostra Eminenza Reverendissima	Your Most Reverend Eminence
V. S. I.	Vostra Signoria Illustrissima	Esquire
vol.	volume	volume
z. Z.	zur Zeit	currently