From the date it was originally founded in the Carolingian period up until the High Middle Ages, Lorsch Abbey was one of the most important cultural centres for the dissemination of the educational programme developed by the royal court. The abbey became famous for its scriptorium and comprehensive library, one of the largest and most important in the Middle Ages. Today, the remaining works, including the famous Codex Aureus of Lorsch, are dispersed across 54 sites in 17 countries around the world. The monastery was also a pioneer in the field of medicine. The late eighth century Lorsch Pharmacopeia is the oldest pharmaceutical manuscript of the Western Middle Ages. Lorsch Abbey is also mentioned in Germany’s well-known legend, the Song of the Nibelungs, as the burial site for Siegfried. Although the latter is only a legend, the monastery is the actual resting place of the first East Frankish Kings of the Carolingian dynasty.