The Codex Hersfeldensis is considered to be the original source for the surviving manuscripts of the Opera Minora – the shorter works of Tacitus, including the Germania.
In 1425, Heinrich von Grebenstein, a Hersfeld monk visiting Rome, informed the apostolic secretary, humanist, and collector of Latin manuscripts, Poggio Bracciolini, of the discovery of copies of ancient works at the abbey.
Grebenstein sent a list of the works to Poggio who recognized the value of the finds and sent his agent Niccolò Niccoli to Hersfeld to obtain a detailed inventory.
The humanist Stefano Guarnieri created the Aesinas in the period after Pietro Candido Decembrio described the Codex Hersfeldensis, no later than 1474.
This Agricola fragment is generally considered to be the only original piece of the Codex Hersfeldensis that has survived to the present day.