In 2003 Bernd Hüttner published a book about free archives of social movements in German speaking countries, which lists the adresses of over 250 archives. For some more details see here
A big list of links to archives of new social movements is online here

Archive of Social Movements Bremen

- Archiv der sozialen Bewegungen -

The Archive of Social Movements was created at the beginning of 2000, when the book- and infoshop of the Bremen citizen initiative against atomic plants (Bremer BürgerInneninitiative gegen Atomanlagen, BBA) and the radical left infoshop "Umschlagplatz" merged. Their documents, which were collected in the course of the last three decades, formed the basic inventory. Some private collections were added. Regularly donations of material is taken up from other (movement-)archives all over Germany.

Under the slogan "of the movement - for the movement" material from the various resistance and protest movements of the last decades up to the present has been collected, sorted and made available. As an archive we can work against the "Geschichtslosigkeit" (the unawareness of former fights and movements). We would like to be a kind "memory for the left", collect material and make it available to people who are interested in historical work and political action nowadays. For the future it is of great importance that the documents of our history are not lost. National archives and libraries have only little material of this origin. Archives alone can surely not repair the crisis of the social movements, but they can make a contribution.

subject areas

The archive collects nearly everything concerning to the following topics of protest and resistance:
· history of Bremen
· critical historical work and methods (history from below, etc..)
· German history
· National Socialism
· APO/SDS/student movement
· woman and lesbian movement
· workers movement/trade unions
· communist groups
· education/school
· armed groups and political fights
· law/police
· squatting/town development
· peace movement/anti-militarism
· radical left movement, autonomous groups
· anti-nuclear movement
· internationalism/anti-imperialism
· social/health
· men/gays
· population politics/bio- and reproduction technologies
· anti-fascism
· refugees/migration
· racism/antisemitism
· traditional left/democratic socialism
· green parties
· Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS)/ DIE LINKE.
· new technologies/research
· ecology/alternative movement

Inventory
Books
The book inventory amounts to approximately 3000 volumes. They are thematically sorted. Further another 2000 volumes are momentarily still privately accommodated.

Newspapers and magazines
The newspaper and magazine archives cover over 1000 titles. In addition there are approx. 1000 titles in single or few copies. Among them many national magazins of the 1980's and 90īs, as well as foreign titles. Over 130 titles are constantly referred (list of titles). Sorted alphabetically.

Pressing and document collection
In approx. 200 binders and standing collecting tanks of handbills, newspaper articles and brochures about all topics of social movements since the 1960's. Only two thirds of the existing material is roughly sorted.

Posters
A lot of posters is part of the archive, but they are not sorted yet.

Agriculture and rural areas (special collection)
Material about regional development, bio agriculture, agriculture, province work and rural social history (extent approx. 20 shelf meters).

What is looked for
We look for all documents (brochures, posters, handbills etc..) about protest and resistance, about left theory and practice in the last decades, as well as appropriate newspapers of all kinds. There is special interest in books of the last 10 to 15 years, magazines of the 1970's and 1960's, regional newspapers as well as at documents of all kinds of left politics and movements from abroad. We would be very happy to get more material! The material, which is not needed any longer by private citizens, should be put open to the interested public! Furthermore we offer guidance to users, assistance in the search for material for political work. We help for school or university purposes as well as we give information about critical historical work, movement archives and more.

Networking

Cooperation exists with comparable archives and libraries all over Germany. In particular the archive is member of (locally at Bremen)
  • Network self-help Bremen/North Lower Saxony (Netzwerk Selbsthilfe Bremen/Nordniedersachsen)
  • Association "remembering for the future" (Verein "Erinnern für die Zukunft") (more)
  • Historical society of Bremen e.V. (Historische Gesellschaft Bremen e.V.) (more)


    • national
  • Circle of archives and libraries for the history of the workers' movement (Förderkreis Archive und Bibliotheken zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung) (more)


    • postal adress

    Archiv der sozialen Bewegungen Bremen
    St. Pauli Strasse 10/12
    28203 Bremen
    Fax 0049-421 - 75682


    map of bremen

    Mail: archivbremen(at)niatu.net

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