Brief overview of German repositories and of their collections on the extra-parliamentary opposition (APO), the student movements and other forms of radical protests in the Sixties and seventies West Germany.

APO-Archiv (Freie Universität Berlin)

The APO-Archiv is by far one of the biggest repositories when it comes to primary sources on the radical protests in Germany. The APO-Archive contains no less than 6,000 brochures and other documents. For the sixties and seventies, it is one of the largest German collections of papers, leaflets, posters, and other documents relating to the West German student movement. With the Archiv der Sozialen Demokratie in Bonn, APO-Archiv is the main repository of the papers of the German socialist Student Union (Sozialistische Deutsche Studentenbund, SDS) and possesses an almost complete collection of leaflets originating at West Berlin universities since the 1960s.

 Archiv der Sozialen Demokratie (Bonn)

The Archiv der Sozialen Demokratie (ASD) is the principal repository of the records of the Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, SPD) and of the papers of leading SPD politicians, including Heinrich Albertz, Christel Beilmann, Willy Brandt, Gustav W. Heinemann, Heinz Kloppenburg, Richard Löwenthal. The ASD owns quite a collection of photography, newspapers and videotapes on the history of social movements in Germany since the 1960s.

Bibliothek für Zeitgeschichte (BfZ) (Stuttgart)

The Library of Contemporary History (BfZ) is one of Europe’s largest specialist libraries for contemporary history and an internationally renowned centre of historical research. The main collection of the library (approx. 380,000 books and 415 journals) is complemented by special collections. Among its special collections, The New Social Movements (Neue Soziale Bewegungen) is the one to be consulted. It is an impressive collection of popular and alternative literatures produced in West Germany from the late 1950s until 2000s. The BfZ possesses also a large collection of posters, leaflets, newspapers and magazines promoting alternative culture (from student movements, women’s movements to peace movements and anti-nuclear movements). With no less than 10,000 brochures and 1000 periodicals, it is one of the largest collections of grey political literature

Deutsches Historisches Museum (DHM) (Berlin)

The German History Museum in Berlin (Deutsches Historisches Museum, DHM) possesses an important collection of over 800 objects, leaflets, and posters generated by the protest movements of the 1960s. The collections include papers relating to the history of Ring Christlich-Demokratischer Studenten (RCDS), Republikanischer Club (RC), Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund (SDS), Sozialdemokratischer Hochschulbund (SHB). The DHM posseses several series of newspapers such as Agit 883, Berliner Extra Blatt, Oberbaumblatt, Kommune 1, Edition Voltaire but also quite an impressive number of material on the opposition to the Vietnam War (Vietnamkriegs-Opposition) and  the movement of June the 2^nd, 1967 (2. Juni 1967). Finally, the German History Museum has a substantial collection of material pertaining to the daily life of the protest movements, such as private letters and photographs.

FFBIZ – Frauenforschungs, Bildungs und Informationszentrum E.V. (Berlin)

The Women’s research, Education and Information Centre (FFBIZ) in Berlin is an autonomous institution which grew out of the women’s movement in Germany. It exists since 1978. The FFBIZ possesses an impressive collection of material but also organizes regularly seminars, courses, discussion groups and conferences on feminism studies, on art and on the German women’s movement. The FFBIZ aims to promote cooperation among feminist researchers both within and outside higher education institutions. With the Archiv der deutschen Frauenbewegung in Kassel and the FrauenMediaTurm in Cologne, the FFBIZ is one of the biggest collections of material on the early Women’s movement in Germany, including samples of feminist journals (such as Die Schwarze Botin or Frauen und Film) newspaper clippings, posters, photographs and banners.

Hamburg Institute for Social Research (Hamburg)

Library of the Hamburg Institute for Social Research (Hamburger Institut für Sozialforschung) was established in 1984. Its special collection entitled “Protest, Resistance and Utopia in the Federal Republic of Germany”, is made of no less than 2,000 magazines from the late 1950s until present day and of an impressive amount of booklets, pamphlets and other documents produced in the 1960s and until the 1990s.

 Landesarchiv Berlin (Berlin State archive) – LAB

The Landesarchiv in Berlin (LAB) is the main repository of the city government of Berlin and of its mayors. The archive holds the administrative and judicial records of the city of Berlin since the middle-Ages. The LAB possesses substantial holdings on the history of the protest movements since the 1960s. Within its “contemporary history collection” (F Rep.240) and its “poster collection” (F Rep.260) the LAB offers an impressive amount of publications, pictures, flyers and posters of the student movements in the 1960s, on the peace movement and on the left-alternative scene in West Berlin in the late 1970s and 1980s. Among many other documents worth to be consulted, one should see the publications of the student’s club “ca ira” (Studenten club ca ira).

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