The Archive of Liberalism of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in

Gummersbach Gummersbach (; ksh, Jummersbach) is a town in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, being the district seat of the Oberbergischer Kreis. It is located east of Cologne. History In 1109 Gummersbach was mentioned in offic ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

has been in existence since 1968 and is thus the oldest of the six archives of political foundations in Germany.

Content

The Archive of Liberalism collects documents on the history of organized

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

. In addition to "classical" file material, it also catalogues printed matter, leaflets, posters and other advertising material, as well as photos, films, videos, audio tapes and digital media (including websites). The focus of the collections is on Germany and the period after 1945; a few individual holdings date from the Weimar Republic, very few from the late 19th century. In total, the holdings comprise some 4.9 linear kilometres of files (as of 2020) and some 25,000 units of audiovisual material (posters, films, advertising material). The archive also includes a specialist scientific library with about 42,000 volumes (books, journals, printed matter, articles). The vast majority of the holdings are indexed in a database as well as in analogue or digital finding aids and are made available to users - in compliance with the terms of protection under the Federal Archives Act.

People

In addition, the archive holds the estates of liberal politicians, including former members of the Bundestag and federal chairmen of the FDP, such as those of the Federal Minister of the Interior and Foreign Affairs

Hans-Dietrich Genscher Hans-Dietrich Genscher (21 March 1927 – 31 March 2016) was a German statesman and a member of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 1969 to 1974, and as Federal Minister for Foreign Affa ...

, the Federal President and Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs

Walter Scheel Walter Scheel (; 8 July 1919 – 24 August 2016) was a German statesman. A member of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP), he first served in government as the Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development from 1961 to 1966 and l ...

, the Federal Minister of Justice

Thomas Dehler Thomas Dehler (14 December 1897 – 21 July 1967) was a German politician. He was the Federal Republic of Germany's first Minister of Justice (1949–1953) and chairman of Free Democratic Party (1954–1957). Early life Dehler was born in Lic ...

or the Federal Minister of Economics

Otto Graf Lambsdorff Otto Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von der Wenge Graf Lambsdorff, known as Otto Graf Lambsdorff (20 December 1926 – 5 December 2009), was a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). Early life and education Lambsdorff was bo ...

, the long-standing chairman of the FDP

parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council. Parliamentar ...

Wolfgang Mischnick or the Vice-President of the German Bundestag

Liselotte Funcke Liselotte Funcke (20 July 19181 August 2012) was a German liberal politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). She was a member of the German Bundestag parliament from 1961 to 1979, serving as its vice president from 1969. She then was appoi ...

. Further holdings can be found in the archives by the following personalities, among others: *

Franz Blücher Franz Blücher (24 March 1896 – 26 March 1959) was a German politician and member of the German Parliament (''Bundestag''). Biography Blücher was born in Essen, Kingdom of Prussia. After the end of World War II, he was one of the fou ...

, Federal Minister for

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...

Affairs and Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation * Dieter-Julius Cronenberg, long-time Vice President of the German Bundestag * Johannes Dieckmann, President of the People's Chamber of the GDR (LDPD) * Martha Dönhoff, German women's rights activist and liberal politician (DDP, FDP) *

Josef Ertl Josef Ertl (7 March 1925 – 16 November 2000) was a Germans, German politician who served as the minister of agriculture in different cabinets of Germany and was a member of the Free Democratic Party (Germany), Free Democratic Party (FDP). Earl ...

, Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Forestry *

Karl-Hermann Flach Karl-Hermann Flach (October 17, 1929 – August 25, 1973) was a German journalist of the '' Frankfurter Rundschau'' and a politician of the liberal Free Democrats (FDP). Flach was born in Königsberg. He became a member of the liberal LDP (in t ...

, Federal Executive Director and General Secretary of the FDP *

Hildegard Hamm-Brücher Hildegard Hamm-Brücher (11 May 1921 – 7 December 2016) was a liberal politician in Germany. She held federal state secretary positions from 1969 to 1972 and from 1977 to 1982. She was the Free Democratic Party's candidate in the first ...

, State Secretary, Member of the Bundestag, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office *

Wilhelm Külz Wilhelm Külz (18 February 1875 – 10 April 1948) was a German liberal politician of the National Liberal Party, the German Democratic Party (DDP) and later the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (LDPD). He held public office both in the Germ ...

, politician (DDP, LDP), Reich Minister of the Interior, 1945 to 1948 Chairman of the LDP *

Reinhold Maier Reinhold Maier (16 October 1889 – 19 August 1971) was a German politician and the leader of the FDP from 1957–1960. From 1946 to 1952 he was Minister President of Württemberg-Baden and then the 1st Minister President of the new s ...

, first prime minister of Baden-Württemberg * Hermann Saam, German diplomat and mayor * Cornelia Schmalz-Jacobsen, Senator in Berlin, Secretary General of the FDP, Federal Government Commissioner for Foreigners *

Guido Westerwelle Guido Westerwelle (; 27 December 1961 – 18 March 2016) was a German politician who served as Foreign Minister in the second cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice-Chancellor of Germany from 2009 to 2011, being the first openly gay person ...

, Federal Chairman of the FDP and Federal Foreign Minister

References

External links

Main website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Archive of Liberalism History of liberalism Archives in Germany Photo archives in Germany Free Democratic Party (Germany) 1968 establishments in Germany

Content

People

See also

References

External links