The Forum Queeres Archiv München (English: Forum Queer Archive Munich - LGBTIQ* in History and Culture) in
Munich,
Germany, is an association and archive with collections focusing on
LGBTQ+ history and culture in Munich,
Bavaria and Germany. It opened in 1999 and was named forum homosexualität münchen – Lesben und Schwule in Geschichte und Kultur e.V. till 2019.
Archive
The archive collects documents of
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
,
gay,
bisexual
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...
,
transgender and
intersex people: private documents, diaries, photo albums and self-created collections of newspaper articles etc., who "have extraordinary significance to cultural history and are not only worthy but important to preserve." The archive in Munich thus followed similar organizations in Berlin and Cologne. The aim of the archive is "to conserve the past of the LGBTIQ* community in and around Munich and to make it accessible to the public". Currently their library consists of about 3600 volumes, which includes research literature on sociology, history, AIDS and queer studies as well as biographies, coming-out literature, novels, poetry etc. They also possess rare, out-of-print literature of the early women’s/lesbian and gay movement and numerous publications from the time of
Magnus Hirschfeld. Approximately 220 magazines with more than 10,000 copies from the 1920s until today, 1,100 video cassettes, DVDs and CDs and 850 posters complete their collection.
Research produced with the help of the Forum's holdings focuses, for example, on the experiences of homosexuals after the Holocaust. In October 2019 members of the Forum formed a research group to investigate the life and work of German painter
Paul Hoecker
Paul Hoecker (11 August 1854, Oberlangenau – 13 January 1910, Munich) was a German painter of the Munich School and founding member of the Munich Secession
Biography
His passion for art developed gradually, beginning at the Gymnasium in Ne ...
and digitalized a part of the family owned estate of him, which is now located at the Forum.
Cooperations
The Forum Queeres Archiv München cooperated with the
Munich Stadtmuseum
The Munich Stadtmuseum (German: "Münchner Stadtmuseum") or Munich City Museum, is the city museum of Munich. It was founded in 1888 by Ernst von Destouches. It is located in the former municipal arsenal and stables, both buildings of the late ...
and the
Stadtarchiv Munich. Since 2019 they jointly launched an appeal to collect objects and documents relating to Munich City’s LGBTI+ history, past and present.
Publications
The results of researching the queer past of Munich and beyond are published by the Forum in two different series of publications: In the series Splitter they examine historical and socio-historical topics and present biographies of historical personalities. In the biographical series Lebensgeschichte (English: Personal histories) they publish autobiographical texts and contemporary witness interviews with LGBTIQ* people. In addition, they also publish
artist's books
Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects.
Overview
Artists' books have employed a ...
featuring materials from their archive.
English-language publications
* Splitter 14: Philipp Gufler (ed.): I WANNA GIVE YOU DEVOTION
he poster collection of the Forum Queeres Archiv München Munich, 2015 (co-published by Hammann von Mier, Munich),
*Splitter 17: Philipp Gufler (ed.): Projection on the Crisis. Gauweilereien in Munich. Munich, 2021 (co-published by Hammann Von Mier, Munich), ISBN 978-3-935227-24-7
* Philipp Gufler: Quilt #01 – #30, Hammann von Mier, Munich München 2020,
Events
The Forum Queeres Archiv München organises city tours, readings, lectures, Erzählcafés (public talks with older queer people), historical exhibitions provide information on LGBTIQ* topics and personalities and art exhibitions. Recently they organized lectures about the attack on
Magnus Hirschfeld in 1920 in Munich in collaboration with the
, and about the work and life of Munich-based artist
Lorenza Böttner
Lorenza Böttner (6 March 1959 – January 1994) was a disabled transgender multidisciplinary visual artist. Born in Chile, she later moved to Germany following the amputation of both of her arms, where she studied and began a career in art. Us ...
in collaboration with the
artist-run space
An artist-run space or artist-run centre (Canada) is a gallery or other facility operated or directed by artists, frequently circumventing the structures of public art centers, museums, or commercial galleries and allowing for a more experimental ...
Lothringer13_Florida.
References
External links
Forum Queeres Archive Münchenwebsite
Munich probes into its LGBTI+ historyby the Munich Stadtmuseum, Stadtarchiv Munich and the Forum
{{coord missing, Germany
LGBT history in Germany
LGBT museums and archives
Archives in Germany
LGBT culture in Germany