The Norwegian Labour Movement Archives and Library ( no, Arbeiderbevegelsens arkiv og bibliotek, Arbark) is an archival and historical institution in Oslo, Norway, opened in 1909. It was established and is still owned by the

Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions ( no, Landsorganisasjonen i Norge, LO) is a national trade union center, decidedly the largest and probably the most influential umbrella organization of labour unions in Norway. The 21 national unions ...

and the Labour Party.

History

The initiative to establish Arbark was taken in 1905 following a Swedish model. It was established and is still owned by the

and the Labour Party. In 1908, Arbark started to work in the People's House in

Oslo, Norway Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of i ...

. Since 1972 it has received government funding. Arbark is the Norwegian Labour movement's eldest cultural organization and the largest, privately owned record repository in Norway. It is Norway's largest library dedicated to the labour movement and other social movements. Its collections consist of, among other things, about 7,000 shelf meters of records, 1.5 million photographs, 135,000 books, about 465 banners, 70 films and numerous audio records. Important parts of Arbark's collections are continuously being digitized and are available on its homepage. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, many of the documents were taken by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and subsequently lost. Arbark's purpose is to preserve and communicate the Norwegian labour movement's as well as other social movements' cultural heritage. The main purpose is to document the history of all movements connected to the Norwegian political left in a broad sense, such as the feminist, peace, and solidarity movements, in addition to the social-democratic trade unions and labour parties. This feature distinguishes Arbark from similar institutions in other countries, which more often are connected to only one or a few of the political branches of the labour movement. The current director of Arbark is the historian Frank Meyer, who succeeded

Knut Einar Eriksen Knut Einar Eriksen (born 31 July 1944) is a Norwegian historian. He was born in Sarpsborg, and took the cand.philol. degree in 1969. He was an associate professor at the University of Tromsø from 1975 to 1982, and a professor from 1982 to 1986. ...

in 2011.

Networks

Arbark is a member of national and international networks of individuals and institutions working with the history of the labour movement's cultural heritage. Internationally, Arbark collaborates with other member institutions of the ''International Association of Labour History Institutions'' (IALHI). Arbark publishes the peer-reviewed journal
Arbeiderhistorie
' ("Labor History") annually.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Labour Movement Archives and Library Culture in Oslo Libraries in Norway Archives in Norway Libraries established in 1909 1909 establishments in Norway Labour Party (Norway) Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions