FFBIZ – the Feminist Archive

FFBIZ – das feministische Archiv (originally Frauenforschungs-, -bildungs- und -informationszentrum) is a non-profit feminist archive, library and research centre in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1978 after an appeal in the women's magazine Courage, when a group of women mobilised to save the library of the Helene-Lange-Stiftung from financial and housing difficulties. The initiative's statutes were signed on 16 March 1979, and the centre opened its doors at Danckelmannstraße 13 in Berlin-Charlottenburg on 16 February 1980, attracting 500 visitors on its first day. Over the decades FFBIZ has become one of the most important collections of the historical women's movement in Germany. Its holdings include more than 900 titles of German and international feminist journals and periodicals, around 11,500 volumes in its special library, approximately 5,000 posters, stickers, buttons and postcards, about one million individual documents and newspaper clippings from the 1960s to the present, some 5,000 photographs and historical photo albums, as well as films and audio documents. It also preserves the estates and autographs of women active in the women's movement, such as Elisabeth Rothschuh, Margarethe Rudorff, Hildegard Radusch, Gudula Lorez and Suzanne Seeland, and the records of women's initiatives, associations and federations including the Aktionsrat zur Befreiung der Frauen, Sozialistischer Frauenbund Berlin, Demokratischer Frauenbund Berlin, Hydra, Frauenoffensive, numerous women's shelters, the Frauenzentrum Berlin and the Netzwerk Berliner Lesben-/Frauenarchive. Archival work became the organisation's main focus in 1995. At the end of 2003 FFBIZ moved from Danckelmannstraße to Eldenaer Straße 35 in Berlin-Friedrichshain, into premises of the Archiv Grünes Gedächtnis, where materials were stored in a cooled, oxygen-reduced magazine in acid-free folders and boxes for long-term preservation. Since April 2024 the magazine has been located in Wolfener Straße in Berlin-Marzahn, while the reading room is at Scharnweberstraße 31 in Berlin-Friedrichshain. FFBIZ documents current feminist and queer actions and debates, including campaigns such as One Billion Rising, #Aufschrei and the Slutwalks, and their discussion in queer/feminist online media. It offers research services, commissioned research, thematic literature lists, advice to individuals and women's organisations on securing cultural heritage, and mediation of academic and feminist contacts. It also runs internships, archive tours and events, and publishes materials such as Annett Gröschner's Berolinas zornige Töchter – 50 Jahre Berliner Frauenbewegung (2018). It cooperates with i.d.a., the Netzwerk Bewegungsarchive and the Archiv Grünes Gedächtnis, and contributed the FEMINISTORIES theme layer to the Berlin History app as part of the project Bewegtes Berlin. In 2024 FFBIZ was involved in the founding of a queer-feminist archive centre in Berlin together with other collections. In 2026 it announced that it had ended its cooperation with the Magnus-Hirschfeld-Gesellschaft (MHG) following an oral interim report on an expert opinion concerning the role and possible entanglement of Ralf Dose and the MHG in paedophile activism. The archive remains active and continues to collect, preserve and make accessible the history of feminist movements.

FFBIZ – das feministische Archiv was founded in 1978 after an appeal in the women's magazine Courage. A group of women formed the Initiativgruppe für ein Frauenforschungs-, -Bildungs- und Informationszentrum (FFBIZ) to save the library of the Helene-Lange-Stiftung, which was facing financial and housing problems. Among the founders were Ursula Nienhaus (1946–2020), Ursula Westphal-Georgi, Gisela Vollradt, Ursula Wahl-Terlinden, Lilli Gast, Barbara Martin, Hildegard Radusch, Käthe Kuse, Irene Stoehr, Sabine Spiesmacher, Cornelia Engel, Angela Martin, Sigrid Fronius, Gisela Bernadoni, Ulla Terlinden, Marga Duran and Ilse Lenz. The statutes of the FFBIZ were signed on 16 March 1979. On 16 February 1980 the centre opened its rooms at Danckelmannstraße 13 in Berlin-Charlottenburg, with 500 visitors on the opening day. The initiative emerged from the context of the second-wave women's movement. At the Berlin Women's Conference in September 1977, Ingrid Schmidt-Harzbach described the search of the younger generation of feminist women for historical role models: "Only after we had begun to rediscover our struggles 'deeply hidden in history' did we learn that we have sisters from yesterday. Astonished and frightened. Astonished at the radicalism of the demands and ideas – frightened at their topicality after 100 years!" The FFBIZ was thus part of a broader effort to preserve and make accessible the history of the women's movement. In 1995 archival work was made the main focus of the FFBIZ. At the end of 2003 the FFBIZ moved from Danckelmannstraße to Eldenaer Straße 35 in Berlin-Friedrichshain, into the premises of the Archiv Grünes Gedächtnis. There all materials were stored in a cooled and oxygen-reduced magazine in acid-free folders and boxes for long-term preservation. On 10 December 2014, the Senator for Labour, Integration and Women, Dilek Kolat, awarded Ursula Nienhaus the Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for her decades of commitment to women's research and her work at the FFBIZ. Since April 2024 the FFBIZ magazine has been located in Wolfener Straße in Berlin-Marzahn, while the reading room is at Scharnweberstraße 31 in Berlin-Friedrichshain. In 2024, FFBIZ was involved in the founding of a queer-feminist archive centre in Berlin together with other collections. In 2026, FFBIZ announced that it had ended its cooperation with the Magnus-Hirschfeld-Gesellschaft (MHG) following an oral interim report on an expert opinion concerning the role and possible entanglement of Ralf Dose and the MHG in paedophile activism. The archive continues to collect, preserve and provide access to materials on feminist and queer history.

• 2026

  Announced the end of cooperation with the Magnus-Hirschfeld-Gesellschaft (MHG).

• 2024

  Magazine moved to Wolfener Straße in Berlin-Marzahn; reading room at Scharnweberstraße 31 in Berlin-Friedrichshain. Involved in founding a queer-feminist archive centre in Berlin.

• 2014

  Ursula Nienhaus awarded the Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany on 10 December 2014.

• 2003

  Moved from Danckelmannstraße to Eldenaer Straße 35 in Berlin-Friedrichshain, into the premises of the Archiv Grünes Gedächtnis.

• 1995

  Archival work made the main focus of the FFBIZ.

• 1980

  Opened rooms at Danckelmannstraße 13 in Berlin-Charlottenburg on 16 February 1980, with 500 visitors on the opening day.

• 1979

  Statutes of the FFBIZ signed on 16 March 1979.

• 1978

  Founded after an appeal in the women's magazine Courage to save the library of the Helene-Lange-Stiftung.

Autonomous feminist archive and research centre preserving and making accessible the history of the women's movement.

• Archive holdings

  More than 900 titles of German and international feminist journals and periodicals, estates and autographs, records of women's initiatives, ca. 5,000 posters, stickers, buttons and postcards, about one million individual documents and newspaper clippings from the 1960s to today, ca. 5,000 photographs and historical photo albums, films and audio documents.

• Special library

  Approximately 11,500 volumes including non-fiction, reference works, fiction, feminist children's and youth literature, women's travel guides, publications from small publishers, and the libraries 'Nozizwe' and 'Gudula Lorez'.

• Research services

  Commissioned research, information and documentation, thematic literature lists, advice to individuals and women's organisations on securing cultural heritage, and mediation of academic and feminist contacts.

• Publications

  Includes Annett Gröschner: Berolinas zornige Töchter – 50 Jahre Berliner Frauenbewegung (2018) and essays for the Digitales Deutsches Frauenarchiv.

• FEMINISTORIES theme layer in the Berlin History app

  A digital theme layer with 25 places of feminist, queer and intersectional history, developed as part of the project 'Bewegtes Berlin' within 'dive in. Programm für digitale Interaktionen' of the Kulturstiftung des Bundes.

1. 1Das feministische Archiv FFBIZffbiz.de
2. 2Das feministische Archiv FFBIZ / Geschichteffbiz.de
3. 3Das feministische Archiv FFBIZ / Feministories in der Appffbiz.de
4. 4Das feministische Archiv FFBIZ / Presseffbiz.de
5. 5FFBIZwikidata.org
6. 6FFBIZde.wikipedia.org