Location

• Herrnhut Am Sportplatz 3, Germany 02747
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Languages

• German

Website

• http://www.umweltbibliothek.org

Name of collection

• Archive Citizens Movement of Enviromental Library Grosshennersdorf

Provenance and cultural activities

• The Großhennersdorf environmental library was founded in 1987 as the second such institution in the GDR, and the only one not affiliated with the Church (the other being the East Berlin environmental library). As a republic-wide distributor of oppositional literature, it became the focal point for regional environmental, peace and human rights groups in Upper Lusatia. The material collected by the library formed the basis of the present archive.
  
  In 1990, the independent environmental library engaged in a process of institutionalisation and became first a registered association. Its original records were placed in storage, while new materials were collected with the goal of being able to offer political-cultural educational programs concerning opposition and resistance in the GDR. In 1998, with the know-how provided by the Federal Foundation for the SED Regime Appraisal, and Matthias Domaschk Archive and financial support from various local and regional funding structures, the environmental library opened its archive to the public.
   
  In 2017, the Civic Movement Archive was integrated into the "Institution of Cultural Education in Upper Lusatia" [Einrichtung Kultureller Bildung in der Oberlausitz], which sees itself, by virtue of its historical competence, as a mediator between East and West.

Description of content

• The existence of the environmental library, as well as its collected archival materials, testify that the environmental, peace and human rights movements of the GDR were active not only in large cities and the centers of the country but throughout the republic. Thanks to its location at the "border triangle" with Poland and the Czech Republic, the archive of the environmental library also documents diverse transnational exchanges and influences between oppositional groups in East Central and Eastern Europe.
  
  To date, the library documentation alone comprises 80-90 estates, an extensive collection of samizdat periodicals, numerous works of Eastern European exile literature and a total of about 35,000 pieces of media. In addition the environmental library includes the book collections of the library, pressfiles from the GDR and Federal Republic, posters, flyers, banners from the 'Wende' period. The archive extended its collections including archival documentation from various individuals and institutions, such as the very special collection from the Institute for Energy Policy of the Zittau University of Applied Sciences, consisting of numerous, non-disclosed GDR environmental reports.

Content

• graphics: 10-99
• grey literature (regular archival documents such as brochures, bulletins, leaflets, reports, intelligence files, records, working papers, meeting minutes): 1000-
• music recordings: 10-99
• paintings: 10-99
• photos: 1000-
• publications (books, newspapers, articles, press clippings): 1000-
• video recordings (including oral history recordings): 0-9
• voice recordings (including oral history recordings): 10-99

Operator(s)

• Environmental Library Grosshennersdorf

Owner(s)

• Environmental Library Grosshennersdorf

Geographical scope of recent operation

• international

Topics

• democratic opposition
• environmental protection (e.g. antinuclear movement)
• peace movements
• samizdat and tamizdat

Founder(s)

• Schönfelder, Andreas

Date of founding

• 1987

Place of founding

• Großhennersdorf, Germany
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Creator(s) of content

• Oberlausitzer Friedenskreis

Collector(s)

• Environmental Library Grosshennersdorf

Supporters

• Akademie Herrnhut für kulturelle und politische Bildung
• Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship
• Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media
• Kulturraum Oberlausitz-Niederschlesien
• Saxon Memorial Foundation

Important events in the history of the collection

• (Re-)Opening of the Archive, 1998
• Digitization of Samizdat-Journals

Featured items

• Collection of Samizdat-Journals
• Photos from Independent Demonstrations for Peace, 1983

Access type

• completely open to the public

Author(s) of this page

• Sonnenberg, Uwe

References

Schönfelder, Andreas, interview by Sonnenberg, Uwe, June 26, 2017. COURAGE Registry Oral History Collection