Guest at the Philologicum: The Munich Workers' Movement Archive Association

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Starting on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, the Munich Workers' Movement Archive (Archiv der Münchner Arbeiterbewegung e.V.) will present its new exhibition “Who owns time? Evidence from the struggle for working hours.” Contemporary leaflets, postcards, newspaper articles, photographs, textiles, and objects will be used to trace the history of staff and their struggle for more free time and more time for themselves.

The exhibition focuses on three topics in particular:

• The “introduction of the eight-hour day” was one of the oldest and most important demands of the labor movement. The eight-hour day was first legally mandated in Germany at the beginning of the November Revolution in 1918, but was then gradually undermined in the following years and during the Nazi regime.
• The “shop closing disputes in Munich in 1953/54,” during which demonstrations against extended shop closing times on Saturdays until 5 p.m. degenerated into tumultuous scenes.
• The labor disputes over the “introduction of the 35-hour week” in the 1980s, particularly in the metal and printing industries, were among the toughest collective bargaining disputes in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Date and location of the exhibition:

• Duration of the exhibition: May 13, 2025 – October 19, 2025
• Location: Foyer of the Fachbibliothek Philologicum, Ludwigstraße 25 (ground floor), 80539 München

Contact

Michael Schwab M.A.
Archive of the Munich Workers' Movement e.V.
E-mail: a-d-m-ab@t-online.de

Annika Assil, M.A.
University Library of LMU Munich
Special Collections Department
Rare Books Division
E-mail: Annika.Assil@ub.uni-muenchen.de