Ten years after its foundation, the “feminist archive and documentation centre” moved into the rebuilt medieval Cologne Bayenturm and has since become known as FMT – FrauenMediaTurm.
„The Bayenturm is one of the most prominent historical places in the city of Cologne and one of the most magnificent defense towers in Germany. There was a saying in Cologne: whoever has the tower also has the power, „says Alice Schwarzer. „Now women have the tower.“
More about these women and what they actually do in the Bayenturm is described by Alice Schwarzer in “A tower of their own”.
[To read more about the historical meaning of the Bayenturm as well as the role of women in the economically flourishing Cologne of the Middle Ages, click here.]
Today the FMT is a member of i.d.a. (the umbrella organisation of German language lesbian/women’s libraries, archives and documentation centres) and continuously contributes to the development of its META-catalogue. The aim of this project is to visualize the archive and library holdings of 40 member institutions in a central reference database. Since June 2016, the FMT has received funding for the cooperation with the Digitales Deutsches Frauenarchiv (DDF).
Acknowledgements
The FrauenMediaTurm is a non-profit organisation (NGO). An archive cannot exist economically from its own resources. The proceeds from information services can only cover parts of the expenses for the extension and maintenance of the collection, indexing and the provision of services.
Our thanks go to Jan Philipp Reemtsma, whose generous initial funding provided the means for the first twenty years of the FrauenMediaTurm, which was founded in 1984.
We thank the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth for the funding of FMT-projects
Special thanks also go to former and current members of the advisory board for supporting the FMT since 1984 with dedicated volunteer work together with the foundation board.
The board of the FrauenMediaTurm, 2018
