Search OUR Library ANd Archive

Find materials such as books, posters, photographs, small prints and tabs.

The archive is for all history enthusiasts, knowledge-seeking souls. Since 1909, we have collected material from the movement’s political, trade union, cooperative and cultural organizations. Our collections also include material on a wide range of people associated with the labor movement and the political left.

The archive is the central archive for employee organizations and left-of-center parties and organizations in Denmark. The archive collects, registers and disseminates private records from organizations, parties and individuals in the labor movement in all its branches. Today, the collection includes approximately 3,000 organizational archives and 400 personal archives.

Archives must be used in the archive reading room located at the Workers’ Museum in Rømersgade. Archives must be ordered in advance here and you must apply for access to use them. Normally, the application will be answered by email within a couple of weeks and you will be notified when the ordered material is available in the archive reading room. The Archive Reading Room is open every day between 10:00 – 17:00 and on Thursdays 10:00 – 20:00

The library

The purpose of the library is to collect printed material to document the history and culture of the Danish labor movement and workers. The collection covers the period from the start of the movement in the 1850s to the present day. It includes historical publications from workers’ organizations and a wide selection of Danish and foreign research literature, small prints and periodicals.

Anyone can become a patron of our library. Simply go to the front page of the library database and click “Create new user”.

Our collections consist of 100+ years of labor history from Denmark and abroad, and are registered in our database, where you can also order material for use in the reading room in Rømersgade and books from the library for home loans.

You can borrow the materials that are available for home loan, no matter where you live in Denmark. They can be ordered via bibliotek.dk and picked up at your local library. If you choose to borrow remotely via bibliotek.dk, you do not need to register as a borrower with us.

Photos of the museum

Arbejdermuseet’s extensive photo collection contains photographs collected over many years. These include the museum’s photo archives from a number of left-wing magazines and newspapers, including Land og Folk and Aktuelt. The photo collection shows many different aspects of working life and the labor movement, and documents national and international events. You can access almost 80,000 digitized photos by searching our Archive and Library database.

Read about the terms of use of photos.