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It thus preserves the cultural heritage of migration in Germany - in a unique fund of everyday migrant testimonies that are not documented anywhere else in this abundance. 

The collection comprises over 150,000 objects: from documents and photographs to works of art, interviews, video recordings, everyday objects and much more. It documents the diverse history of the migration society in Germany since 1945.

typewriter with English and Korean characters
In 1960, the first typewriter with English and Korean characters was produced in Korea. The model was called ‘Gong’. The paediatrician and radiologist Dr Sukil Lee used this typewriter to write all his correspondence for the recruitment of Korean nurses in the 1960s.
DOMiD-Archiv, Köln

Wir zeigen, wie sich Migration in die deutsche Geschichte eingeschrieben hat und wie sie unser aller gesellschaftliches Zusammenleben prägt. Damit erzählen wir die Geschichte dieses Landes neu – vielstimmig.

Ein kleiner Einblick in die Sammlung

(Post)migrantische Geschichten

  1. The photo shows knotted elastic bands wrapped in red and white patterned fabric.
    During his escape, the owner of this memento travelled from Turkey to Greece on a boat. To protect themselves from the water and the cold, the fugitives tied their trouser legs together.
    DOMiD-Archiv, Köln
  2. The picture shows a pair of metal scissors with a fixed finger hook and signs of rust and wear.
    In order to improve their income and support their families in Vietnam, many Vietnamese ‘contract workers’ sewed clothes, especially jeans, for GDR citizens in their spare time.
    DOMiD-Archiv, Köln
  3. A blue lab coat used by workers at Volkswagen.
    Italian Lorenzo Annese was the first ‘guest worker’ to be elected Chairman of the Works Council in Germany. This lab coat documents his time at VW.
    DOMiD-Archiv, Köln
  4. A brown leather case whose outer skin is made up of many different pieces of leather.
    A student left Ghana with this suitcase in 1979 after a military coup. She went to Freiburg to study. She used the suitcase again and again on her subsequent trips to Ghana.
    DOMiD-Archiv, Köln
  5. Text
    DOMiD-Archiv, Köln
  6. The picture shows a heavy small tape recorder from the 1960s with a removable grey lid, carrying handle and various buttons and controls.