frauen museum wiesbaden

The frauen museum wiesbaden (Women’s Museum Wiesbaden) is an interdisciplinary museum based in Wiesbaden that engages intensively with the lived experiences of women and of people from the LGBTQIA+ community in the past, present and future.¹ Founded in 1984 as the third women’s museum in the world, it is privately run by the non-profit association Frauenwerkstatt Wiesbaden e. V.² ³ ⁴ As a member of the International Association of Women’s Museums, it belongs to a network of around 60 women’s museums all over the world.⁵ ⁶

The frauen museum wiesbaden sees itself as a place where women are meant to be at the centre. Its main aim is to bring the diverse work of women into society’s general awareness. Particular emphasis is placed on aspects of local history and art. The frauen museum wiesbaden is aimed not only at women but at everyone who is interested in the role of women in society.⁷ ⁸ It follows an interdisciplinary approach and sheds light on the lived experiences of women across different eras.

Beatrixe Klein has been director of the museum since 2014.⁹ ¹⁰

History

The frauen museum wiesbaden stands in the tradition of the new women’s movement, which began in the early 1970s. Many impulses came to Germany from the USA. During this period, women brought issues such as abortion, Paragraph 218 (the section of the German Criminal Code on abortion), marital rape and questions of women’s health into public discourse. They organised themselves in self-help groups to provide information about pregnancy and contraception, and held panel discussions with representatives from politics and social institutions. In Wiesbaden, the movement received significant support from the then red-green state government, which provided public funding.¹¹

In 1975 the Frauenzentrum (women’s centre) was founded in Wiesbaden, an important place for exchange and for organising actions such as demonstrations to draw attention to women’s key concerns. Beatrixe Klein, today’s director of the museum, is, alongside her academic work, strongly committed to educational work for women.

She founded the association “Neue Wege ins Berufsleben” (New Paths into Working Life) in order to support women on their career paths and to secure better opportunities for them.¹² ¹³

In 1982 the non-profit association “Frauenwerkstatt – Zentrum für Kommunikation und Bildung” (Women’s Workshop – Centre for Communication and Education) was founded, which continues to act as the museum’s operating body to this day. Its early institutions included the educational facility “die Frauenwerkstatt”, the “Mädchentreff” (girls’ meeting place) and the project “Neuer Start ins Berufsleben” (New Start into Working Life).¹⁴ In 1984 a group of seven women conceived the exhibition “Leben in Bewegung – Frauen in Wiesbaden 1850 bis heute” (Life in Motion – Women in Wiesbaden from 1850 to the Present), which opened successfully at Nerostraße 16 on 7 November of the same year.¹⁵ This exhibition was the starting signal for the founding of the frauen museum wiesbaden and ensured that the often overlooked history of women moved into public awareness.¹⁶ The fmw set itself the task of focusing on local history, archaeology, current politics and art.¹⁷

Entrance of the frauen museum wiesbaden
Photo: frauen museum wiesbaden

In 1991 it moved to its present location at Wörthstraße 5.¹⁸

With the exhibition “Steinzeiten – Frauenzeiten” (Stone Ages – Women’s Ages) in 1986 and the subsequent exhibition “Die Sprache der Göttin” (The Language of the Goddess) in 1993 on depictions of women and goddesses in the Palaeolithic, the frauen museum wiesbaden gained international recognition. These exhibitions laid the foundation for the fmw’s extensive archaeological collection.

In 1995 the municipal subsidy was cut.¹⁹ Despite these financial challenges, the museum persevered with its work and realised significant exhibitions and projects.²⁰ In 1997 the museum was awarded the Kulturpreis der Stadt Wiesbaden (Culture Prize of the City of Wiesbaden), a recognition of its outstanding cultural importance.²¹

In 2020 it received the “Museum des Monats” (Museum of the Month) award from the Hessisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst (Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts), evidence of its continuing commitment and cultural relevance.²² ²³

From the beginnings of the new women’s movement in the 1970s to the present day, the frauen museum wiesbaden has thus established itself as an important place for engaging with women’s history, art and culture.

Concept and focus

The frauen museum wiesbaden presents itself as a space in which women and their achievements are at the centre. The museum’s central aim is to bring the diverse contributions of women into society’s general awareness and thereby to encourage a reassessment of their historical and present-day roles. In pursuing this, the museum focuses on local history and archaeology as well as on art.²⁴ It addresses not only women but all people who are interested in better understanding the role of women in different social contexts.²⁵

By working in an interdisciplinary way, the museum succeeds in shedding light on the lived experiences of women in the past, present and future and in stimulating discourse. One of the museum’s central focuses is the collection of special objects and documents that often remain invisible in traditional museums. This collection makes it possible to draw a more comprehensive picture of the history and cultural achievements of women.

In addition, the museum devotes itself intensively to engaging with topics that particularly affect women: their social struggles, their cultural contributions and their scientific achievements. The museum presents art by women as well as works of art that engage with, reflect on or expand the role of women in our society. In this way, a comprehensive understanding of gender roles and cultural dynamics is conveyed.

Conveying this comprehensive understanding of history and culture is important not only for the recognition of women’s past achievements but is also intended to support future generations. The frauen museum wiesbaden thus makes a valuable contribution to education and to public discourse on the significance of women in history and on their share in shaping our present-day society and our living conditions.²⁶ ²⁷

The museum’s collection and archive are divided into the areas “Archäologie” (Archaeology), “Kunst” (Art) and “Kulturgeschichte” (Cultural History), the latter with a particular focus on items relating to the history of the women’s movement in Wiesbaden.

Exhibitions, events and activities

Guerilla Girls exhibition at the frauen museum wiesbaden
Photo: Karin Kraus

The changing exhibitions, spread over an area of 600 square metres, are visited by around 16,000 people every year. The museum offers an extensive programme of events ranging from conferences and panel discussions to readings, and also includes museum education activities for children and young people.²⁸ ²⁹ One of the most important exhibitions, “Sprache der Göttin”, even influenced areas of archaeological research.³⁰ In 2021 the frauen museum wiesbaden initiated the art campaign “Femorial”, a coinage from “feminism” and “memorial”, in which street signs were additionally furnished with women’s names in order to commemorate historical or still living women with a connection to Wiesbaden.³¹ ³²

Naming streets after important figures is intended to keep their memory alive and to honour their life’s achievements. In Wiesbaden, far more streets are named after men than after women. “femorial” aims to raise awareness of this inequality and to prompt a change.³³

The permanent exhibition “Von Göttinnen und Weisheiten” (Of Goddesses and Wisdoms) shows depictions of women since the Stone Age from the museum’s archaeological collection.

From 8 September 2024 to 6 April 2025 the museum is showing the special exhibition “The Art of Behaving Badly” on the work of the Guerrilla Girls, a US group of feminist activists who, with numerous actions over more than forty years, have denounced the serious structural discrimination against women and People of Colour in the art world.³⁴

Funding

The museum is privately run by the non-profit association Frauenwerkstatt Wiesbaden e. V. and receives financial support from the Kulturamt (Cultural Office) of the state capital Wiesbaden. It depends on broad and generous support from private individuals and companies, as regular public funding is insufficient.³⁵

Awards

1997: Kulturpreis der Stadt Wiesbaden
2020: “Museum des Monats” award from the Hessisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst

Past exhibitions (selection)

Flyer for the exhibition “Margot und die anderen – Zwangssterilisation im Nationalsozialismus” (Margot and the Others – Forced Sterilisation under National Socialism) at the frauen museum wiesbaden
Photo: Jessica Zeltner

1984–1986: Leben in Bewegung. Frauen in Wiesbaden von 1850 bis heute
1993–1994: Sprache der Göttin
2002: Von Erdgöttinnen und Kornmüttern – Aus dem Reich der Fülle (Of Earth Goddesses and Corn Mothers – From the Realm of Abundance), part of the exhibition cycle “Mein Begehren ist das Leben – Göttinnentraditionen und Ökofeminismus” (My Desire Is Life – Goddess Traditions and Ecofeminism)
2007: Ballkünstlerinnen. Frauenfußball gestern und heute (Ball Artists. Women’s Football Yesterday and Today)
2013–2014: Augusta Kaiser Hedwig Marquardt – Ein Künstlerinnenpaar (A Couple of Women Artists)
2015: Zu Gast bei Fremden – Als Couchsurferin durch Osteuropa (Guest among Strangers – Couchsurfing through Eastern Europe). Photographs by Katharina Dubno
2016–2017: Hopeful Arrival. Kunstprojekt mit geflüchteten Frauen (art project with refugee women)
2020: Frau am Kreuz (Woman on the Cross)
2021–2023: Seiltänzerinnen zwischen Autonomie und Anpassung. Die 80er und die Frauenbewegung (Tightrope Walkers between Autonomy and Conformity. The 1980s and the Women’s Movement)
2022: Rosa Loy
2023: Anouk Lamm Anouk
2024: Margot und die anderen – Zwangssterilisation im Nationalsozialismus
2024–2025: The Art of Behaving Badly

External links

Website of the frauen museum wiesbaden

Machine translation: This article was translated automatically from the German original.

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17
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Archaeology, Art, Culture, Education, History, Modelled sculptures, Paintings, Photographs, Sculptures, Wiesbaden, Women's museum

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Erstellt am: 23. September 2026
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