The Institute’s renowned labour-history library made political neutrality a director’s duty

Evidence

There seemed to me to be no doubt as to the reasons for the search. My predecessor as director of the Institute had collected the Library of the History of the Labour Movement, which is renowned throughout the world… In the nature of things, the library contained a large quantity of socialist literature. To some distant observers, this might have given the impression of political bias. In the earlier years in particular, rather more students who were attracted to various strands of socialism than right-wing ones concerned themselves with the problems of the labour movement, although this situation may have changed more recently. When I took over as director of the Institute, I was aware that its previous history would make it the director’s duty to ensure that there could be no doubt about its political neutrality. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 526

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the Institute’s founding documents and earlier chapters on the Library of the History of the Labour Movement as the institution’s material inheritance and liability.