The Arts Union (German: Gewerkschaft Kunst) was a trade union representing cultural workers in West Germany.

The union was founded on 26 August 1949, at a conference in Frankfurt. It was initially based in Hamburg, but relocated to Düsseldorf in 1955.[1]

The union initially had five sections:[1]

Other sections were created later, including the Broadcast Television Film Union, the Union of Music Educators and Concert Artists, and the Jazz/rock/pop/improvised music group.[2]

By 1988, the union had a membership of 29,613.[3] The following year, it merged with the Printing and Paper Union, to form the Media Union.[2]

Presidents

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1949: Willi Feldmann
1954: Heinrich Wüllner
1962: Viktor de Kowa
1966: Wolfgang Windgassen
1973: Otto Sprenger
1980: Alfred Horné

References

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  1. ^ a b "Gewerkschaft Kunst". Ver.di. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Industriegewerkschaft Medien - Druck und Papier, Publizistik und Kunst (IG Medien)". Ver.di. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  3. ^ Ebbinghaus, Bernhard; Visser, Jelle (2000). Trade Unions in Western Europe Since 1945. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 309. ISBN 0333771125.