Francke Foundations, Educational foundation and museum in Halle, Germany
The Francke Foundations form a campus of historic buildings in Halle, centred on the orphanage that August Hermann Francke founded in 1698 and inaugurated in 1701. The main building has a light grey facade, rows of rectangular windows and a steep red-tiled roof with dormers and small towers. In front stands a bronze statue of Francke in a long coat, holding a book, beside a smaller figure.
Founded in 1695 by August Hermann Francke, this place began as a school for poor and orphaned children who received education and care. From this starting point, a network of educational institutions grew that shaped thinking about schooling and social welfare across the centuries.
The Cabinet of Artefacts preserves thousands of objects arranged as they were in earlier centuries, showing how collectors once organized their discoveries. Walking through these rooms, you see shells, coins, and exotic items displayed in their original order.
Some buildings have wheelchair access while others include stairs that may limit movement through certain areas. Keep in mind that parts of the site remain active schools and daycare centers where daily teaching and care routines happen.
The Cabinet of Artefacts and Curiosities was set up in the 18th century, when the Foundations ran a pharmacy, a printing office and a bookshop whose revenues paid for the orphanage. Its collections were gathered in that same period of growth, and the objects are still kept together as a teaching collection of the institutions.
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