Art and Naturalienkammer of the Francke Foundations, Historic museum in Halle (Saale), Germany.
The Art and Naturalienkammer of the Francke Foundations is a museum in Halle (Saale) that holds around 3,000 objects spanning natural history and decorative arts, displayed in their original Baroque cabinets. It occupies a room within the historic Orphanage building on the Francke Foundations grounds.
August Hermann Francke assembled the collection in the early 18th century as a cabinet of curiosities meant to support learning at his educational institutions. Over the following decades, donations and purchases expanded it into one of the more varied cabinets of its time.
The objects are still displayed in their original Baroque cabinets, arranged much as they were centuries ago. Walking through the room gives a clear sense of how people once grouped natural specimens, crafted objects, and curiosities side by side without much separation.
The museum sits within the broader Francke Foundations complex, so it helps to allow a little extra time to find your way around the grounds before entering. The cabinets are densely filled, and taking things slowly makes it easier to notice the smaller objects.
A stuffed Nile crocodile hangs from the ceiling and has been one of the showpieces of the collection since the beginning. Perhaps even more unexpected is a piece of fossilized Hungarian cheese displayed alongside zoological and ethnographic objects, showing just how broad the idea of a curiosity once was.
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