Francke Foundations

It all began with four thalers and 16 groschen found in a poor box. With that donation the pastor and theologian August Hermann Francke opened a school for poor children in 1695, and three years later he laid the foundation stone of an orphanage. What grew from it was an entire school town with a printing house, a pharmacy, a library and a cabinet of curiosities that survives almost unchanged. The Francke Foundations lie a few minutes' walk from the market square of Halle (Saale) and are on Germany's tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage status.

History: from a charity school to a school town

Francke came to Glaucha, then a poor suburb outside Halle, as its pastor in 1691 and also taught at the new university. Word of his charity school spread fast: by summer 1695 50 children were being taught, and soon wealthy families were sending their children too. Work on the orphanage began in 1698, and it opened in April 1701. Privileges granted by the Elector allowed Francke to run a bookshop, a printing press and a pharmacy, whose profits paid for the schools. From 1710 the Canstein Bible Institute printed millions of affordable Bibles here, and teachers, doctors and missionaries trained in Halle carried the foundations' ideas as far as Russia, India and North America. In 1911, 3,056 pupils studied on the site. Many buildings decayed during the GDR era; restoration began in 1991.

What to see

• Historic Orphanage: The first building of the complex, with its double staircase facing Franckeplatz, is now the cultural centre with permanent and temporary exhibitions.
• Cabinet of Artefacts and Natural Curiosities: Under the oldest mansard roof in central Germany stand 18 painted display cases holding around 3,000 objects. A stuffed Nile crocodile hangs from the ceiling, and the cases contain a tattooed fish, a petrified piece of cheese from Hungary and a tiny Chinese lady's shoe.
• Stage-set library: The shelves project into the hall like theatre wings and hold about 50,000 volumes. The building of 1728 is considered the oldest surviving purpose-built secular library in Germany.
• Long House: At over 110 metres long and up to six storeys high, it is the largest timber-framed structure in Europe.
• Rooftop terrace: In good weather you can climb onto the roof of the orphanage for a 360° view over Halle.

Good to know

The cabinet of curiosities is regarded as the oldest middle-class museum room in Germany. Its present arrangement dates from 1736 to 1741, when the painter and naturalist Gottfried August Gründler became the first to arrange a museum's natural specimens according to Carl Linnaeus's system. After decades in which the collection was dispersed, it has been back in its original place since 12 October 1995, in the former dormitory of the orphan boys. The library also had famous visitors: Goethe and Winckelmann admired its holdings, which include the first German Bible printed in America.

Opening hours and tickets (as of October 2026)

• Museum and exhibitions: Tuesday to Sunday and public holidays 10:00–17:00; closed on Mondays and on 24, 25, 26 and 31 December and 1 January.
• Admission: €8, reduced €5, free for under-18s.
• Public tour: "The Founder and His Work" (in German) every Saturday at 11:00, €2 on top of admission.

Getting there and parking

Trams stop at Franckeplatz and Steinweg, right outside the complex. There is no parking on the foundation grounds, so use the public car parks nearby. Visitors with a disabled parking badge on display may park on site.

Tripto tip

Allow about two hours for the cabinet of curiosities, the library and a walk around the Lindenhof courtyard. Go up to the cabinet first and then onto the roof terrace while the weather holds. Bags larger than A4 go into lockers, which take a €1 coin. Photography without flash is allowed. The market square with the Hausmann towers of the Market Church is about a ten-minute walk away.