Decay and Reconstruction

The formerly Christian foundation schools were reorganised in the spirit of the socialist unified school. The first workers’ and farmers’ faculty of the GDR was built on the grounds of the foundations and received its own large new building in 1952. The historic foundation buildings, on the other hand, were left to decay during the years of disinvestment. Building projects in the 1970s, such as the elevated road in the north and the prefabricated housing estate in the south of the foundation grounds, as well as leaking roofs and the resulting devastating structural damage, had brought the globally unique ensemble of buildings close to complete ruin by 1990.

German reunification enabled the comprehensive rescue and revival of the Francke Foundations. In 1990, civic engagement led to the founding of the Association of Friends of the Francke Foundations, which obtained the restoration of the foundations’ legal status. In 1992, the foundations were able to resume their work with the convening of a board of trustees chaired by Hans-Dietrich Genscher and an honorary board of directors chaired by Paul Raabe.

By 2013, almost all the foundation buildings had been restored and revitalised. Today, about 50 cultural, scientific, educational, social and Christian institutions with over 4,000 people make their home here, revitalising the Francke Foundations as a unique educational cosmos of European standards.