Exhibitions Online

»Healing Body and Soul«
Medicine and hygiene in the 18th century

300 years of the Children’s Hospital – the annual exhibition on the anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone takes visitors on a journey into the world of early modern medicine. How were illness and health, death and healing experienced? Experience amazingly up-to-date topics, impressive exhibits and refreshing illustrations online.

»Mancherley Nutzen und Ergetzung«
Gardens at the Francke Foundations in the 18th and 19th Centuries

There was an apothecary garden, a farm garden, a teaching garden and even a pleasure garden – the garden history of the Francke Foundations holds some surprises. Cornelia Jäger has researched them and presents them online with source material from the archive and library.

Mit Tatkraft und Gottvertrauen

The Transformation of the Francke Foundations since 1990

In 2020, we showed the incredible reconstruction work of the past 30 years in impressive photo installations on the Foundation grounds, which was only possible through joint efforts in a democratic society. Monumental photographs of the time around 1990 on the buildings around the Lindenhof awaken memories. Join contemporary witnesses, actors and supporters on the path that made the unbelievable come true.

The unique cultural monument

Until 1995, educational buildings based on the latest findings of the time, their architects and their educational programmes grew up on the grounds of the Francke Foundations. Start your tour with the half-timbered and stone buildings around the Lindenhof and in the adjoining commercial area. They vividly tell of the extraordinary everyday life in August Hermann Francke's school town in the 18th century.

The Miracle of the Chambers of Wonder

Europe’s true enlightenment

Prof. Dr. Horst Bredekamp gave the keynote speech under this title on October 13, 2020 in the Freylinghausen-Saal on the occasion of the founding of the »Alliance of Early Universal Museums«. The network wants to bring the chambers of wonder in Europe and the world more into the focus of research and museum work.

Der Frauenzimmerschuh (Ladies’ Shoe)

Visitors to the Wunderkammer of the Francke Foundations are always fascinated by the ladies' shoe collection in cabinet 14, the clothing cabinet. Were the Pietists interested in fashion? And which woman's shoe was probably pulled off her foot? Friederike Lippold took a close look at the »old moscowitian women's room shoe«.

Der Indienschrank (India Cabinet)

The India cabinet in the Chamber of Art and Natural History of the Francke Foundations is furnished with many different exciting objects. Our Indian Federal Volunteer Mercy Rethna is fascinated and tells in an exemplary way how the objects are connected to her home country. In the film she describes hand fans made of palm leaves and a hand drum. I wonder how she liked the coconut as an exhibition object?

Das Heilige Grab (Holy Grave)

Hidden in the religious cabinet of the Chamber of Art and Natural History of the Francke Foundations is a small wooden model decorated with ivory and mother-of-pearl. The art historian Anne Schröder-Kahnt knows why this is a model of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. She also has a hunch who might have brought the object into the Wunderkammer. Roll film!

Die Rochenhautfigur (Ray Skin Figure)

In the Wunderkammer of the Francke Foundations there is an interesting and at the same time strange figure. Is it an extinct animal or perhaps a dragon made by human hands? The museum educator Florian Halbauer tells us the exciting story of the figure and the strange way of processing rays.

Die Geduldsflasche (Patience Bottle)

In the Wunderkammer of the Francke Foundations there is a whole range of patience bottles. The oldest one shows a whole mining scene on two floors in square glass. No neck is too small for the passionate hobbyist! Every single miner, the tools of the trade, the timberwork of the gallery and all the rocks wandered through the neck of the bottle. The admirable game of patience for long winter evenings is presented in a short film by the scientific volunteer of the Department of Mediation - Museum and Collections.

Die Muscogeepfeife (The Muscogee Whistle)

A pipe made of soapstone from the 18th century lets the imagination blossom during a visit to the collection. But people did not smoke here. Custodian Dr. Claus Veltmann has done thorough research in the archive and presents what connects the Salzburg exiles, the Haller pastors in North America and the pipe in the collection of the Orphanage.

Das Pferdemodell in der Wunderkammer (Horse Model in the Wunderkammer)

A toy horse with a real saddle and bridle is highly sought after. Feeding, riding, pulling carriages, all this is still played in many children's rooms today and often the dream of a real horse farm matures here. Metta Scholz has selected the wooden model of a horse (18th century) from the collection of real models in the Kunst- und Naturalienkammer der Franckeschen Stiftungen (Chamber of Art and Natural History of the Francke Foundations) and presents its use as an illustrative model in school lessons and the multi-talented manufacturer.

Der Medinawurm (Guinea Worm)

The probably most inconspicuous wet preparation of the Wunderkammer should not be underestimated. With the wrong medical treatment, the patient's life was soon in danger. Thomas Grunewald knows the story of how the medina worm from the leg of a South Indian schoolboy in the 18th century became an object in the animal cabinet of August Hermann Francke's Chamber of Art and Natural History in Halle.

Das Herbarblatt vom großen Zittergras (Herbarium Leaf of the Great Quaking Grass)

Today the biologist Cornelia Jäger presents us a herbarium leaf from the 18th century from the plant cabinet. Where does the grass with the beautiful name, which does not grow wild in Germany, come from? What is so special about it that it ended up in the Wunderkammer and what was it used for? Cornelia Jäger enlightens us.

Das Waisenhausmodell in der Wunderkammer (Orphanage Model in the Wunderkammer)

Why was the model of the orphanage shown in the orphanage? Was it built as a toy, similar to a doll's house, was it a learning object at August Hermann Francke's schools or did it serve to illustrate the educational cosmos of Halle's Pietists during guided tours? Prof. Dr. Holger Zaunstöck took a close look at this special object.

Die Glasfaserperücke (The Fiberglass Wig)

A scratchy fiberglass wig in the Wunderkammer poses a riddle. Was it a prototype or was the model in the 18th century often worn in the evening so that one did not set one's hair on fire by candlelight? Helene Jung answers the many questions about this special object.

Der Ostindienfahrer (East Indiaman)

This is about the large model ship in the middle of the room. Did the East Indian traveller have a model, maybe Hallish missionaries on their way to South India traveled with this ship? Dr. Claus Veltmann, custodian of the orphanage, did a lot of research.

Der Jerusalempilger Heinrich Wilhelm Ludolf (Jerusalem Pilgrim Heinrich Wilhelm Ludolf)

The oil painting of the man with the tattoo was long considered one of the great mysteries of the Kunst- und Naturalienkammer der Franckeschen Stiftungen in Halle. Who was the man, why does he show his tattoo on his right forearm and why is he part of the collection? Comparable paintings are rare. Tom Gärtig, scientific volunteer at the Historical Orphanage, introduces the 18th century pilgrim to Jerusalem.

Ahnentafel und Stammbaum. Historisch-genealogische Werke in den Beständen der Franckeschen Stiftungen

Cabinet exhibition online in the Historical Library

On the occasion of the 400th birthday of the Great Elector Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg (1620-1688), the Library of the Francke Foundations is showing numerous genealogical works from the 16th to the 18th century, including lavishly colored, large-format family trees alongside simply designed genealogical tables, universal genealogies, heraldic books and genealogical calendars.

Naturgewalten in alten Bibeln

Cabinet exhibition online in the Historical Library

Floods, droughts, earthquakes, fires, swarms of locusts - the Bible is full of stories of natural forces that were seen as God's punishment and judgment. The cabinet exhibition shows illustrations of forces of nature in Bibles from five centuries, including outstanding works of book art, such as the illustrations from the Cranach workshop in Luther's September Testament and in the full Bible of 1534.

Im Steinbruch der Zeit. Erdgeschichten und die Anfänge der Geologie

Annual Exhibition of the Francke Foundations 2020

We introduce you to one of the great events of the early modern age: the discovery of the earth's time. Seemingly contradictory theories of the origin of the earth, scholarly disputes, economic interests and the loss of the primacy of the Bible to the point of looking into the abyss of the earth's historical time can be encountered in the online annual exhibition.

Mission Ziegenbalg

Christine Bergmann and Stefan Schwarzer searching for clues in Tharangambadi

Before the Corona Pandemic, when traveling to faraway countries was commonplace, artists Christine Bergmann and Stefan Schwarzer worked in the "City of Singing Waves" Tharangambadi on the east coast of India. On the tracks of the Hall missionaries, they walked in the frenzy of smells and sounds, experienced adventurous rickshaw rides and sacred customs that meet modern capitalism. They enjoyed cultural experiences between temple and junk and the infinite abundance of textile and built ornaments.