Pupils life and the school city in the 19th and 20th centuries

In terms of academic research into the Francke Foundations, the focus is clearly on the 18th century. There are understandable reasons for this, given the Foundations' global reach during this period. However, the Research Centre has also set itself the task of strengthening research into the history of the Foundations in the 19th and 20th centuries. On the one hand, the character of the Foundations as a »school city«, which developed into a »city within a city«, remained quite unique. On the other hand, the density of archival and source material is so rich and varied that it allows a thematically differentiated approach to school history in the 19th and 20th centuries. 

The focus of this thematic area, which is being worked on by Daniel Watermann, is on pupils' lives. Building on extensive preliminary work and current debates in historical educational research, the interpretations, experiences and biographies of students will be the starting point and the focus of attention.

A project on pupils' associations has already been successfully completed (see below). Two further projects on the careers/educational paths of pupils in the Weimar Republic and on the history of the boarding schools of the Francke Foundations are currently being developed.

Book project »School clubs in the Francke Foundations 1843–1945«

Associations of pupils around 1900 have hardly been considered in new research to date. Daniel Watermann's book can therefore also be seen as a pioneer study on a form of youth self-organization that has received no attention in the research literature, which has so far focused primarily on the youth movement. Student associations were formed at almost every secondary school for boys and also at schools for girls. They formed a peculiar model of socialization that was determined by discipline as well as self-responsibility and autonomy.

This book is the first to take a differentiated look at the extensive educational policy and pedagogical debates surrounding banned associations that were based on student associations and the pupils' associations that were seen as a positive counter-model by the »schoolmen«. These debates, as well as the regulations at the individual schools, also outlined the limits of the possibilities for school clubs to operate.

The Francke Foundations developed an incredibly rich school club system - starting with the founding of the »Loreley« singing club in 1843, one of the oldest ever founded school club in the German-speaking world. For almost a century, the clubs played a major role in shaping everyday school life - festivals, leisure activities, performances such as gymnastics, concerts and plays. Although the school clubs operated within a limited framework, they were also able to assert a not inconsiderable amount of autonomy and privileges. Thus they continued, seemingly as a matter of course, numerous traditions and a corresponding habitus inherited from the student associations. The fact that school clubs at the Foundations had a special significance is also evident from the fact that Latina Principal Alfred Rausch (1858–1939) published the first ever comprehensive book on the subject in 1904. 

Above all, Daniel Watermann's book sheds light on the fascinating lines of tension in which the school clubs operated - between control and autonomy, discipline and individual development, disadvantages for girls and freedom for boys, as well as an existence with changing challenges in three political systems.

The book was published in mid-2025 in the »Hallesche Forschungen« series by the Francke Foundations publishing house.

Seminar »Pupils' lives from the German Empire to National Socialism – everyday life, leisure activities and political positions of secondary school pupils« (summer semester 2025)

At the Institute of Education at the MLU Halle-Wittenberg, Daniel Watermann offered a seminar in which the innovative educational-historical perspective on pupils' lives around 1900 was critically discussed and analysed in more detail using case studies from the three secondary schools of the Francke Foundations.

Lecture »Self-Image and Crisis – Autobiographical Biographies of Pupils in the Weimar Republic« (April 3, 2025)

As part of the colloquium »Modern and Contemporary History« (Prof. Theo Jung / Prof. Patrick Wagner) at the Institute of History at MLU Halle-Wittenberg, Daniel Watermann presented a project that aims to examine the biographies of pupils of the Francke Foundations on a broad source basis for the first time. Pupils had to submit their CVs when registering for the school-leaving examination. The presentation focused on the idea of analyzing the self-images of the pupils in their CVs against the backdrop of the years of the Weimar Republic, which were marked by fundamental social transformations.

Lecture »›Auf ungebahnten Pfaden in Kaiserwilhelmsland‹ – Colonial contexts in the debates of the Francke Foundations' pupil missionary association in the early 20th century« (November 16, 2024)

The 24th Halle City History Day was dedicated to the topic of »Halle and colonialism«. In his lecture, Daniel Watermann discussed the debates on the connection between mission and colonialism in the pupil missionary association of the Francke Foundations. The minutes of the meetings of this association for the years 1910 to 1913 have survived, which Watermann used to show that the German colonies in particular were an ongoing topic at the association's meetings and that the position of the association was very clear from the summarized lecture topics in the minutes. Like the other pupils' associations of the foundations, there can be no doubt that the pupils' missionary association felt that it belonged to the bourgeois-national camp in the German Reich and was fundamentally in favor of colonial ownership by the German Reich with all its opportunities for missionary work. The idea of missionary work in the association was essentially determined by the fact that Christianity was not only perceived as theologically superior to other religions, but that its spread could contribute to the civilization of the world.

Cabinet exhibition »School clubs in the Francke Foundations (1843–1936). Solidarity – Rivalry – Competition« (April 2023 – April 2024)

The exhibition curated by Jürgen Gröschl showed photos, reports, posters and documents from the school archives documenting the work of the school clubs between 1843 and 1936 (to the online exhibition). The political upheaval in the middle of the 19th century encouraged the emergence of student associations. A particularly rich club life developed in the Foundations with sporting, artistic, scientific and religious associations. The aim of these communities was to educate their members in order and discipline, a sense of responsibility and camaraderie. The pupils measured their strength in competition in the gymnastics clubs, accompanied the life of the school with musical performances and competed in national events, but were also an expression of increasing nationalization and militarization. During the National Socialist era, the independence of the clubs was increasingly restricted and they were eventually disbanded.

Annual exhibition »Modern Youth? Being young in the Francke Foundations 1890–1933« of the Francke Foundations 2019 with accompanying catalog

The exhibition, curated by Holger Zaunstöck and Claudia Weiß, was on display on the exhibition floor of the Historic Orphanage in the Francke Foundations from September 23, 2019 to March 22, 2020.

Youth is a time of new beginnings, a willingness to take risks and to push forward, but also a time of big questions and uncertainty. Particularly in the years of classical modernism, hope and disappointment seem to lie close together, with opposing tendencies having a direct impact on young people. Using the example of being young in the Francke Foundations, a series of central questions are negotiated and vividly presented: Do school and educational prospects tend to be understood as success stories or do they leave a sense of crisis or failure? How is the development of physicality reflected in sport and sexuality between individuality and normativity, how do militarization and the experience of war affect adolescents? Do radio, literature and film serve more as a means of information, indoctrination or their own modern means of expression?

Catalog: Modern Youth? Being young in the Francke Foundations 1890–1933. Edited by Holger Zaunstöck and Claudia Weiß with the collaboration of Tom Gärtig and Claus Veltmann. Halle 2019 (Catalogs of the Francke Foundations, 36).

Sport at the Francke Foundations between 1890 and 1933

The 21st Day of Halle's City History on 13 November 2021, organized by the Verein für hallische Stadtgeschichte e. V., was dedicated to the topic »No offside! The history and culture of sport in Halle«. Expanding on his contribution to the 2019 annual exhibition, Tom Gärtig discussed this topic under the heading »›An educational tool of the first order‹. Gymnastics, games and sport at the Francke Foundations 1890-1933«. He explained the ambivalent role of sport in the Foundation schools and sports clubs at the time. In addition to gymnastics, croquet, tennis and cricket, soccer, imported from England, also inspired the young men at the Foundation. However, the opportunities for sporting activities for girls had only slowly increased since the end of the 19th century. In line with the demands of Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859–1941), sport was primarily intended to ensure that young men were physically fit for military service. It was also intended as a means of reducing physical tension in order to prevent sexual acts by young people.

Discussions about ›good‹ and ›bad‹ children's and youth literature at the time of the German Empire

The article »Discussions about ›dirt and trash‹ in children's and youth literature in the German Empire« (Kinder- und Jugendliteratur & Medien - kjl&m 4/2021) by Claudia Weiß uses the example of schools and the Francke Foundations publishing house to examine the struggle between different groups for literature suitable for adolescents. At this time, new literary formats such as booklet series with entertaining crime, adventure and love stories emerged, which particularly appealed to children and young people. At the same time as such changes in the literary field, but also the emergence of the new medium of film, a partly public, partly private discussion developed about the ›right‹ use of media by adolescents. Various groups, especially from the fields of education, upbringing and politics, were involved in the debate, which was conducted under the historical concept of the »fight against trash and filth«.

The publishing house of the orphanage bookshop in Halle published numerous writings on the subject of »trash and filth«. These prints, which have been preserved in the library of the Francke Foundations, provide insights into the controversial discussion about ›good‹ children's and youth literature and refer to concrete local effects such as exhibitions on so-called trashy literature, which pupils and teachers in Halle had to visit.