Research Centre

The Research Center, in cooperation with the National Library in Riga, is involved in the German-Latvian edition of the important curriculum vitae of F. B. Blaufuß.

The project, funded by the state of Saxony-Anhalt, is dedicated to the indexing and conceptual penetration of early modern sources on the history of the schools of today's Francke Foundations, which were known as Glauchasche Anstalten in the 18th century.

The history of the Francke Foundations' Cabinet of Artefacts and Natural Curiosities as an important Cabinet of Curiosities of the Baroque period is continuously being researched. This research is combined with current approaches and international perspectives on collections research.

The research project combines architectural, cultural and socio-historical perspectives on the Halle orphanage. The Publisher of the Francke Foundations has published the research results in several publications.

The research of the DFG-funded project focuses on determining the relationship between pietistic religiosity and alchemical practices as well as theoretical adoptions from speculative alchemy at the Halle Orphanage in the 18th century.

The annual exhibition 2021 of the Francke Foundations, curated by the Research Centre, dealt with central aspects of medicine in the 18th century. The focus was laid on the medicine of the Pietists, especially at the Halle orphanage in the 18th century.

Based on the 2019 annual exhibition curated by the Research Centre, the topic of youth in the German Empire and the Weimar Republic will be further examined in various aspects. One focus is on the history of the Francke Foundations as a school town.

The Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften and the Research Centre of the Francke Foundations regularly organise events in cooperation as part of the series »Wissenschaftshistorische Seminare« (»History of Science Seminars«), which brings leading researchers in the early modern history of knowledge and science to Halle.

Since 2018, the Halle-based research institutions on the 18th century have been cooperating in organising the academic lecture series »Halle Lectures«. Every year, two outstanding, internationally renowned scientists present their views on the study of the 18th century and its significance in the context of the current world situation.

Indexing and editing of the outstanding source in the archives of the Francke Foundations in the history of medicine, pharmacy and missions with the Centre for Science Studies of the Leopoldina - National Academy of Sciences and an international and interdisciplinary team of scientists.

The dissertation project by Gabriele Bellinzona (Hamburg) examines the interconfessional relationship of the Lutheran-Pietist mission in Tranquebar and other mission stations of Christian groups active in South India in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The dissertation project of Paula Göbel-Lange (Halle) investigates the director of the foundation August Hermann Niemeyer in his role as a political participant. It is supported by the Landesgraduierten Stipendium Sachsen-Anhalt and supervised together with Prof. Andreas Pečar (Martin-Luther-Universität Halle Wittenberg).

The research area »Nobility and Pietism« has been intensively researched at the Research Centre since 2014. The special connection between noble habitus and lifestyle on the one hand and pietistic sobriety and inner worldliness on the other constituted a field of tension with numerous negotiation and transition processes, which offers interesting research desiderata in the regional, but also national and international area.

Parts of our collections are to be viewed in the specific colonial context of the 18th century. However, this is not the same as the imperial colonialism of the (late) 19th and early 20th centuries. There is a great need for research and discussion here. The Francke Foundations plan to play an active role in this emerging field.