Die Wunderkammer der Franckeschen Stiftungen

Second, revised and expanded edition.
This book is published in German.

In 1698, August Hermann Francke (1663–1727) founded the famous art and natural history collection at the orphanage to provide a space for the practical lessons he had introduced. Intended from the outset as a collection open to the public, but especially for the practical teaching of school classes at the foundations, this unique space can still be visited today. The approximately 3,000 natural history specimens, curiosities and artefacts in this unique collection open up the world to visitors from a forgotten perspective. As an early modern museum space, the chamber represents the comprehensive cosmos of knowledge of the Baroque period. After several internal changes of location, between 1736 and 1741 Gottfried August Gründler (1710–1775) gave it its current form in the former dormitory of the Francke Foundations' orphan boys. The original, richly decorated collection cabinets contain valuable objects such as a whole Seychelles nut, the earliest Mongolian manuscript found in Germany, Hungarian cheese, a tattooed fish and all kinds of other curiosities. Intended from the outset as a collection open to the public, but especially for teaching school classes at the foundations, this unique space can still be visited today. 

The photo book offers unique insights into this overwhelming collection in 150 photographs, some of them large-format, by Klaus E. Göltz, who is also responsible for the book layout. Thomas Müller-Bahlke, who as archivist rediscovered the ›Wunderkammer‹ in the ruined buildings of the Francke Foundations between 1992 and 1995 and had it re-established at its historic location, introduces the reader to the history of the art and natural history collection at the Halle Orphanage in the context of early modern collecting traditions. He paints a picture of the largely unknown designer of the chamber, the scholar and painter Gottfried August Gründler, and opens the doors to the very special treasures, their origins and their history, cabinet by cabinet. This literary tour guarantees the reader a very special museum experience.