The database enables research in the historical archive divisions and in selected collections of the Archive of the Francke Foundations. Included are the holdings of

• the main archive
• the mission archive
• the Economic and Administrative Archives
• the school archive
• the school and orphan directories
• the plan archive
• estates and deposits
• the Chamber of Art and Natural History
• the poster collection
• the material sources

The database also contains the manuscripts of the so-called Francke estate of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin-Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Also included are letters from the manuscript department of the Gotha Research Library of the University of Erfurt, which document both the early period of the emerging Pietism and the phase of the establishment of Halle's Pietism and thus decisively supplement Halle's holdings.

In addition, biographical information on the persons associated with the manuscripts can be called up. The database replaces and extends the previously used bio-bibliographical register of the main archive of the Francke Foundations.

You have various search options: Via a "simple search" (as with Google) you can carry out a full-text search in all or selected holdings. Lists (registers) allow you to browse the holdings structure and keywords. The numbers behind the entries indicate the number of hits. The "advanced search" offers additional options to relate, restrict or combine the search to certain contents. These include geographical keywords, corporate keywords, subject keywords and personal keywords, dates and house numbers for foundation buildings.

The results are first displayed as a short list, which can be extended to a detailed description by selecting the "Detailed information" entry in the "Result" menu or the small arrow in front of each entry.

The archive database is a "work in progress" in two respects. On the one hand, the database is continuously supplemented and updated with new data. On the other hand due to the assumption of still unprocessed data from other systems it can come to inconsistent spellings and uses of person names, place names and corporate names as well as of factual keywords, just as to doublings in different data fields. We ask you to take this into account when searching.

Archival records that are indexed in the archive database can be pre-ordered using the order function available there. Please follow the illustrated instructions.

Access to the database