FRANCKE, August Hermann. - Protestant theologian and educator, b. at Lübeck on 12 March 1663, d. at Halle on 18 June 1727. He studied theology at Erfurt, Kiel, and Leipzig, and in the latter city founded, together with P. Anton, the Collegium philobiblicum for the study of Holy Scripture. In 1688 he met Spener, enthusiastically embraced his Pietist doctrines, and received assistance to advance the Collegium. Appointed magister at the University of Leipzig, he was obliged to leave it on account of his Pietist views; the same happened to him at the University of Erfurt, where he had been invited. Meanwhile Spener, who had also been forced to leave Leipzig, induced Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg (1688-1701) and first King of Prussia (1701-13), to found the Faculty of Theology at the University of Halle. He invited Francke and other Pietist professors there, and they made that Faculty a stronghold of Pietism.
Francke was distinguished not only as a propagator and defender of Pietism, but chiefly for his philanthropic and educational organizations. He also wished to combat the religious ignorance of the people, and chose as an effective means the dissemination of the Bible, encouraged in this by his friend Baron von Canstein (1682-1730), who had thousands of copies printed. Some attribute to Francke personally the vocation of the first Lutheran missionaries, Ziegenbalg and Plutschau, and that of Count Zinzendorf, founder of the Moravian Brethren.
F. IN THE PEDAGOGICAL FIELD. - Impelled by the desire to dedicate himself to the instruction and education of youth, especially the poor, so that through elements of culture they might also learn those of a deeply religious life, Francke conceived a grand design to demonstrate how schools can truly become the “salt of the earth.” From this arose a whole series of excellent philanthropic and pedagogical institutions, still existing today and known under the name of Franckesche Stiftungen.
Francke began by attending to elementary instruction, opening as early as 1695 a free school for the poor; then, to satisfy the demands of well-to-do families, another, the German school, on a paying basis; and then, so as not to wait for the beginning of elementary schools to instill religious sentiment in the pupils, he established the orphanage (1698). For higher instruction he opened the Paedagogium for wealthy pupils who intended to pursue a professional formation, and the Latin school for those who, without neglecting scientific subjects, were more concerned with literary ones.
To train teachers, “for this purpose he founded an institute divided into two branches: the Seminarium praeceptorum for future elementary teachers and the Seminarium electorum for those of the higher classes.
As a complement to the schools he created a printing house, a library, a bookshop, and a pharmacy. The institution flourished so remarkably that at Francke’s death the Paedagogium counted 82 pupils, the Latin school 400, the elementary school 1,725, the orphanage 134, and the teachers numbered more than 200.
According to him the principal aim of education is the honor of God and a living knowledge of Jesus Christ; hence three hours each day were devoted to religious instruction, one to common prayer, and only three to other subjects. Not even Sundays and feast days were excepted, nor even recreations, during which play was forbidden because it distracts from the thought of God; instead the time was occupied with work at the lathe, etc. Instruction was to be intuitive, for an botanical garden, a cabinet of physics and natural history, a chemical laboratory, and an anatomical theatre were attached to the Paedagogium. In maintaining discipline gentleness was to prevail.
Francke is certainly to be numbered, despite the exaggeration in the time devoted to religious instruction and prayer and in the prohibition of play, among the truly great and effective educators, having known how to combine instruction and education in perfect harmony, basing the latter on the one solid foundation of religion studied and lived.
His ideas are set forth in his work: Offentliches Zeugnis von Wort, Werk und Dienst Gottes (Halle 1702), divided into four parts, of which the first is very important: Kürzer einfaltiger Unterricht, wie die Kinder zur wahren Gottesliebe und christlichen Klugheit eingeführt werden; the fourth: Von der Erziehung der Jugend.