I visited Büdingen on my way to Frankfurt a few months ago. From the early stages of my project, I had had plans to explore the Wetterau, a very beautiful region apparently unbeknownst to many Germans today. Büdingen and its surroundings became an important refuge for religious minorities in the eighteenth century, after Count Ernst Casimir of Ysenburg-Büdingen … More Büdingen, Germany
Together with the iconic orphanage, one of the most important buildings in the Francke Foundations is without a doubt the historical library. Located in Haus 22, the library was founded in 1728 and remains today an invaluable resource for Pietist studies. Figures speak for themselves: the main collection and the special collections respectively consists of 57,000 and 70,000 volumes, and the … More Halle (Saale), Germany – Part III
The Francke Foundations or Franckesche Stiftungen were established by the Pietist theologian August Hermann Francke in 1698 in Glaucha, a small parish outside of Halle, thanks to the support of the Elector of Brandenburg Friedrich III. After being successively banned from Leipzig and Erfurt in the late 1680s for promoting Pietist ideas, Francke had found employment in 1691 as both a … More Halle (Saale), Germany – Part II
My journey began in Halle in August 2011, ten days after my PhD graduation in Norwich. I had never been to Germany before, nor did I speak a word of German at the time. All I knew was that Halle was the only city the Camisards had visited twice and also the one where they … More Halle (Saale), Germany – Part I
Lionel Laborie 