The Frobenius Institute (Frobenius-Institut; originally: Forschungsinstitut fur Kulturmorphologie) is Germany's oldest

anthropological Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

research institute. Founded in 1925, it is named after

Leo Frobenius Leo Viktor Frobenius (29 June 1873 – 9 August 1938) was a German self-taught ethnologist and archaeologist and a major figure in German ethnography. Life He was born in Berlin as the son of a Prussian officer and died in Biganzolo, Lago ...

. The institution is located at Gruneburgplatz 1 in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. An autonomous organization, it is associated with the

Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...

, and works in collaboration with two other organizations, the Institut für Ethnologie, and the

Museum der Weltkulturen The Museum of World Cultures (german: link=no, Museum der Weltkulturen) is an ethnological museum in Frankfurt, Germany. Until 2001 it was called the Museum of Ethnology (''Museum für Völkerkunde''). History It was founded in 1904, as ...

. It carries out ethnological and historical research. Originally established in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

and known as the Forschungsinstitut fur Kulturmorphologie, it was renamed by

Adolf Ellegard Jensen Adolf Ellegard Jensen (1 January 1899 – 20 May 1965) was one of the most important German ethnologists of the first half of the 20th century. Jensen's main research interests were myth, ritual and cult. He furthered the theory of Cultural Morp ...

, its director after the 1938 death of Frobenius.

Collection

The Frobenius Institute is famous for its collections. Apart from 6000 ethnographic objects, the collection mainly consists of around 100,000 pictures (photographs and watercolour paintings). Most of these pictures are available online on the website of the institute. Leo Frobenius started this collection, and after his death in 1938 his successors enlarged it. The Library of the Frobenius Institute consists of around 130,000 books. Frobenius, Cupboard with albums.jpg, Collection Frobenius Institute (Frankfurt) Frankfurt22.JPG, Ex Libris Leo Frobenius Frankfurt14.JPG, Collection Frobenius Nupe Bursche, Nigeria, Aquarell Carl Arriens, 1911.jpg, "Nupe boy, Nigeria"
(Aquarel by , 1911) Carl Arriens and two men in a Tiv village, Salatu, Benue regio, 1911, Frobenius.jpg, Carl Arriens in Benue Region, Nigeria (1911) (Photo Leo Frobenius)

External links

Frobenius Institute website

Literature

* ''Das Frobenius-Institut an der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität. 1898-1998''. Vorwort: Karl-Heinz Kohl. Frankfurt am Main, Frobenius Institut, 1998

References

{{authority control Research institutes in Germany Anthropological research institutes Research institutes established in 1925 Education in Frankfurt