The Anne Frank Educational Centre (German: ''Bildungsstätte Anne Frank'') is an organisation promoting education on antisemitism and racism. It was founded in 1997 and is located in the neighbourhood of Dornbusch,

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

where

Anne Frank Annelies Marie Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – February or March 1945)Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new li ...

was born. The centre is supported by the Anne-Frank-Fonds in Basel. In their work, the Centre uses the biography and the

diary of Anne Frank ''The Diary of a Young Girl'', commonly referred to as ''The Diary of Anne Frank'', is a book of the writings from the Dutch-language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of t ...

as a tool to promote tolerance and to

educate Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education also fol ...

people about the consequences of

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

, discrimination and

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

. Since the 2010s, the centre has expanded its activities on

human rights education Human rights education (HRE) is the learning process that seeks to build knowledge, values, and proficiency in the rights that each person is entitled to. This education teaches students to examine their own experiences from a point of view that ...

and facilitating dialogue between people from different backgrounds, social status and lifestyle.

History

As early as 1950, Anne Frank's father Otto wanted to found an educational centre in Anne's name. However, it took over 40 years for his wish to become reality. In 1994 the "Jugendbegegnungsstätte Anne Frank e.V." society was founded. On 15 June 1997 the Anne Frank Educational Centre was opened, in the former "Haus der Jugend" (Youth Club/Hostel), near to Anne's former home. In 2003 a new multimedia exhibition "Anne Frank: A Girl from Germany" was opened. The exhibition was developed and produced in cooperation with the

Anne Frank House The Anne Frank House () is a writer's house and biographical museum dedicated to Judaism, Jewish wartime diarist Anne Frank. The building is located on a canal called the Prinsengracht, close to the Westerkerk, in Amsterdam-Centrum, central Amst ...

(

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

) and the Anne Frank Zentrum (

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

). Since 2003, adults and young people have had the opportunity to explore the permanent multimedia exhibition “Anne Frank: A Girl from Germany”, guided by their own interest. Visitors have the opportunity to unravel the individual stories within the broader history of Nazism. Additionally, the centre organises seminars, training courses and projects on related topics. Since 2010

Meron Mendel Meron Mendel (; born 1976) is an Israeli-German social scientist, professor, educator, writer and director of the Anne Frank Education Centre in Frankfurt/Main. He became known for his public statements in German news media as an expert on Germa ...

has been the director of the Anne Frank Educational Centre. Under his leadership, the centre expanded its activities with a multimedia learning laboratory for young people, two counselling units for victims of

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

violence, as well as with temporary exhibitions, for example on

The Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

in comics. Unlike in its early years, the centre is not only focusing on the history of Anne Frank and The Holocaust. Its new focus is

and facilitating dialogue between people from different backgrounds, social status and lifestyle. The centre offers activities for the general German society, including people with a personal history of immigration, such as

Muslims in Germany Islam's significance in Germany has largely increased after the labour migration in the 1960s and several waves of political refugees since the 1970s. According to a representative survey, it is estimated that in 2019, there were 5.3–5.6 ...

. Supporting teachers and parents, the centre has published surveys and materials for educational use, for example regarding the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

after 7 October 2023.https://www.bs-anne-frank.de/fileadmin/content/Publikationen/Brosch%C3%BCren/BSAF_2024-3009_7.Oktober_Lehrkr%C3%A4fte-Umfrage.pdf Further, the local institution has greatly enlarged its staff and budget and become internationally known.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Anti-racist organizations in Europe Anne Frank Museums in Frankfurt Anti-racism in Germany

History

See also

References

External links