The Frobenius Institute (Frobenius-Institut; originally: Forschungsinstitut für 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 archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behaviour, wh ...

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 M ...

. The institution is located at Gruneburgplatz 1 in

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 ...

. An autonomous organization, it is associated with the

Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research 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 wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

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

Museum der Weltkulturen The Museum of World Cultures () is an ethnological museum in Frankfurt, Germany. Until 2001 it was called the Museum of Ethnology (''Museum für Völkerkunde''). It is part of Frankfurt's Museumsufer (Museum Riverbank). History It was found ...

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

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

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 Mor ...

, 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"
(

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the ...

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)

Literature

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

References

External links

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