Francke, Kuno b. September 27, 1855; Kiel d.June 25, 1930; Cambridge, Massachusetts
German American professor at Harvard University who promoted the teaching of German culture in the United States.
Kuno Francke was on the faculty of Harvard University’s German Department (changed to the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures in 1897) from 1884 to 1930.
Along with Hugo Munster- berg, Francke was recognized widely as the foremost cultural ambassador of higher education between Germany and the United States. Unlike Munsterberg, however, Francke became an American citizen and closely identified himself with German Americans.Francke’s most significant accomplishment was the formation of the Germanic Museum at Harvard (since 1950, the Busch-Reisinger Museum). He conceived of the museum as a visual experience by which Americans could learn of German cultural achievements. In 1899 and 1900, he related his ideas to the German ambassador (and friend of Hugo Munsterberg) Theodor von Holleben and University of Berlin professor Hermann Grimm. The timing of Francke’s proposal could not have been better. Chancellor Bernhard von Bulow and Emperor Wilhelm II received the proposal enthusiastically because they wished to improve relations with the United States in the wake of the Manila Bay incident (1898) during the Spanish- American War. Wilhelm II took a personal interest in the project and donated plaster casts of German statues and cultural objects. During the winter of 1902, Wilhelm’s eldest brother, Prince Henry, made a two-week visit to the United States. During the royal tour, Harvard president Charles W. Eliot awarded Prince Henry with an honorary doctorate among much fanfare. Across the Atlantic Ocean and concurrent with these ceremonies, Francke met with Wilhelm II, himself no stranger to pomp and circumstance.
The museum, dedicated in November 1903, took many years and much fundraising on Francke’s part to materialize. The Germanic collection was housed for many years in a former gymnasium.
On June 8, 1912, the cornerstone was laid for a new building, but World War I delayed the opening of Adolphus Busch Hall (named after its main benefactor, the famous St. Louis German beer magnate) until April 1921. Designed by German Bestelmeyer, the hall combined Renaissance, Gothic, and Romanesque styles to highlight the history of German architectural achievements. Francke wished to broaden the focus of the museum to Germanic peoples (a desire that had been reflected in the transformation of the Harvard German Department itself); however, such a desire proved too ambitious given financial and spatial constraints. He did, however, continue to travel to Germany in order to procure more plaster casts for the collection. He remained the honorary curator of the museum until his death.Kevin Ostoyich
See also Munsterberg, Hugo; U.S.-German
Intellectual Exchange
References and Further Reading
Goldman, Guido. A History of the Germanic Museum at Harvard University. Cambridge: Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University, 1989.
Keller, Phyllis. States of Belonging: German- American Intellectuals and the First World War. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1979.
Lenger, John. “Busch-Reisinger Marks a Century: The Art Museum Named for a St. Louis Brewing Family Has Weathered the Storms of Two World Wars.” Harvard Gazette, November 6, 2003.
Ungern-Sternberg, Franziska v. Kulturpolitik zwischen den Kontinenten: Deutschland und Amerika; das Germanische Musuem in Cambridge/Mass. Cologne: Bohlau, 1994.