ECONOMIC GROWTH AND WORLDWIDE MISSION

The nature of the Halle Anstalten's educational program was not without implications for the character of the orphanage complex as an economic unit. The tightly controlled institutional setting not only restricted social communication with the outside world but also tended to limit economic contact. In addition to the attempted supervision of every moment of the children's time, the self-imposed isolation of the orphanage necessitated a planned, largely self-sufficient economy. As Goffman puts it, “to say that inmates of total institutions have their full day scheduled for them is to say that their essential needs will have to be planned for.” In order to minimize both uncertainty in the planning process and possible spiritual contamination, Francke and his associates preferred, in Francke's words, “to carry out all work processes with our own resources to the greatest possible extent.”

Francke's economic objectives were not limited, however, to bolstering internal control through planned self-sufficiency. The “world reform” proclaimed in the “Grosse Aufsatz” required a constantly increasing income for the Anstalten. Francke's attitude toward material wealth was analogous to his views on knowledge and physical health. Neither wealth nor poverty in itself conferred any spiritual advantage; how a person exploited his or her material condition made all the difference.