another building was built to house a dining hall and a huge and singing hall with a capacity of 2,000 persons. In 1711, Francke and Carl Hildebrand von Canstein established the Cansteinsche Bibelanstalt (Canstein Bible Institute), the oldest bible institute in Germany. Bibles were in the early 18th century extremely expensive. An invention in letter pressing, and with financial support byvon Canstein, allowed the institute to produce inexpensive Bibles in a large quantities. Until the middle of the 20th century millions of Bibles had been published. In the following years a number of buildings were built, e.g. the long house (Langes Haus) in 1713, the largest high-timbered five- and six-storey building. It houses today a hall of residents (Evangelisches Konvikt) and a boarding school for students of the Latina. In the upper Lindenhof (linden yard), the Ökonomiegebäude was built in 1747–48 as an administration house. It is, since 1808 the base of the Stadtsingechor, the oldest boys' choir in central Germany. 19th century The Francke Foundations underwent decline in the late 18th century. In the early 19th century, August Hermann Niemeyer took over direction of the Foundations, renewing the educational programs and resolving financial issues. In 1810 the Realschule was built and in 1835 girls' secondary school. The royal paedagogium (Königliches Pädagogium) was rebuilt in 1848, 20th century Because of the good reputation and its revenues, the Francke Foundations were growing and a new building for Lateinische Hauptschule (Latina) was built. In 1911 more than 3,000 students attended the various schools. During the time of National socialism, Francke Foundations remained as a Christian formed school city. During World War II air raid in March 1945, some Francke Foundation buildings, including the Francke residence and the Latina, were either damaged and destroyed. In 1946, during the Soviet occupation of East Germany the presidium of the province of Saxony abolished the Francke Foundations and turned over all its assets and buildings to the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. In the 1970s, the northerly Orphanage wall had been demolished to build an elevated road (Hochstraße) to connect Halle with Halle-Neustadt. This elevated road separates the Orphanage Pharmacy from other parts of the Foundations. On the ground of the Foundations, several high rises were built. After German Reunification in 1990, the Francke Foundations were re-established in September 1991. With assistance of the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt and private donations, the Francke Foundations building were renovated.