The study traces the development of public welfare for the poor in late medieval and early modern Thuringia and provides deep insights into the living conditions of the poor. The legislation, structures and practices of almsgiving, the care of foundlings and orphans, hospitals and infirmaries as well as the common boxes set up everywhere during the Reformation era are examined and compared to the begging problem and the facets of the associated social milieu. In the area of ​​tension between supportive care and stigmatizing rejection, both innovative strength and drive as well as limits of understanding and supply deficits in the Thuringian towns and villages clearly emerge.