The Frobenius-Institut deals with ethnological, historic and prehistoric research, mainly focused on Africa since its foundation, but also including South and Southeast Asia, Australia, South and North America and Oceania. More recently, its activity has been concentrated on the research of cultural appropriation processes within the framework of globalisation.

As Germany's oldest ethnological research institute, it is in charge of four scientific collections, several excerpts and various scientific legacies. The contents of the collection are the product of a collecting and documentation activity started in 1898, and continued in 1938 after the death of its founder, Leo Frobenius. One of the most remarkable features of the Frobenius research expeditions was the great importance given to visual forms of documentation, which led to the creation of a collection of picture documents quite unique in Europe. Affiliated to the Frobenius-Institut is the Ethnological Library which has been founded in 1898 as a reference library and today is one of the most important libraries with focus on ethnology (catalogue).

As an autonomous institution, the Frobenius-Institut is associated to the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University and works in close collaboration with the Institut für Ethnologie(Institute for Ethnology), as well as with the Museum der Weltkulturen (Museum of World Cultures) in the city of Frankfurt am Main.