Location: Saxony-Anhalt
The university and Saale town of Halle (Saale), Halle for short, is
the birthplace of George Frideric Handel. Located both at the southern
end of the Lower Saaleta Valley and in the "Metropolitan Region of
Central Germany", the largest city in Saxony-Anhalt has one of the most
beautiful old town centers among major German cities, a rich cultural
offering, many parks and numerous restaurants. Halle is also an
important transport hub.
The city of Halle (Saale) was first
mentioned in 806 in the chronicle of Moissac as Halla. The town owes its
origins and upswing to the numerous brine springs in the area that
formed at the Halle market square fault. The name of the city derives
from the Middle German word hal for salt spring, salt works. But there
was a settlement earlier. Since 968 the city belonged to the archdiocese
of Magdeburg founded by Otto I and since 1281 to the Hanseatic League.
In 1418 construction began on the Red Tower, which would later
become Halle's landmark. In 1484 the Moritzburg was built under
Archbishop Ernst II of Saxony, which was intended to counteract the
self-confident salt workers, the Halloren. From now until 1680, Halle
was the capital and residence of the Archdiocese of Magdeburg. Halle
experienced a wedding under Cardinal Albrecht von Brandenburg. An
extensive construction program was realized in his favorite residence.
The Reformation marked the end of this era. The cardinal fled to Mainz
and Aschaffenburg with his household and art treasures.
After the
death of Duke Augustus von Sachsen-Weißenfels in 1680, the city passed
first to the Electorate of Brandenburg and later to the Kingdom of
Prussia. In 1694 the University of Halle and in 1698 the Francke
Foundations were founded as an orphanage and later a center for early
enlightenment. Since 1710 the Canstein Bible Institute has been one of
the foundations. Because of its liberal spirit, the university has the
reputation of being the first "modern" university and was a role model
for other German and US universities.
The composer Georg
Friedrich Handel was born in Halle in the 17th century. Every year in
June the Handel Festival takes place in Halle, an event that attracts
numerous visitors from Germany and abroad and extends over 10 days. The
conclusion after numerous concerts and operas is crowned by fireworks in
the Galgenberg Gorge.
After the Napoleonic Wars, the city fell to
the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807 and back to Prussia in 1815. The city
owes renewed economic growth to the mineral resources mined in the area,
such as lignite and hard coal as well as clay, gravel and porphyry. In
1890 the population reached 100,000 and Halle became a big city. In the
same year, the Social Democratic Party of Germany received its current
name at a party conference in the city. But industry left its mark on
the city. The actor, comedian and writer Curt Goetz, who grew up in
Halle, described the city as charming in his memoirs. The German Academy
of Sciences Leopoldina, founded in 1652, has had its permanent seat in
Halle since 1878.
Despite its proximity to the chemical companies
Leuna and Buna, Halle was largely spared carpet bombing in 1945. It
therefore has a unique urban character among the major German cities.
During the brief existence of the state of Saxony-Anhalt after the
dissolution of Prussia from 1947 to 1952, Halle was its capital. After
that, the city was the capital of the district of the same name until
1990.
In the second half of the 20th century, the city was the
center of the chemical industry. With the then still independent city of
Halle-Neustadt and the Halle-Silberhöhe residential area, large
prefabricated housing estates for the chemical workers were created. The
city itself fell into disrepair during this period. With the political
turnaround, the picture changed: the environmental damage caused by the
chemical industry decreased, and the Diva Halle was able to shed its
notorious gray very quickly. Even before the fall of the Wall in 1980,
the nationally known New Theater was founded by Peter Sodann.
With around 239,000 inhabitants, Halle is the largest city in
Saxony-Anhalt, the fifth largest city in the new federal states and
number 31 among German cities. It is not only an important economic
center and important transport hub, but also a city of science and
culture. In addition to the university with its approximately 20,000
students, the city is the location of the Burg Giebichenstein University
of Art, several national research institutes, and since 2008 the seat of
the German National Academy Leopoldina and the German Federal Cultural
Foundation. The cultural highlights include u. the art collections of
the Moritzburg Foundation and the State Museum of Prehistory.
Halle describes itself as the cultural capital of Saxony-Anhalt and
is known as this nationwide. An application for the European Capital of
Culture 2010 failed due to elimination after the second round.
Among the city's stages, the Halle Opera House and the Kulturinsel
Halle/neues theater (speech theatre) with several stages, located on the
Kulturinsel developed by the former director Peter Sodann, are
particularly noteworthy. The puppet theater of the city of Halle for
adults and children is also located on the culture island.
In
November 2008, the opera, the Staatskapelle, the Kulturinsel and the
Thalia Theater were merged under the umbrella organization Theater, Oper
und Orchester GmbH Halle (TOOH).
The cabaret Die Kiebitzensteiner
played for a long time in the Moritzburg, in the Ankerstrasse and has
since moved into a space in the Volkspark.
In addition to the
Staatskapelle Halle, an orchestra with a target strength of 152
musicians (the second largest in Germany), a musical institution is also
the Stadtsingechor zu Halle - the oldest boys' choir in Central Germany
and one of the oldest boys' choirs in Germany.
Halle’s cultural
landscape also includes:
Thalia Theater – children's and youth
theater
Fairytale carpet – puppet theater for children and adults
Puppet Theater Hall
Steintor-Varieté – the oldest variety theater in
Germany
Stadtsingechor zu Halle – one of the oldest secular and
religious boys' choirs in Germany
Theater Mandroschke – Venue of the
free theater and off-theater scene
WUK Theater Quartier – workshops
and culture at Holzplatz (free theater)
schiller stage halle e. V. –
Free Theater in Club 188
With the museum facilities of the Francke Foundations, the Moritzburg
State Art Museum and the Music Museum in the Handel House, the city of
Halle has three so-called cultural beacons among the 20 important
museums and institutions of the national cultural heritage of the East
German federal states that were included in the federal government’s
Blue Book. It is also planned to include another facility, the State
Museum of Prehistory.
In 2008, the Moritzburg Gallery (Moritzburg
Foundation – Art Museum of the State of Saxony-Anhalt) was opened after
several years of construction. The conversion of the west wing of the
Moritzburg, which has been empty for centuries, is one of the most
spectacular buildings in the city. Today, with the permanent exhibition
on Lyonel Feininger, one of the most important Expressionist exhibition
venues in Germany is located here.
Among the museums related to
natural sciences, the Geiseltal Museum with paleontological finds from
opencast lignite mining, including the primeval horse Propalaeotherium,
and the Julius Kühn Museum of Domestic Animals, with the largest
collection of domestic animal skeletons in the world, should be
highlighted. Among them is the skeleton of the hallmark stallion of
German thoroughbred breeding, Dark Ronald. The Meckel collection, a
collection of anatomical preparations in the Institute for Anatomy and
Cell Biology at the Martin Luther University, is famous.
The
State Museum of Prehistory as the exhibition venue for the Nebra Sky
Disc, the Robertinum Archaeological Museum, the Halle City Museum in the
Christian Wolff House and in the upper castle of Giebichenstein and the
Memorial to the Victims of Political Persecution with an exhibition in
the Red Ox and the Genscher House with an exhibition that deals with the
division and unity of Germany, among other things.
The Halloren
and Saline Museum shows the technology and history of salt production in
Halle. In addition, there is the Deutsche Bahn Museum Halle and the
historic tram museum of Hallesche Verkehrs AG with old trams that are
still roadworthy. There is also the Halloren Chocolate Museum and the
Historical Technology Center of Stadtwerke Halle.
The city's
museum landscape is supplemented by the Beatles Museum, the Music Museum
in the Wilhelm Friedemann Bach House and the oldest and largest
collection of Protestant church music in the Marienbibliothek.
The private computer and technology museum in Halle was built by around
2018. In the extensive exhibition, technical exhibits are combined with
the local industrial history. It is the only computer museum in
Saxony-Anhalt.
Halle's exceptional features include two mighty castles, both of which are within the built-up area of the city, a situation rarely encountered in Germany. These are the older Giebichenstein Castle, north of the city center on the banks of the Saale, and Moritzburg Castle on the north-western edge of the old town. On the other hand, there is little left of the medieval city fortifications, as these were largely removed during the course of the city's expansion at the end of the 19th century. The remains that are still visible include the Leipzig Tower, a free-standing watchtower from the mid-15th century. Parts of the former city wall are also preserved on the south-western edge of the old town near the Moritzkirche (corner of Moritzzwinger/Hallorenring) and on the Waisenhausring, where an approximately 80 meter long and 7 meter high section still exists.
The churches in the old town - with the exception of the four-tower
market church, which forms the well-known five-tower ensemble of the
market square with the red tower - have a special feature: St. Moritz,
St. Ulrich, the cathedral and the chapels of Moritzburg and the New
Residence have no or no longer a complete tower.
The churches in
the old town include the Hallesche Dom, a former Dominican monastery
church and the oldest church building in the old town, the four-tower
market church of Our Lady, the Moritzkirche with its historic Sauer
organ and works of art by Conrad von Einbeck, and the St. Ulrich concert
hall, which is now profaned -Kirche, a former Servite monastery church.
August Hermann Francke preached in St. Ulrich and St. Georgen.
Former village churches and other sacred buildings that have a number of
special features are located in incorporated parts of the city. These
include St. Laurentius with its old cemetery, the Böllberg village
church of St. Nikolaus, a 12th-century church that is part of the
Romanesque Road, the neo-Gothic institution church of the Diakonie, one
of the earliest churches after the Wiesbaden program, St. Bartholomäus ,
St. Elisabeth, the Georgenkirche, which played an important role for the
ecclesiastical opposition at the time of reunification, the Pauluskirche
in the Paulusviertel, which dominates the city, and the Granau church
ruins, since 1923 a memorial to the fallen of the First World War.
The Halle synagogue, used by the Jewish community, is located in the
Jewish cemetery on Humboldtstrasse, which was laid out in 1864. It was
originally the ceremonial hall of the cemetery and was converted into a
synagogue in 1948. A synagogue built in 1870 and significantly expanded
in 1884/85 was located in the city center. It was destroyed under
National Socialism. A memorial erected in 1985 commemorates the murdered
Jewish fellow citizens, the design of which is reminiscent of the façade
of the destroyed synagogue. On October 9, 2019, the synagogue was
attacked and the Jewish cemetery there was burned.
The two large water towers, the north water tower on
Paracelsusstrasse (B 6) and the south water tower on Lutherplatz, as
well as the historic tram depot of Hallesche Verkehrs AG on Seebener
Strasse, which serves as a museum for old Trams and buses (see tram
museum Halle) is used. With the Großgarage Süd in Liebenauer Straße,
Halle has the oldest surviving multi-storey car park in Germany. The
observatory in Halle in the botanical garden of the Martin Luther
University is also important. The former Halle-Saale-Schleife race track
is located between the western bank of the Saale and the Neustadt
district.
The Saale, which flows through several branches of
Halle, made it possible to use water power in mills. Hence the
Mühlgraben, a natural tributary, got its name. There are still some
buildings, but mostly ruined. These include the Steinmühle, the
Kröllwitzer Papiermühle and the Neumühle.
The course of the Saale in the urban area as well as the geographical
location and the geological conditions create a situation that is almost
unique for large cities in Germany due to the formation of inner-city
river islands. The river flows through the city partly in four parallel
branches. This creates six larger islands, which include, from south to
north, Raven Island, Saline Island (with Pulverweiden and Sophienhafen),
Peißnitz Island (with Gut Gimritz), Klaustorvorstadt Island with
Ratswerder and Würfelwiese, Ziegelwieseninsel and Forstwerder Island .
Several islands, including Strohhof and Sandanger, have since been
silted up.
Forstwerder, Rabeninsel and the northern tip of the
Peißnitz are nature reserves with floodplain forests. The Saline Island,
Ziegelwieseninsel, the southern part of the Peißnitz and the Würfelwiese
are reserved for leisure, recreation and sport. The southern part of the
island with Ratswerder and Würfelwiese is built on with Wilhelminian
style residential buildings.
Bridges have had a special meaning since the city was founded, and there are 132 of them. The main reason for this is the Saale, which divides the city into two halves from south to north and forms the “island world” mentioned above. As a result, the river requires a relatively large amount of space. The two halves of the city are essentially connected to each other for road traffic at three points via bridges: the Giebichenstein Bridge in the north, the Elisabeth Bridge with the Magistral Bridge in the middle and the Röpzig Bridge between Halle and Schkopau in the south. There are also two dozen other bridges that are mainly reserved for pedestrians and bicycles, of which the Peißnitzbrücke, the Forstwerderbrücke and the Rabeninselbrücke are worth mentioning. In the south, Halle is bordered by the Weißen Elster - there are also some river bridges here. In addition, the main traffic tracks of the railway also run through the city east of the Saale in a north-south direction and separate again in the same direction. To overcome this division, there are other bridges, of which the Berlin Bridge is of particular importance. It replaces a bridge built between 1913 and 1916, which spanned over 200 m over Halle's freight yard. The new building was opened on January 11, 2006. Due to its 74 m high steel pylon, it is a point in the city that can be seen from afar. The historic building was demolished in 2006.
The Stadtgottesacker, built by the master builder Nickel Hoffmann in
1557-1594, is of national importance. The cemetery is a Camposanto site
that is unique north of the Alps. Since 1989 the partly bombed and then
neglected Stadtgottesacker has been restored step by step by stone
sculptors and restorers and partly used as a cemetery again. The Jewish
cemetery consecrated in 1869 and the associated mourning hall, now used
as a synagogue, which were spared the destruction of the so-called
Reichskristallnacht, are also worth mentioning.
The city's
cemeteries also include the Gertraudenfriedhof in the north of the city
with its representative central building by Stadtbaurat Wilhelm Jost and
the New Jewish Cemetery on the site, consecrated in 1929, with a
historical Jewish monument (middle ages) and the Südfriedhof from 1887
with its buildings in the Neo-Renaissance style. In addition, there are
the notable burial grounds Nordfriedhof and Laurentiusfriedhof.
The heath cemetery was laid out in the Dölauer Heide in the middle of
the 19th century. It was used for the burial of nameless people,
especially suicides and victims of violent crimes who died on the heath.
In 1929 the Dölauer Heide became property of the city of Halle and the
cemetery lost its function.
The city has a number of monuments and sculptures from different
eras, a public art asset that has grown over the centuries. First and
foremost is the sculptural decoration of the Moritzkirche by Conrad von
Einbeck (Master Conrad) from the 14th century. Ahead of his time, he
also created a sandstone self-portrait in the northern side choir.
The special features include the prayer column from Halle, a Gothic
wayside shrine from the pre-Reformation period (1455) on the
Universitätsring, as well as the Hallesche Roland, a sandstone figure
from 1854 whose history dates back to 1245. Also worth mentioning are
the Handel monument by Hermann Heidel (1859) on the market square and a
monument in honor of August Hermann Francke, two of the most famous
people working in Halle. The figures on the town hall by Gustav Weidanz,
which were recreated by Johannes Baumgärtner in the mid-1970s because
they were destroyed in the Second World War, are of significant design
importance.
Some sculptures have survived from the time of the
GDR, such as the flag monument on Hansering and a larger-than-life bust
of Ernst Thälmann on Franckestraße. There are also two Lenin monuments
that have survived: a sculpture in Pestalozzi Park and a mural by Erich
Enge in Halle-Neustadt. But not only such ideologically desirable
sculptures were created in the GDR era; a bronze sculpture by Gerhard
Geyer, who also created the so-called “Science Cube” in bronze for
Halle-Neustadt, commemorates the painter Matthias Grünewald, who died in
Halle. In front of the Moritzburg, another variant of Halle's sculpture
art is shown, the steel sculpture Maureske by Irmtraud Ohme.
In
front of the Ulrichskirche there is a fountain by the Halle sculptor and
castle professor Gerhard Lichtenfeld, who also created a large fountain
in Halle-Neustadt. In addition to a large fountain design by Bernd Göbel
on Hallmarkt, three lifelike figures by his student Maya Graber on
Universitätsring have recently been added. The monument to the
victorious working class, created by the Weimar architect Sigbert
Fliegel and inaugurated in 1970, called "The Fists" by local residents
because of its shape, shaped the entrance to the city for 35 years and
was destroyed in 2005.
There are a total of around 150 sculptures
and sculptures, around 190 monuments and memorials, over 50 public
fountains and dozens of wall designs and reliefs. Halle has also joined
the Stolpersteine project. So far, 247 memorial stones have been placed
at 114 locations in the city (as of November 2019). Altogether there are
well over 600 monuments and works of art.
Halle's mountain zoo is characterized by its location on the 130
meter high Reilsberg, which often offers beautiful views. Notable among
the city's gardens and parks is Reichardt's Garden, which has become
known as the "Herberge der Romantik". It was created by Johann Friedrich
Reichardt from 1794. Romantic poets such as Novalis, Tieck, Eichendorff,
Brentano, Goethe and Jean Paul met here at the time. There is also
Lehmanns Garten, a park laid out by the banker Lehmann near his city
villa.
The historic Halle observatory from 1788 is located in the
botanical garden of the Martin Luther University. The botanical garden
is part of the Saxony-Anhalt garden dreams network. Furthermore, there
is the official garden, as part of the garden dreams network, in the
immediate vicinity of today's Giebichenstein Castle. Archaeologists
assume that the old castle, the predecessor of the Giebichensteinburg,
stood on this approx. 5.5 hectare area. There is also the Geological
Garden at the Institute for Geosciences and Geography at Martin Luther
University.
Since October 2019 there has been the Park of Olympic
Winners at Hansering with 15 plaques in honor of those Halle athletes
who have returned from the Olympic Games with a gold medal. These
achievements should be recognized and raised public awareness.
The market square includes the Red Tower and its second-largest
carillon in the world with 76 bells, the four-tower market church of Our
Lady, the neo-Gothic town hall, the small market palace and the
"Geoskop" with a view of the so-called Hallesche market square fault.
The old town hall and the council scales on the market square were lost
due to severe damage during the bombing raid on March 31, 1945 and
subsequent demolition. Although structurally intact, the “Zur Börse”
hotel was also demolished in 1965 – despite public protests.
In
addition, there is the Old Market with the donkey fountain reminiscent
of a legend from Halle, the Hall Market, once the center of the city's
salt production, and its Wilhelminian-era buildings, as well as the
Cathedral Square with the ensemble of the Cathedral, New Residence and
New Chancellery. The university square, redesigned by Gernot Schulz,
received particular attention and was awarded the 2003 German
Architecture Prize for the newly created ensemble of historic campus,
Juridicum and Audimax.
With the University and State Library of Saxony-Anhalt, the
Marienbibliothek founded in 1552, the oldest and largest Protestant
church library in Germany, the historical library of the Francke
Foundations and the library of the German Academy of Sciences
Leopoldina, which was built up from 1731, the city has four large
collections.
Current media are offered in the city library. The
largest public library in Saxony-Anhalt is divided into the central
library at Hallmarkt, district libraries in the south, west
(Halle-Neustadt) and north of the city and a music library. A book bus
supplies the population in the peripheral areas.
Halle has a number of important secular buildings from different
eras:
The New Residence, built in 1531, was the residence of the
Archbishops of Magdeburg in Halle. It is located on the cathedral square
in the immediate vicinity of the cathedral.
The town hall, built in
1891-1894, on the market square is one of the most representative
buildings in the city. It is used as a municipal assembly, meeting and
festival building.
The Francke Foundations, founded in 1698 with the
largest half-timbered house in Europe, were once the center of European
pietism.
The district court (1903-1905) on the Hansering, built in
the style of Wilhelmine justice buildings, has a remarkable staircase
with a double spiral staircase.
The Volkspark, built in 1906-1907 as
the former SPD club house, is an architectural example of the idea of
the building as the "city crown" and played a major role in the history
of Halle's labor movement.
The colors and forms of Art Nouveau are
almost completely preserved in the Stadtbad. It was built between 1912
and 1914 and was considered one of the largest and most modern
healthcare facilities of its time.
The Wittekind brine bath
(1923-1925), which is empty today, is a reminder of the diverse use of
the brine springs in the city.
The lodge house to the three swords,
also known as Chernyshevsky House, was built in 1822-1824 and expanded
and rebuilt several times. It is now the seat of the "German Academy of
Sciences - Leopoldina" (since 2008 the National Academy of Sciences).
The fountain house of the Gesundbrunnen, which has been known since 1310
at the latest, dates from around 1900.
The Romanesque Road holiday route, the Saale Cycle Path and the
pilgrimage route Lutherweg Saxony-Anhalt lead through Halle.
Jahn
Cave in the Klaus Mountains on the Saale
Stone sculptures in Heinrich
Heine Park
Great Marker Street
Fountain Hall at the Ziegelwiese
(80 m), since August 15th, 2009 after renovation by the association
"Friends of the Fountain" in operation again
Astronomical station
Johannes Kepler with planetarium and observatory
The socialist
planned city of Halle-Neustadt
In the urban area there are a total of nine nature reserves (Bischofswiese, Burgholz, Peißnitz Nordspitze, Lunzberge, Brandberge, Rabeninsel and Saale-Elster-Aue, Döllnitzer Auenlandschaft, Forstwerder) with a total area of around 696 hectares, which protect the nature that characterizes the townscape (meadow landscapes).
January: Beginning of the annual theme year of the Francke Foundation
February: Women in Jazz – International Jazz Festival
February: Happy
Birthday Handel (February 23)
March: German Knack World Championship,
organizer: Kulturreederei
Before Easter: spring market (hype) at the
ice rink
May: International Children's Choir Festival "Be Happy and
Sing"
May: Halle Museum Night
May: Marathon of the authorities of
the Stadtsportbund Halle e. V
On the Wednesday after Pentecost:
Garlic Wednesday
June: Handel Open (before the Handel Festival)
June: Handel Festival
June/July: Children's town "Halle an Salle"
June: Linden Blossom Festival (every 2 years in June in the Francke
Foundations)
July: Long Night of Science
July/August: Cinema
summer, organized by the Luchs cinema
August: Night of the Churches
(mid-August)
August: Halle Lantern Festival on the Peißnitzinsel,
with boat parade on the Saale, concerts of pop and rock music,
fireworks, jousting of the Halloren
September: Salt Festival around
the Saline
September: fountain festival on the brick meadow
September: Central German marathon from Spergau to Halle
September/October: Accordion Akut - International jazz and world music
festival with a focus on the accordion
October: Werkleitz Festival –
Media Art Festival (Werkleitz Gesellschaft e. V. since 2004 in Halle)
October/November: Saxony-Anhalt Film Music Days – specialist congress
and public gala concert (since 2008)
October/November: Autumn fair at
the ice rink
October/November: Jewish culture days
November: Halle
Music Days at various venues
November/December: Impronale –
International festival for improvisational theatre
December:
Christmas market
There are hardly any specialties typical of Halle. Originally, the cuisine of the town on the Saale was probably characterized by fish dishes, but hardly anything is noticed of this anymore. Solei, slag sausage and Halloren salt can be regarded as special features, which the Halloren hand over to the respective sovereign at New Year's receptions. Traditional home cooking in Halle includes farmer's cheese, aspic, bratwurst with sauerkraut, brisket in horseradish sauce and Hallesche Fettbemme with lard and sometimes plum jam.
In 2021, the city applied to host a four-day program for an international delegation to the Special Olympics World Summer Games 2023 in Berlin. In 2022 she was selected to host Special Olympics Suriname. The delegation consisted of 27 people. The city thus became part of the largest municipal inclusion project in the history of the Federal Republic with more than 200 host towns.
By plane
Leipzig/Halle Airport (IATA: LEJ) is located about 30 km
south-east of Halle and offers regular flight connections to some
airports in Germany and some European destinations as well as charter
flights. The airport has a 24-hour operating license and therefore also
serves as a freight hub and transhipment point for parcel post. It
handles more than two million passengers annually.
The airport is
connected to the long-distance and regional rail network. The airport
train station is located directly below the terminal building and can be
reached via (escalator) stairs and elevators. Hourly IC trains run from
Halle on the Hanover - Leipzig line and S-Bahn trains (S 5) run every
half hour on the Halle - Leipzig - Zwickau line. IC and S-Bahn differ in
the fare, the IC has a slightly more expensive tariff. The travel time
to Halle main station is about 10 minutes in both cases.
A taxi
ride into the Halle city area costs around €40. The taxi drivers come
almost exclusively from Leipzig. Those arriving by car can easily reach
the airport via the A9 motorway (from Berlin, Munich) and the
Schkeuditzer Kreuz and then via the A14 (from Dresden, Magdeburg). To
commute between the airport and the inner cities of Leipzig and Halle,
it is best to use the A14 and exit in the direction of the center. There
are several paid parking lots and a multi-storey car park at the
airport. The car park is directly connected to the terminal and allows
for a dry arrival/departure and the parking fees here are €2.00 per hour
(minimum €5; as of Sept. 2014). However, the long-term parking spaces
are not far from the terminal and are a lot cheaper in the long run. All
of the major rental car providers also have a stand directly in the
arrivals area.
Another (probably more attractive) alternative is
Berlin Airport. This serves far more domestic and international
destinations than Leipzig Airport.
By train
The main train
station is about 1.5 km east of the city center and can be reached on
foot in about 20 minutes via Leipziger Straße or by tram (lines 2, 4, 5,
7 and 9). In addition, the main station and the adjacent Riebeckplatz
are the hubs of numerous tram and bus lines to various parts of the
city.
Halle is an important railway junction with one or two-hour
ICE and IC connections to Hanover (via Magdeburg), Berlin (via
Wittenberg), Dresden (via Leipzig), Munich and Frankfurt am Main (each
via Erfurt).
In regional traffic there are hourly connections to
Magdeburg via Köthen, Dessau/Wittenberg via Bitterfeld, Eilenburg via
Delitzsch, Erfurt via Weißenfels/Naumburg, Kassel via
Sangerhausen/Nordhausen, Goslar via Aschersleben/halberstadt and
Bernburg. S-Bahn trains run to Altenburg and Zwickau (via the airport
and Leipzig) (S5), to Leipzig via Schkeuditz (S3), and to the suburbs of
Nietleben (S3) and Trotha (S47).
barrier-free The main station is
fully barrier-free and open around the clock, serviced (bar service on
the 1st floor) and has heated waiting rooms. It was completely
modernized from 2016 to 2021, so that the quality of stay is very high.
By bus
Halle has several long-distance bus connections. The
central bus station (ZOB), Ernst-Kamieth-Platz, is located at the west
exit of the main train station. There are connections to Berlin, Erfurt,
Würzburg, Dresden and the Ruhr area, among others.
There are
other connections from Leipzig/Halle Airport.
On the street
Arrival via the A14 from Leipzig or Magdeburg, via the A9 from Nuremberg
or Berlin and the A38 from Göttingen. The branches of the A9 and the A14
in the east of Halle lead to the B100.
By boat
There is a boat
trip on the Saale to Naumburg (Saale).
By bicycle
The place is
the station of the Saale Cycle Path and the destination of the Heavenly
Path.
On foot
Halle is a station on the Luther Trail.
In Halle (Saale), environmental zones have been set up in accordance
with the Fine Dust Ordinance. If you don't have the appropriate badge,
you risk a fine of €100 when entering an environmental zone. This also
applies to foreign road users.
Entry ban for vehicles of pollutant
groups 1+2+3 (Info Federal Environment Agency)
Halle has a
reliable local transport system (HAVAG) with trams, buses and an
inner-city S-Bahn. Halle is integrated with Leipzig in the Central
German Transport Association (MDV). Halle is well connected to the
surrounding area by S-Bahn and regional trains. A single ticket costs
EUR 2.60 (children up to the age of 13 EUR 1.60). The 24-hour card costs
6.60 euros. Taking your bike with you costs EUR 1.90 (free travel on the
S-Bahn and local trains).
Route
map Halle (PDF)
Car sharing
Shopping
A vegetable, fruit and flower market takes place at the
market from Monday to Saturday.
Below is a selection of shopping
locations in the city:
1 EDEKA Center Weidauer, Merseburger Str. 40,
06110 Halle (Saale). Tel.: +49 (0)345 1316140. Open: Mon-Fri 7am-9pm,
Sat 7am-8pm.
2 E-Center Wilhelm, Weißenfelser Str. 52, 06132 Halle
(Saale). Tel.: +49 (0)345 772860. Open: Mon-Fri 7am-9pm, Sat 7am-8pm.
3 Kauflandcenter, Südstadtring 90, 06128 Halle (Saale). Tel.: +49 (0)345
2260450. Open: Mon-Fri 7am-10pm, Sat 7am-8pm.
4 Kaufland, Zollrain 9,
06124 Halle (Saale). Tel.: +49 (0)345 292690. Open: Mon-Fri 6am-10pm,
Sat 6am-8pm.
The city offers few local specialties.
The best-known product from
Halle are the Halloren balls, pralines made from cream and chocolate.
They got their name from the formerly active salt workers, the Halloren,
and are said to resemble the silver buttons on their jackets.
Salt eggs and slag sausage are served at Halloren's New Year's
receptions.
There are about 170 restaurants in the city.
Cheap
As in any big city, there is the usual selection of quick and
cheap meals. In the city center it is not a problem to quickly find a
bockwurst or bratwurst, a soup, a doner kebab or an Asian menu.
Don't worry be Curry, Universitätsring. Phone: +49 (0)345 388 08 08 .
Snack bar with the longest opening hours in the city, large selection
including sausages. On weekdays during the day also on the market
square. Feature: Sausage. Open: Mon, Tue 8am-6pm, Wed-Sat 8am-5am;
Snacks at the market: in winter 9:00-17:00, in summer 9:00-18:00.
Soupjekt, Universitätsring 8. Tel.: +49 (0)345 68 58 171, Fax: +49
(0)345 68 23 098. Soup and pasta dishes. Features: noodles, soup.
Medium
In the middle price range there are many good restaurants
in the historic old town. A visit to Halle's "bar mile", the Kleine
Ulrichstraße, is always worthwhile. There are numerous other restaurants
in Karre Sternstraße/Große Märkerstraße.
Alchemist's retreat, Reilstrasse 47, 06114 Halle (Saale). Phone: +49
(0)345 523 36 48, fax: +49 (0)345 52 50 91 51, e-mail:
restaurant@alchemistenklause.de. German and international cuisine.
Features: German cuisine, international cuisine. Open: Tue-Sat
12:00-15:00, 17:00-23:00.
Bruchbude, Zscherbener Landstr. 2a, 06126
Halle (Western Neustadt, allotment garden association "Am
Kalksteinbruch"). Tel.: +49 (0)345 690 55 55. Feature: German cuisine.
Bullfinch, Domplatz 5, 06108 Halle (Saale). Tel.: +49 (0)345 202 97 92.
Home cooking. Features: German cuisine, home cooking.
Hallesches
Brauhaus, Nikolaistrasse 2, 06108 Halle (Saale). Tel.: +49 (0)345 21 25
70. German, home-style cuisine. Features: German cuisine, home cooking.
Halle potato house, Willy-Brandt-Str. 44, 06110 Halle (Saale). Tel.: +49
(0)345 50 25 45. Potato, fish and pan dishes. Feature: German cuisine.
Krug zum Grünen Kranze, Talstraße 37, 06120 Halle (Saale). Tel.: +49
(0)345 299 88 99, e-mail: reservierung@krugzumgruenenkranze.de.
Excursion restaurant, located on the west bank of the Saale, after which
the folk song of the same name is named. Home cooking. Features: German
cuisine, home cooking. Open: Wed-Thu 3pm-10pm; Fri 3:00 p.m.–11:00 p.m.;
Sat 12:00 p.m.–11:00 p.m.; Sun 12:00 – 21:00.
Mönchshof,
Talamtstrasse 6, 06108 Halle (Saale). Tel.: +49 (0)345 202 17 26.
International cuisine. Features: German cuisine, international cuisine.
Schad, Reilstrasse 10, 06114 Halle (Saale) (am Reileck). Tel.: +49
(0)345 684 53 22, fax: +49 (0)345 684 53 21. Feature: German cuisine.
Strieses beer tunnel, Schulstraße 2, 06108 Halle. Phone: +49 (0)345 512
59 48 . Feature: German cuisine. Open: daily 18:00-24:00.
Weinstube
Rathausstrasse, Rathausstrasse 7, 06108 Halle (Saale). Tel.: +49 (0)345
200 32 30. Home cooking. Features: German cuisine, home cooking.
Zum
Grossen Gottlieb, Große Märkerstraße 20, 06108 Halle (Saale). Tel.: +49
(0)345 202 88 72. Rustic, home-style cooking. Features: German cuisine,
home cooking.
Zum Ritter, Sternstrasse 7, 06108 Halle (Saale). Tel.:
+49 (0)345 294 30 27. German medieval cuisine. Characteristics: German
cuisine, medieval cuisine.
Zum Schad, Kleine Klausstraße 3. Tel.: +49
(0)345 523 03 66, fax: +49 (0)345 523 20 79, e-mail: info@zum-schad.de.
German cuisine. Feature: German cuisine.
Delphi, Barfusserstrasse 20, 06108 Halle (Saale). Tel.: +49 (0)345
203 30 70. Greek cuisine. Feature: Greek cuisine.
Osteria da
Salvatore, Bergstrasse 7, 06108 Halle (Saale) (corner of Kleine
Ulrichstrasse). Tel.: +49 (0)345 681 96 10. Italian cuisine. Feature:
Italian cuisine.
Rhodes, Kurt-Eisner-Strasse 7, 06110 Halle (Saale).
Tel.: +49 (0)345 290 20 29. Greek cuisine. Feature: Greek cuisine.
Balaton, August-Bebel-Str. 1, 06108 Halle (Saale). Tel.: +49 (0)345
294 44 92. Hungarian cuisine. Feature: Hungarian cuisine.
Wenzel
Prager Bierstuben, Große Nikolaistraße 9-11, 06108 Halle (Saale). Phone:
+49 (0)345 4704 9980, fax: +49 (0)345 4704 9981, email:
halle@wenzel-prager-bierstuben.de. Czech cuisine. Feature: Czech
cuisine.
Zum Samovar, Scharrenstraße 4, 06108 Halle (Saale). Tel.:
+49 (0)345 171 79 45. Russian cuisine. Feature: Russian cuisine. Open:
Tue-Sat 18:00-24:00.
Palmyra, Geiststrasse 10, 06108 Halle (Saale). Phone: +49 (0)345 445
80 82, email: arab.al-marie@gmx.de. Arabic, Lebanese cuisine. Feature:
Arabic cuisine.
Amasyna, August-Bebel-Strasse 53, 06108 Halle
(Saale). Mobile: +49 (0)176 61 09 62 84. Oriental, mainly Syrian
cuisine, pizza, burgers. No delivery service. Feature: Arabic cuisine.
Open: Mon-Fri 11:00-22:00, Sat 12:00-22:00, Sun 13:00-22:00.
Himalaya, Große Brauhausstraße 2, 06108 Halle (Saale) (Right next to
the Leizpiger Turm. When you are on Leipziger Straße, turn south at
Deutsche Bank/Halloren Apotheke/Burger King and you will find the
Himalaya on your left .). Tel.: +49 (0)345 470 44 25. Indian cuisine.
Feature: Indian cuisine. Price: starter around €4-5, main course €9-12.
Accepted payment methods: VISA, Master Card.
House of India, Grosse
Ulrichstrasse 16, 06108 Halle (Saale). Tel: +49 (0)345 208 38 88. North
Indian cuisine. Feature: Indian cuisine. Open: currently closed.
Indian Curry House, Joliot-Curie-Platz 31, 06108 Halle (Saale). Tel.:
+49 (0)345 681 97 00, fax: +49 (0)345 678 27 37, e-mail:
kontakt@indiancurryhouse-halle.de. North Indian cuisine. Features:
Indian cuisine, Delivery, Waiter service, Outdoor Seating. Open: Mon–Sat
11:30–14:30, 17:30–22:00; Sun 11:30 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Shiva,
Augustastrasse 6–8. Tel.: +49 (0)345 4 78 95 17. Indian cuisine.
Feature: Indian cuisine.
Hong Kong Restaurant, Ludwig Wucherer Str. 73a, 06108 Halle (Saale).
Tel.: +49 (0)345 682 56 58. Chinese cuisine. Feature: Chinese cuisine.
Sao Mai, Martinstraße 17, 06108 Halle (Saale) (upper boulevard). Phone:
+49 (0)345 472 29 62, email: kontakt@saomai-halle.de. Asian, especially
Vietnamese cuisine. Features: Asian cuisine, Vietnamese cuisine. Open:
Tue–Sat 11:00–22:30; Sun 12:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Sushifreunde
Steinweg, Steinweg 17, 06108 Halle (Saale). Tel.: +49 (0)345 681 66 27.
Asian cuisine, sushi. Delivery service, all-you-can-eat promotions.
Features: Asian cuisine, sushi.
Viet Village, Bergstrasse 1, 06108
Halle. Phone: +49 (0)345 69 15 29 81 . Asian, mainly Vietnamese cuisine.
Features: Asian cuisine, Vietnamese cuisine. Open: daily 11:00 - 23:00.
Los Andes, Richard-Wagner-Str. 39, 06114 Halle (Saale). Phone: +49
(0)152 21 64 46 33, Email: losandes@gmx.net . Latin American grill
specialties and wines. Features: free WiFi, Argentinian cuisine. Open:
Tue-Sat 17:00-22:00. Accepted payment methods: Cash, Visa, Master, EC,
Amex.
Mextreme, Reilstr. 131, 06114 Halle (Saale). Phone: +49 (0)345
67 82 07 30, Email: info@mextreme.net . mexican cuisine. Feature:
Mexican cuisine. Open: Mon-Thu 17:00-23:00, Fri-Sat 17:00-24:00, Sun
17:00-22:00.
Ökoase, Kleine Ulrichstraße 2, 06108 Halle (Saale). Vegetarian cuisine. Feature: vegetarian.
7 Gramm, Barfusserstraße 11, 06108 Halle (southwest of the main
university campus, east of the New Theater). Phone: +49 (0)1514 323 99
24, email: cafe@7gramm.com. Cosy, casual café and bar with international
coffee specialties in latte art style, e.g. B. flat white, smoothies,
beer, wine, mixed and long drinks, breakfast, cakes, snacks and panini.
Many are organic and local products. The coffee beans come from the
Leipzig coffee roasting company Brühbar. The 7 Kugeln ice cream parlor
is integrated into the café. Regular customers include students, artists
and employees. Possibility to reserve for private parties. Wheelchair
accessible entrance, outdoor seating, free WiFi. Feature: free WiFi.
Open: Mon-Fri 9am-10pm, Sat, Sun 10am-7pm; Ice cream parlor in summer
from 12:00 p.m. Accepted payment methods: VISA, Mastercard, Maestro,
cash.
Bewaffel dich, Neumarktstraße 9, 06108 Halle (Northern city
center, just north of the Universitätsring). Phone: +49 (0)1515 350 55
54, email: mary@bewaffel-dich.de. Café with waffle bakery. With food
truck and event catering. Features: Outdoor Seating, Non-Smoking. Open:
Sun.-Thurs. 9:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 9:00-0:00 (24-26/12 closed).
kafé kaju, Große Steinstrasse 25, 06108 Halle (Saale). Tel.: +49 (0)345
13 53 53 40, mobile: +49 (0)177 234 65 37, email: info@kafekaju.de .
Cozy café decorated with works of art of various kinds. Open: Mon
2pm-6.30pm, Tue-Fri 11am-6.30pm.
Kaffeerösterei Roy, Hansering 21,
06108 Halle (Saale) (northeast of the car park entrance). Tel.: +49
(0)345 68 58 48 10, email: Kaffeeroesterei-roy@gmx.de . In addition to
selling on-site offers of various coffees made from hand-roasted beans,
daily changing cakes and tarts (also vegan). Live roasts and tastings on
request. Open: Mon-Fri 10am-7pm, Sat 10am-5pm.
NT Café, Grosse
Ulrichstraße 51, 06108 Halle (Saale) (at the New Theater). Tel.: +49
(0)345 511 07 12. Open: Mon-Sat 10:00-20:00, closed on public holidays.
Upscale
Ristorante Caruso, Bernburger Strasse 16, 06108 Halle
(Saale) (am Reileck). Tel: +49 (0)345 548 4833. Italian cuisine.
Feature: Italian cuisine.
Charlott, Dorotheenstraße 12, 06108 Halle
(Saale) (in the Dorint Charlottenhof). Phone: +49 (0)345 2923-0, Fax:
+49 (0)345 2923-100. International kitchen. Feature: international
cuisine.
Palais S, Ankerstrasse 5, 06108 Halle. Phone: +49 (0)345 977
26 51, email: info@palaiss.de. Local cuisine. Feature: German cuisine.
Speiseberg (formerly Bergschenke Kröllwitz), Kröllwitzer Straße 45,
06120 Halle (Saale). Phone: +49 (0)152 56 02 93 06, e-mail:
speiseberg@googlemail.com. À la carte restaurant on the west bank of the
Saale. The chef Konstantin Kuntzsch was awarded a Michelin star in 2022.
Feature: Michelin 1*. Open: Wed–Sat 5:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m.; Sun 12:00 –
21:00. Price: $$$.
Numerous pubs in streets such as Sternstrasse and Kleine
Ulrichstrasse enliven the city. Smokers are to be expected in bars, pubs
and restaurants.
Bars
Cheap
1 Flower 2.0 (FloPo),
Moritzburgring 1, 06108 Halle (Saale). Phone: +49 (0)345 688 88 88 . The
name of the music bar (oldies mostly from the 60s to 80s) says it all.
Open: Tuesday to Saturday 8:00 p.m. – 5:00 a.m. Price: Admission free.
Medium
Everything that has settled around the mile "Kleine
Ulrichstraße" and around the "Burg Giebichenstein" falls into the
affordable category: beer approx. €2.50, coffee/tea approx. €1.50,
cocktails €5- €6
2 Bar Haley, Kleine Ulrichstrasse 30, 06108
Halle (Saale). Mobile: +49 (0)178 133 32 02. Reine Bar. Open: Daily 5
p.m.–10 p.m. (open end).
3 Café Noire, Kleine Ulrichstraße 30, 06108
Halle (Saale) (just north of Bar Haley). Mobile: +49 (0)178 133 32 02 .
Cafe and bar (evenings). Open: Mon-Fri 8am-10pm, Sat 9am-10pm, Sun
10am-10pm (open end).
4 The Irish Fiddler, Grosse Ulrichstrasse 37,
06108 Halle (Saale) . Traditional Irish pub. Open: Mon 18:00 - 0:30, Tue
- Wed 18:00 - 00:00, Thu - Sat 18:00 - 1:00, Sun 18:00 - 00:00.
5
Potemkin, Kleine Ulrichstrasse 27, 06108 Halle (Saale) . Bar with a
garden. Mostly café during the day. Open: Mon-Thu 10am-1am, Fri
10am-2am, Sat 9am-2am, Sun 9am-1am.
6 Cloud Cuckoo Land,
August-Bebel-Platz 5, 06108 Halle (Saale) . Small non-smoking café and
bar. Open: Mon–Sun from 12:00 p.m.
Nightclubs
7 Charles
Bronson, Berliner Str. 242, 06112 Halle (Saale). Mobile: +49 (0)172 731
21 02, email: info@bsolutbronson.de . nightclub and dance.
8 Club
Drushba, Kardinal-Albrecht-Strasse 6, 06108 Halle (Saale). Tel: +49
(0)345 977 27 81. Indie music and dance.
9 Object 5, Seebener Straße
5, 06114 Halle (Saale) (tram lines 7 and 8 to Burg Giebichenstein).
Tel.: +49 (0)345 47 82 33 60. Café with indie, folk and rock music.
Open: Sun 10:00 - 22:00.
10 Tower, Friedemann-Bach-Platz 5, 06108
Halle (Saale). Tel.: +49 (0)345 548 64 86. Halle's largest club with a
varied program and live events. In 2013 he celebrated his 40th
anniversary. Disco on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The origin of
the house can be found in student history. Built for the World Youth
Games. Originally designed as a student retreat, the club is now
privately owned after the non-profit organization went bankrupt.
However, the house, especially on Wednesdays, is mainly visited by the
Studies enrolled in Halle. A special highlight is the "Oldie Night" that
takes place every first Saturday of the month and has become well-known
across the country.
Apartment Halle Saale - KAHSA Apartments (Klewer Apartments Halle
Saale), Zum Planetarium 44, 06116 Halle Saale. Tel.: +49 345 580 011 5,
mobile: +49 171 749 591 9, email: kontakt@kahsa.de . Check-in:
15:00-20:00. Check out: 9:00 am. Price: Apartment from €49/night,
depending on the size and number of people. Accepted payment methods:
bank transfer, cash payment.
Cheap
Campsites, RV sites
In
Halle and in the surrounding area there are a variety of options for
both camping guests and motorhome travelers. A nice overview - also with
private parking spaces - can be found here.
1 Campsite at
Nordbad, Am Nordbad 12, 06118 Halle (Saale) (access and registration via
the outdoor pool ticket office.). Tel.: +49 (0)345 58173860. In the
immediate vicinity of the city, about 20 pitches for mobile homes,
electricity and water connections, and 80 tent pitches, sanitary
containers in the season. Open: mid-May-Sep. Price: mobile home:
€8.00/night, plus €5.00/pers.
hostels
2 Halle youth hostel,
Große Steinstraße 60, 06108 Halle (Saale) (next to the public baths in
the city centre). Tel.: +49 (0)345 202 47 16, fax: +49 (0)345 202 51 72,
e-mail: halle@jugendherberge.de. Large house with 241 beds in 75 rooms
(2-bed/ 3-bed/ 4-bed rooms), 6 wheelchair-accessible rooms with a total
of 13 beds, lockable bicycle room. Features: Wheelchair Accessible,
WiFi. Open: 24/7 (reception). Check-in: 3:00 p.m. Check out: 10:00 am.
Price: 2020: 3-12 years: €14.00/BB, €18.00/HB, €21.50/FB / from 13
years: €27.50, €33.50, €38.50. Accepted payment methods: EC only.
3
Hostel in the medical district, Forsterstrasse 50, 06112 Halle (Saale)
(tram stop Franckeplatz). Tel.: +49 (0)345 44 53 89 10, mobile: +49
(0)1522 170 92 87, (0)175 242 64 12, email: ghimmobilien92@web.de
4
Hostel No5, Robert-Franz-Ring 5, 06108 Halle (Saale) (Tram stop
Ankerstrasse). Mobile: +49 (0)163 793 98 58, fax: +49 (0)345 563 65 95,
e-mail: hostel.no5.halle@gmail.com, info@hostel-no5.de
Hotels and
B&Bs
5 Esprit Hotel, Torstraße 7, 06110 Halle (Saale) (Rannischer
Platz tram stop). Tel.: +49 (0)345 21 22 00, fax: +49 (0)345 212 20 22,
e-mail: info@esprit-hotel.de 3-star hotel. Feature: ★★★.
6 Home Inn &
Pension, Burgstrasse 70, 06114 Halle (Saale). Tel.: +49 (0)345 522 63 98
Free WiFi. Feature: pension.
7 GWG Boardinghaus weinberg campus,
Daniel-Vorländer-Straße 1, 06120 Halle (Saale) (tram lines 4 and 5 to
the Weinberg Campus). Tel.: +49 (0)345 67 84 00, e-mail:
boardinghaus@gwg-halle.de Feature: Pension.
8 Hotel and apartment
house of the building association Halle & Leuna eG, Silbertalerstraße
7–8, 06132 Halle (Saale) (Silberhöhe). Phone: +49 (0)345 7 74 70, (0)345
776 02 37, fax: +49 (0)345 774 72 47, e-mail:
u.linkersdoerfer@bauverein-halle-leuna.de. Price: single from 36 €,
double from 42 € BB, apartment from 74 €.
Pension Am Alten Markt,
Schmeerstraße 3, 06108 Halle (Saale) (tram stop Marktplatz). Phone: +49
(0)345 521 14 11, +49 (0)345 292 99 90, fax: +49 (0)345 521 14 12,
e-mail: pension-am-alten-markt@web.de Feature: pension.
10 Pension
Ammendorf, Georgi-Dimitroff-Strasse 7, 06132 Halle (Saale). Tel.: +49
(0)345 77 99 50, +49 (0)345 681 17 07, mobile: (0)160 754 67 69, fax:
+49 (0)345 779 95 34, e-mail: pension .ammendorf@web.de Feature:
Pension.
11 Pension Dessauer Hof, Paracelsusstrasse 9, 06114 Halle
(Saale). Tel.: +49 (0)345 290 90 28, fax: +49 (0)345 290 90 29, e-mail:
pension-dessauer-hof@web.de Feature: Pension.
12 Pension Gutshaus,
Richard-Schatz-Strasse 23, 06128 Halle (Saale) (Wörmlitz). Tel.: +49
(0)345 131 85 45, fax: +49 (0)345 681 35 41, e-mail:
info@pension-gutshaus.de Feature: Pension.
13 Pension Mariba,
Friedrichstrasse 5, 06132 Halle (Saale). Tel.: +49 (0)345 775 81 08,
Fax: +49 (0)345 775 81 09, E-Mail: info@pension-mariba.de Feature:
Pension.
14 Pension zum Burgholz, Regensburger Str. 92, 06132 Halle
(Saale) (Osendorf). Tel.: +49 (0)345 69 46 25 13, mobile: +49 (0)172 724
17 71, e-mail: kontakt@pension-zumburgholz.de Feature: Pension.
Medium
15 Apartment building at the Dom, Robert-Franz-Ring 4, 06108
Halle (Saale). Phone: +49 (0)345 50 09 80, email:
info@appartementhausamdom.de
16 Atlas Halle, Delitzscher Str. 32a,
06112 Halle. Tel.: +49 (0)345 681 53 00, fax: +49 (0)345 68 15 30 99,
e-mail: info@atlas-halle.com 3-star hotel with 69 rooms, restaurant with
60 seats . Feature: ★★★
17 B&B Hotel Halle (Saale), Hallorenring 9,
06108 Halle (Saale) (Hallmarkt tram stop). Tel.: +49 (0)345 27 95 73 50,
fax: +49 (0)345 27 95 73 69, e-mail: halle-saale@hotelbb.com Hotel
opened in 2017 with 102 modern non-smoking rooms (twin -/double bed,
triple, family room) on 4 floors, including barrier-free rooms, elevator
and breakfast restaurant. Rooms with air conditioning, satellite and Sky
TV, bathroom with shower. Free WLAN in the rooms, paid parking spaces in
the neighboring multi-storey car park. Pets are allowed for a surcharge.
Features: ★★S, Bed & Breakfast, Free WiFi. Open: Mon-Fri 6:30am-11:00pm
(reception); Sat 7:30 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. (reception); Sun, public
holidays 7:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m. (reception).
Check-in: 2:00 p.m. Check-out: 12:00 p.m. Price: SR from €52, DR from
€62, FZ from €85, pet €8, breakfast buffet €8.50 per adult/night (as of
11/2020). Accepted payment methods: Mastercard, VISA, American Express,
EC/Girocard, Maestro.
18 Hotel-Pension am Ratshof, Rathausstraße 14,
06108 Halle (Saale) (Marktplatz tram stop). Tel.: +49 (0)345 202 56 32,
+49 (0)345 202 12 91, +49 (0)345 212 59 90, Fax: +49 (0)345 50 25 51
Feature: Pension.
19 Hotel am Steintor, Krukenbergstrasse 29, 06112
Halle (Saale) (tram stop Magdeburger Strasse). Tel.: +49 (0)345 50 09
60, fax: +49 (0)345 500 96 13, e-mail: hotel@am-steintor.de Permanently
closed since December 2022. Open: permanently closed.
20 Hotel
Bergschänke, Heidestrasse 1, 06126 Halle (Saale) (Nietleben). Tel.: +49
(0)345 805 76 53, +49 (0)345 232 55 10, fax: +49 (0)345 232 55 30,
e-mail: hotel-bergschaenke@t-online.de
21 Hotel Eigen,
Kurt-Wüsteneck-Str. 1, 06132 Halle (Saale) (Glauchaer Platz tram stop).
Tel.: +49 (0)345 775 56, fax: +49 (0)345 775 57 77, e-mail:
info@hotel-eigen.com. 3 stars hotel. Feature: ★★★.
22 Hotel
Guldenhof, Guldenstrasse 32, 06132 Halle (Saale). Phone: +49 (0)345 775
81 79, fax: +49 (0)345 775 72 85, email: info@hotel-guldenhof.de
23
Hotel Sonnenschein, Torstrasse 19, 06110 Halle (Saale). Phone: +49
(0)345 678 44 41, fax: +49 (0)345 678 44 41, e-mail:
dassonnenscheinhotel@gmx.de
24 Hotel Zum Kleinen Sandberg, Kleiner
Sandberg 5, 06108 Halle (Saale) (tram stop Riebeckplatz). Tel.: +40 34
51 20 20 25, fax: +49 (0)345 120 20 28, e-mail:
hotel-klein-sandberg@gmx.de 3-star hotel.
25 ibis Styles Hotel Halle
(formerly Dormotel Europa Halle), Delitzscher Str. 17, 06112 Halle
(Saale) (tram stop Hauptbahnhof). Tel.: +49 (0)345 571 20, fax: +49
(0)345 571 21 61, e-mail: H9033@accor.com Hotel with 108 rooms,
Philharmonie restaurant (daily breakfast, dinner Mon-Fri 5pm: 00-22:00),
orchestra bar (7/24), business center and two meeting rooms for a
maximum of 24 people each. The target group includes families and
business travelers. Room with double bed or two single beds, satellite
TV, radio, desk and shower cubicle. Cot on request. Features: ★★★, free
WiFi, parking, wheelchair accessible, underground parking, pets allowed.
Check-in: 3:00 p.m. Check-out: 12:00 p.m. Price: extra charge pets 10€
per night.
26 Kröllwitzer Hof, Schinkelstraße 7, 06120 Halle (Saale)
(tram line 7 to Kröllwitzer bridge). Tel.: +49 (0)345 551 14 37, mobile:
+49 (0)177 3 56 49 44, fax: +49 (0)345 551 14 35, e-mail:
rezeption@kroellwitzerhof.de.
27 Marthahaus, Adam-Kuckhoff-Strasse 5,
06108 Halle (Saale) (tram stop Joliot-Curie-Platz). Tel.: +49 (0)345 510
80, fax: +49 (0)345 510 85 22, e-mail: hotel@stiftung-marthahaus.de
Non-smoking hotel of the evangelical foundation of the same name with 20
rooms (single room (one handicapped accessible ), double room, three-bed
room, extra bed possible), which have a shower/bath, toilet, telephone
and TV. Participation in the weekday morning prayer possible. Breakfast
7:00 a.m.–10:00 a.m., refrigerator on the floor, conference rooms for up
to 30 people, storage space for bicycles, some parking spaces that
cannot be reserved, charging station for e-cars. Features: Garni, free
WiFi, meeting rooms, coffee shop, luggage storage, laundry, pets
allowed. Open: daily 6:00 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. Check-in: 2:00 p.m. Check
out: 10:00 am. Price: €70 single room, €95 double room, each with BB;
Pet: around €10 (as of 7/2021).
28 Pension & Restaurant Am
Krähenberg, Am Krähenberg 1, 06118 Halle (Saale) (Zoo tram stop). Tel.:
+49 (0)345 478 23 60, fax: +49 (0)345 47 82 36 17, e-mail:
pensionamkraehenberg@t-online.de Feature: Pension.
29 Schweizer Hof,
Waisenhausring 15, 06108 Halle (Saale) (tram stops at Marktplatz or
Riebeckplatz). Tel.: +49 (0)345 50 30 68, fax: +49 (0)345 131 77 07,
e-mail: info@schweizer-hof.com 9 double rooms and 6 single rooms
equipped with shower/toilet, hairdryer, telephone , TV and minibar.
Traditional hotel in the middle of the historic city center. Price:
double room with breakfast from €69.00, single room from €55.00.
30
the niu Ridge, Riebeckplatz 10, 06108 Halle (Saale) (tram stop
Riebeckplatz). Tel.: +49 (0)345 47 11 96 59, email: ridge@the.niu.de
Non-smoking hotel opened on September 16, 2019 with 186 rooms, including
a wheelchair-accessible restaurant and bar. Simple rooms from 22 m² with
flat screen TV, bathroom with shower, double bed and safe. In the
corridors, large-scale pictures were designed by the Erfurt graffiti
artist Marc Jung (born 1985). Free WiFi. The lobby and bar are also open
24 hours to non-residents. Various events are held. 43 parking spaces
behind the hotel (€15 per day). Pets are not allowed. Features: free
wifi, parking, bar, restaurant. Check-in: 3:00 p.m. Check-out: 12:00
p.m. Price: updated daily. Accepted payment methods: VISA, Mastercard,
American Express, Maestro, PayPal.
31 TRYP by Wyndham Halle Hotel
(formerly Best Western Grand City Hotel Halle), Neustädter Passage 5,
06122 Halle (Saale) (Tram stop Zentrum Neustadt). Tel.: +49 (0)345 69 31
00, (0)800 10 10 88 0 (reservation), fax: +49 (0)345 693 16 26, email:
info@tryphalle.com . Feature: ★★★.
32 Waldhotel Halle,
Otto-Kanning-Strasse 57, 06120 Halle (Saale). Tel.: +49 (0)345 551 17
11, +49 (0)345 550 43 27, fax: +49 (0)345 551 17 11, email:
waldhotel-halle@t-online.de .
33 Westfalia Halle, Grenzstraße 35,
06112 Halle (Saale) (tram stop Betriebshof Freiimfelder Straße). Tel.:
+49 (0)345 560 62 91, Fax: +49 (0)345 560 62 96, E-Mail:
info@hotel-halle.de Feature: ★★★.
Upscale
In Halle (Saale)
there are only 4-star but no 5-star hotels. The Dorint and the DORMERO
Hotel are 4-star superior hotels.
34 Ankerhof Hotel, Ankerstrasse
2a, 06108 Halle (Saale) (Anchorstrasse tram stop). Tel.: +49 (0)345 232
32 00, Fax: +49 (0)345 232 32 19, Email: reception@ankerhofhotel.de
Feature: ★★★★.
35 Apart Hotel Halle, Kohlschütterstrasse 5-6, 06114
Halle (Saale) (Reileck tram stop). Tel.: +49 (0)345 525 90, fax: +49
(0)345 525 92 00, e-mail: info@apart-halle.de . Permanently closed since
March 2023. Open: permanently closed.
36 City Hotel am Wasserturm,
Lessingstrasse 8, 06114 Halle (Saale) (Lessingstrasse tram stop). Tel.:
+49 (0)345 298 20, Fax: +49 (0)345 512 65 43, Email:
info@city-hotel-halle.de Feature: ★★★★.
37 Dorint Charlottenhof Halle
(Saale), Dorotheenstrasse 12, 06108 Halle (Saale) (tram stop
Riebeckplatz). Phone: +49 (0)345 292 30, fax: +49 (0)345 292 31 00,
e-mail: info.halle-charlottenhof@dorint.com . The 4-star superior
non-smoking hotel offers 161 double rooms, including one
handicap-accessible, several with a connecting door, two allergy-free
rooms, one junior suite and one deluxe suite, Restaurant Charlott, lobby
bar, eleven conference rooms for a total of 150 people, the Vital Club
(fitness center, spa, sauna, solarium, outdoor jacuzzi), a hairdresser
and a launderette. The Mexican-Texan restaurant "Miller's" is also
located in the hotel building and offers space for 250 guests. Rooms
with air conditioning, satellite TV, bathroom with tub and shower,
minibar, computer connection, coffee and tea making facilities.
Babysitter service on request, children's play area in the restaurant
and loan of toys in the room. Pets possible for an extra charge. LGBT
friendly. Free WiFi for guests. Underground car park with 36 parking
spaces. Staff speaks German as well as English. Features: ★★★★S, free
WiFi, underground parking, bar, restaurant, 166 rooms, hairdresser,
launderette. Check-in: 3:00 p.m. Check-out: 12:00 p.m. Price: Overnight
single room from €70, double room from €80, suite from €155 per night.
breakfast buffet €18; HB €40; FB €56.00. Children up to 6 years bed and
breakfast free. Cleaning fee for pets €15 per day. Bike rental €17 per
day (as of 11/2020).
38 DORMERO Hotel Halle (formerly Kempinski Hotel
Rotes Ross), Leipziger Str. 76, 06110 Halle (Saale) (Boulevard, entrance
to the car park via Franckestraße 1; tram stop Riebeckplatz). Tel.: +49
(0)345 23 34 30, fax: +49 (0)345 23 34 36 99, e-mail: halle@dormero.de .
Small grand hotel (non-smoking hotel) with almost 300 years of tradition
with 89 rooms, including twelve junior suites, two suites and the grand
suite, the breakfast restaurant, the pizza and pasta restaurant "San
Marco", the bar "Sonderbar “ with a saltwater aquarium, library, fitness
and wellness area with whirlpool, sauna and solarium as well as eight
conference rooms and a ballroom (600 m²) in the adjoining congress
center. Rooms with satellite TV, bathroom with tub/shower, either
French, twin or king-size bed, desk, telephone and safe. Free WiFi also
in the public facilities. Public car park at the convention center. Pets
Allowed. Features: ★★★★S, free WiFi, bar, gym, 2 restaurants, wellness
center, 89 rooms. Open: daily 15:00-22:00 (reception).
39 Mercure
Hotel Halle-Leipzig, An der Windmühle 1, 06188 Landsberg / OT Peißen
(west of the B100/A14 motorway junction). Tel.: +49 (0)345 575 00, fax:
+49 (0)345 575 01 00, e-mail: rezeption@mercure-halle.de . Feature:
★★★★.
40 H+ Hotel Leipzig-Halle (formerly Ramada Leipzig-Halle),
Hansaplatz 1, 06188 Landsberg / OT Peissen (to the west of the B100/A14
motorway junction). Tel.: +49 (0)345 564 70, Fax: +49 (0)345 564 75 50,
Email: halle@h-hotels.com Feature: ★★★★.
Halle is an important science location.
1 Martin Luther
University Halle-Wittenberg, Universitätsplatz 1, 06108 Halle (Saale) .
Over 500-year-old double university with subjects such as medicine,
business administration, law, theology, geology, political science,
educational science, etc.
2 Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and
Design Halle, Neuwerk 7, 06108 Halle (Saale) .
3 Evangelical
University for Church Music Halle, Kleine Ulrichstraße 35, 06108 Halle
(Saale) edit info
4 German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, Jägerberg
1, 06108 Halle (Saale) .
In general, Halle is just as safe as any other city of comparable
size in Germany (especially when it comes to crime in general).
Nevertheless, there are also areas in Halle that you should not visit in
the dark. This essentially includes the southern parts of Halle-Neustadt
and the Silberhöhe district. Occasionally (like everywhere else) there
are fights in the inner city area.
There is no need to fear any
special natural hazards. Climbing on the rocks along the Saale (northern
part of the city) should be avoided.
5 Halle (Saale) police
station, An der Fliederwegkaserne 17, 06130 Halle (Saale). Phone: +49
(0)345 2242000.
6 Halle (Saale) Police Station, Merseburger Str. 6,
06110 Halle (Saale). Phone: +49 (0)345 2240.
7 Revierstation
Halle-Mitte, Große Brauhausstraße 28, 06108 Halle (Saale). Phone: +49
(0)345 2244500.
Pharmacies
Below is a selection of pharmacies in the city. There
is a pharmacy emergency service in the after hours and at weekends.
1 Saale Pharmacy, Köthener Str. 13, 06118 Halle (Saale). Tel.:
(0)345 5 21 13 00, fax: (0)345 5211301, e-mail: info@saale-apotheke.de.
Open: Mon-Fri 7:30 am - 6:00 pm, Sat 9:00 am - 12:00 pm.
2 Panda
Pharmacy, Am Gastronom 8, 06124 Halle (Saale). Tel.: (0)345 6 80 28 90,
fax: (0)345 6802891, e-mail: pandaapotheke@gmx.de. Open: Mon-Fri
8am-6.30pm, Sat 8am-12.30pm.
3 Weinberg pharmacy, Blücherstr. 40,
06120 Halle (Saale). Tel.: (0)345 6 14 07 74, fax: (0)345 6140840,
e-mail: info@weinbergapotheke.de. Open: Mon-Fri 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.,
Sat 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
4 Halloren Pharmacy, Leipziger Strasse 25,
06108 Halle (Saale). Tel.: (0)345 2 02 39 77, fax: (0)345 2003809,
e-mail: info@hallorenapotheke.de. Open: Mon-Fri 8am-7pm, Sat 9am-4pm.
Hospitals
Below is a selection of hospitals in the city:
5 BG
Klinikum Bergmannstrost Halle, Merseburger Str. 165, 06112 Halle
(Saale). Tel.: +49 (0)345 132 60 Hospital with maximum care, accident
clinic, burn center.
6 St. Elisabeth and St. Barbara Hospital,
Mauerstraße 5, 06110 Halle (Saale). Phone: +49 (0)345 213 30
7
University Hospital Halle (Saale), Ernst-Grube-Strasse 40, 06120 Halle
(Saale). Tel.: +49 (0)345 55 70 Largest hospital in Saxony-Anhalt,
hospital with maximum care.
Tourist Information
Tourist Information, Marktplatz 13, 06108
Halle (Saale) (inside the small market palace). Tel.: +49 (0)345 122 99
84, fax: +49 (0)345 122 79 22, e-mail:
touristinfo@stadtmarketing-halle.de Information mainly in German,
English and Russian. Open: Mon-Fri 9:30am-6:00pm; Sat 10:00 a.m.–4:00
p.m.; Sun 11:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.; closed: public holiday.
drinking
water points
There are public drinking water points on the market
square, next to the Geoskop, and on the Peißnitzinsel, near Gut Gimritz,
the former with bottle-filling fittings. They are operated and
maintained by the local water company and also have a children's step.
City tours and walks
Instead of travel Halle, Marktplatz 14,
06108 Halle (Saale). Phone: +49 (0)345 131 71 89, email:
info@stattreisen-halle.de. With moonlight vintage bus tours, night
watchman tours, etc. Tickets must be purchased online. Price: from
€12.00 (adults), from €10.00 (reduced).
City tour by tram. Bookings
can be made at the Tourist Information.
Ticket pre-sale
Event
tickets can be purchased in advance at the following locations:
Central theater and concert box office, Große Ulrichstraße 51, 06108
Halle (Saale) (Cultural Island). Tel: (0)345 511 07 77. Open: Mon–Sat
10:00–18:30.
Ticket gallery in the Stadtcenter Escalator, Große
Ulrichstraße 60, 06108 Halle (Saale). Tel: (0)345 68 88 68 88. Open:
Mon-Fri 10am-7pm, Sat 10am-4pm.
TIM Ticket, Am Markt 20-21, 06108
Halle (Saale) (Galeria Kaufhof). Tel: (0)345 565 56 00. Open: Mon–Sat
09:00–20:00.
MZ Service Center Medienhaus, Delitzscher Strasse 65,
06112 Halle (Saale). Tel: (0)345 565 21 04. Open: Mon-Fri 09:00-11:30,
12:00-16:00.
Halle is located on the north-western edge of the Leipzig lowland
bay, the greater part east of the navigable Saale, which here divides
into several arms and forms a wide floodplain, and below the mouth of
the Weißen Elster.
The Saale flows through Halle for a length of
27 km. The river hall overcomes a height difference of 9 m. In order to
make it navigable, five weirs with locks were built. Together with the
tributaries, flood relief devices, locks and lock canals as well as the
harbor basin, there is a total length of 47 km of watercourses in the
city. In addition, there are the White Elster, the Reide and other
tributaries with a flow length of 6.3 km. There are also around 180
standing bodies of water created by humans in the city area. The
Hufeisensee is the largest lake in the city with 73 ha. Other larger
lakes are the Osendorfer See with 21 ha and the Heidesee with 12.5 ha.
The highest elevation is the Great Galgenberg at 134.2 m above sea
level. NN. The lowest point is 71 m above sea level on the banks of the
Forstwerder, a Saale island near Trotha. At the Handel monument on the
market square, the height is 87 m above sea level.
The natural resources in the city area contributed to Halle's favorable location. In many cases, their use has had a positive influence on economic development. Lignite deposits exist under many parts of the urban area. They have been used economically for several centuries, both in opencast and civil engineering, especially in the west of the city around the town of Nietleben, in the north (Seeben and Happy Future) and in the south-east (between Osendorf and Büschdorf). Coal could be mined in the former royal coal mine Dölau and in the area of the Wittekind valley. Clay was mined near Angersdorf, shell limestone in Neustadt, porphyry on the Galgenberg, gravel in the Saaleaue and kaolin clay north-west of the city limits near Salzmünde. The use of brine, which could be promoted in some places in the city area as a result of the Halle market square distortion, was of paramount importance. Extraction of mineral resources from the territory of the city no longer matters. Many opencast mines form bodies of water after mining has ended.
The following communities and districts came into the city of Halle
(Saale) over the years.
1817: Glaucha and Neumarkt
1891:
Freiimfelde estate district
1900: Giebichenstein, Trotha, Kröllwitz
and Gut Gimritz (on Peißnitzinsel)
July 1, 1950: City of Ammendorf
(with the districts of Beesen, Burg in der Aue, Osendorf, Planena and
Radewell), Bruckdorf, Büschdorf, Diemitz, Dölau, Kanena, Lettin,
Mötzlich, Nietleben, Passendorf, Reideburg, Seeben, Tornau and Wörmlitz
-Böllberg
1967: Outsourcing of the Halle-West development area north
of Passendorf, which became an independent city under the name
Halle-Neustadt and later became an independent city
1990:
Reintegration of Halle-Neustadt
The following cities and municipalities, named clockwise starting in
the north, border on the city of Halle (Saale). They all belong to the
Saale district, which encircles the city in a ring:
The unified
municipality of Petersberg, the town of Landsberg, the unified
municipality of Kabelsketal, the municipality of Schkopau and
Teutschenthal and the unified municipality of Salzatal as well as the
town of Wettin-Löbejün.
The urban area is divided into the five districts of Mitte, Nord, Ost, Süd and West. The districts are divided into districts, which in turn are divided into districts.
In the normal period from 1961 to 1990 at the Halle-Kröllwitz weather station, the average air temperature was 9.1 °C and annual precipitation was 451 millimeters. Halle is located in the central German dry area and is one of the driest cities in Germany.
The origin of the place name "Halle" is unclear.
The
traditional interpretation puts it in Old Saxon and Old High German
halla "building supported by columns", which means the boiling house of
the salt works. Other interpretations see it as Middle High German hal
"salt spring, salt works" or connect it as Proto-Germanic *hal directly
to Indo-European *sal "salt". In addition, Low German hāl "dried up,
dry" is considered.
The Leipzig professor for onomastics Jürgen
Udolph has doubts about the name of Halle for reasons of language
geography and language chronology in the former representation. He
argues that the stem of the word for "salt" begins in all languages that
have been used to explain the name "Halle" or that come into question
chronologically and geographically, with an S and not an H sound, which
also has a sound law could not have subsequently arisen from an initial
S-sound. Udolph thinks that the name Halle and many other Germanic place
names that contain hal- can be traced back to an older Indo-European
root word meaning "sloping, slope" or "to incline".
Similar
theses were already put forward by August Friedrich Pott in the 19th
century and, according to the lawyer Heiner Lück, by Halle linguists in
the 1950s. He finds the motivation for the naming in the case of Halle
in the slope of the land between the city's market square and the banks
of the Saale.
Historically, Halle was also called by its Latin
name: Hala Saxonum.
Salt springs - created by a geological feature, the so-called Halle's
marketplace fault - were already used in prehistoric times in today's
area of the city of Halle. Recent excavations on the market show the
continuity of the importance of salt for the city. The settlement of the
urban area in prehistory was presumably followed by the Hermundurs, the
Angles and Warnen (Thuringians) and the Wends, who named the place
Dobrebora. In the Chronicon Moissiacense 806 the place Halle is
mentioned for the first time as "Halla". In 968, Otto I founded the
Archdiocese of Magdeburg, to which Halle belonged until 1680. Around
1120 the city was extensively expanded. This was possible due to the
increasing salt trade and the wealth associated with it. Initially, this
was in the hands of the archbishops. From the end of the 12th century
the guild of the panners was formed; it was free entrepreneurs who were
able to transfer the feudal shares in sol goods into free ownership.
This gave rise to a self-confident bourgeoisie, which concluded a
contract with Archbishop Rupert of Magdeburg in 1263, according to which
the archbishop was not allowed to build any castles within a mile radius
and no further Solbrunnen. The Pfänner determined the politics of the
city for centuries. Halle was first mentioned in a document in 1281 as a
member of the Hanseatic League, and in 1310 the city's self-government
was contractually recorded. In 1341 the construction of a strong tower
between the scales and the town hall (round tower, Leipzig tower) began,
which was used until 1835 to safely accommodate the city's privileges.
During excavations on the market square from mid-2004 to mid-2006,
among other things, the foundations of St. Marien with parts of the
associated cemetery and a small area of the churchyard of St. Gertruden
were uncovered. Over 300 graves from the High and Late Middle Ages were
examined. Anthropologist Bettina Jungklaus examined 334 skeletons, most
of St. Marien and a small part of St. Gertrude. The graves could be
dated to the 12th to 16th centuries. The peak of death was in advanced
age. The proportion of very old people was high at 13%. Child mortality
was rather low at 20%. A significant surplus of men was probably related
to increased immigration from rural areas. In Halle, work in salt
production may have held a special attraction for male workers. Women
had an increased risk of death in the first years of life and in
reproductive age. All this indicated rather favorable living conditions.
A strong burden of degenerative changes in the vertebrae and large body
joints and frequent arm fractures were found, which were possibly
related to the salt industry. Two histologically documented cases of
syphilis are early evidence of the spread of this disease in Central
Germany.
In 1418 construction began on the Red Tower, a bell
tower "to the glory of God and the city of Halle as well as the whole
area for adornment". It later became the symbol of the city. 1478 ended
the approximately 200-year city independence. In 1484, Archbishop Ernst
II (1464–1513) had Moritzburg Castle built as a fortified residential
palace in the north-west corner of the city and ceremonially moved into
it in 1503. It was actually supposed to be a stronghold against Halle's
self-confident citizens, the salt workers. Until 1680, Halle was the
capital and residence of the Archdiocese of Magdeburg.
Halle was
the favorite residence of Cardinal Albrecht von Brandenburg. When the
Reformation came to Halle, he left Halle in 1541 with his court and all
the moveable works of art in the cathedral for Mainz and Aschaffenburg.
His favorite Hans von Schönitz, who lived in the "Cool Fountain" near
the market, initiated the merging of the two churches on the market
square. Between 1530 and 1554, the Romanesque basilicas of St. Gertraud
and St. Marien were demolished and the four-towered market church was
built between the remaining towers (“Blue Towers” and “Hausmannstürme”).
This reflects the transition from Gothic to Renaissance. Hans von
Schönitz fell from grace in September 1534, was imprisoned in
Giebichenstein Castle and executed in June 1535. Citizens were outraged
about this and also about the fact that Albrecht lived pompously and
beyond his means. At the forefront of the protests was Martin Luther,
who denounced Albrecht's extravagance, ostentation and concubinage.
Through Albrecht's building activities, Halle received some
Renaissance structures. He built the Moritzburg and the cathedral and
had the New Residence built. The structure of the city was greatly
changed. Several buildings were demolished, such as the Neuwerk
monastery, the Lamberti chapel and the Cyriak hospital. Albrecht was
constantly in need of money, so he sold parts of Halle's sanctuary and
valuable relics. His financial and moral bankruptcy hastened the arrival
of the Reformation in 1541.
"After coffee, the city and the
interior of the market church will be viewed until 5 a.m. One is greatly
edified by the picturesqueness of the various corners of the city, [...]
especially one where the water rushes roaring out of the mills; above it
the ruins of the Moritzburg, the Moritzburg Church with its round gables
and below it many secret gardens with arbors and thick lilac books on
and around the old walls"
– Karl Friedrich Schinkel, July 1, 1824,
Wittenberg, Halle
As with other Hanseatic cities, there was no official declaration of
membership in Halle for the Hanseatic League of Cities. A first mention
in connection with the Hanseatic League was in a letter dated March 4,
1281, in which a relocation of the stack of German traders from Bruges
to Aardenburg 1280-1282 was noted. Presumably, however, there had
already been contact with Hanseatic trade a few decades earlier, as
there was also an important long-distance trade connection between the
city and Flanders, the most important economic area at the time. In
1294, Halle, along with 24 other Hanseatic cities, advocated the
transfer of important Hanseatic functions from Visby, on the Baltic Sea
island of Gotland, to Lübeck.
With the enactment of a new
regimental order by Archbishop Ernst von Wettin on March 18, 1479, the
city's membership in the Hanseatic League ended de facto. However, in
1506 Halle is mentioned again as a Hanseatic city. It was not until 1518
that Halle, like numerous other cities, was finally described as
"abdicated and cut off".
Halle was not one of the most important
cities in the Hanseatic League. The city regularly received invitations
to Hanseatic Days, but these were rarely followed. Political decisions
were left to Magdeburg and Brunswick, the largest cities in the Saxon
Association of Cities. There is no evidence that the city's most
important export article, salt, was sold on Hanseatic merchant ships.
Contacts with Flanders that have been documented since the 13th century
indicate, among other things, that Halle merchants were involved in the
Hanseatic cloth trade.
In 2001, Halle became a member of the Neue
Hanse town association, which was newly founded in 1980.
In 1541, the Reformation was introduced in the residence of the
archbishopric of Magdeburg, primarily under the leadership of Justus
Jonas the Elder. Martin Luther himself preached several times in Halle
in the Marktkirche. His body was laid out here during the transfer from
Eisleben to Wittenberg in 1546.
From then on, the archbishopric
was administered by an archbishop's administrator. During the Thirty
Years' War in 1625, Imperial troops under Wallenstein occupied the city.
In 1637 the Moritzburg burned down. After the death of the last
archbishop's administrator, Duke August of Saxony, in 1680, Halle and
the entire Archbishopric of Magdeburg fell to the Electorate of
Brandenburg and became part of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1701. From
that time until 1714, Halle was the capital of the Prussian Duchy of
Magdeburg. The city was in what was then the Saalkreis district, but as
an immediate city it was directly under the government of the duchy.
On July 12, 1694, the University of Halle (alma mater halensis) was
founded in the Rats Waage on Halle's market square as its future main
building, initially with four faculties. The alma mater halensis,
together with the Francke Foundations founded in 1698, developed into a
center of early bourgeois enlightenment. The first Canstein Bible
Institute was founded there in 1710 by Freiherr von Canstein together
with August Hermann Francke. In 1708, Christoph Semler founded the first
German secondary school in Halle.
During the Napoleonic Wars, the
Dupont Division of the Bernadotte Corps stormed the city on October 17,
1806 and then defeated the Prussian reserve army. Prussia had declared
war on France on October 9 (Fourth Coalition War); on October 14, 1806
it had lost the battle of Jena and Auerstedt. A few days later, Emperor
Napoleon visited Halle and ordered the university to be dissolved. Their
main building, the council scales, became a military hospital and then,
for a time, a slaughterhouse.
The Peace of Tilsit in July 1807
ended the Fourth Coalition War and Halle became part of the newly formed
Kingdom of Westphalia in December 1807. After the victory over Napoleon
in 1813/14, the university was re-established.
As a result of the
Congress of Vienna, Halle fell back to Prussia in 1815, which
incorporated the city into the administrative district of Merseburg in
the newly formed province of Saxony. As part of the district division of
the administrative district of Merseburg, the urban district of Halle
was set up on October 1, 1816, which included the cities of Halle,
Glaucha and Neumarkt as well as a number of surrounding villages. On
October 13, 1817, the towns of Glaucha and Neumarkt were incorporated
into the town of Halle. The urban district of Halle was dissolved again
in 1828. The villages that belonged to it came to the Saalkreis and the
Merseburg district, and from then on the city was directly subordinate
to the government in Merseburg. On October 1, 1833, the district office
of the Saalkreis was relocated from Wettin to Halle.
In 1842 the
city's prison, the Red Ox, was opened as a penitentiary and correctional
institution.
In 1882, the first horse-drawn trams ran, the
forerunners of the trams. From then on, Halle was, so to speak, an
independent city, which exceeded the limit of 100,000 inhabitants in
1890 and thus became a big city. In October 1890, the Socialist Workers'
Party of Germany (SAP) renamed itself the Social Democratic Party of
Germany (SPD) at its party conference in Halle after the end of the
repressive anti-socialist laws that had been in force throughout the
Reich for 12 years; it still exists under this name. In April 1891, the
first electric tram of the "Stadtbahn Halle" ran in Halle. By June 1891,
three more lines were added. Halle thus had the first electric tram
network in Europe.
At the beginning of March 1919, the Freikorps
Maercker moved into Halle on orders from the Reich government in order
to disempower the Halle workers’ council controlled by the USPD and to
put down the strike movement that had emanated from Halle on February 24
and had spread to the entire central German industrial area. In the
following days, 36 people died in clashes between workers and soldiers.
The Kapp Putsch in March 1920 led to an even bloodier outbreak of
violence. City dignitaries as well as the local organizations of the
DNVP and DVP openly welcomed the coup d'etat, and Lord Mayor Richard
Robert Rive also played at least an "obscure role". The commander of the
garrison, Colonel Hermann Czettritz, confessed to the coup plotters on
March 14 and had the city militarily occupied – supported by the local
militia and student volunteers. The troops, equipped with several
armored cars, heavy mortars and artillery, fought regular battles
between March 19 and 22 in Ammendorf, Glaucha, Trotha, on the
Galgenberg, on Herrenstrasse, on the Rosengarten and on Rannische Platz
with the USPD and KPD mobilized workers' militias. The latter suffered
heavy casualties, partly due to the systematic killing of prisoners,
particularly by the temporary volunteers. On March 29, 115 dead,
including 12 women, were buried in the Gertrauden Cemetery with great
sympathy from the population. The actual death toll was probably much
higher. A plaque placed in 1958 commemorates the 20 members of the Free
Socialist Youth who were killed during the storming of the Galgenberg or
murdered there after being captured. Garrison, residents' guard and
temporary volunteers gave their losses at 27 dead. The local civil war
of March 1920 proved to be a momentous turning point in the history of
the city; it deepened the division of urban society and accelerated the
development of two mutually exclusive political camps. On January 11,
1923, the Werewolf was born in Halle. League of German Men and Frontline
Warriors founded.
The city's prison, the Red Ox, was converted into an execution site
by the Nazi administration in 1939, where 549 political opponents were
murdered, including 170 people of foreign nationality. From 1942 until
the end of the war it was officially the central execution site.
Instead of the planned 600, over 1,250 prisoners were crammed together
towards the end of the Second World War, which resulted in a high
mortality rate. Part of the extensive complex is designed as a memorial,
the other part is still used as a prison today. During the war,
prisoners from Poland, Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, France, the
Netherlands and other nations in the Birkhahn subcamp, a subcamp of the
Buchenwald concentration camp, were taken to the Siebel aircraft factory
for forced labor, where combat aircraft were built, later the factory
dismantled. In Ammendorf, Orgacid GmbH was a large factory for mustard
gas production.
As one of the few major German cities, Halle was
not a target of carpet bombing during World War II. However, there were
seven air raids by a total of 1,024 American long-distance bombers with
a bomb load of 2,600 tons: the first on July 7, 1944, the last on April
6, 1945. Destruction was particularly evident between the main station
and the center and in the city center itself and in the southern part of
the city. More than 1284 people died. 3,600 buildings with 13,600
apartments (out of 66,000) and 400 commercial premises, hotels and
department stores as well as cultural buildings were destroyed. The
market church of Our Lady, the Georgenkirche, the old town hall, the
council scale, the town theater, valuable town houses (historical
buildings on Brüderstrasse and Grosse Steinstrasse) and the
Stadtgottesacker were badly damaged by the bombing raids.
On
April 17, 1945, Halle was occupied by US troops. Before that, the Red
Tower was set on fire by artillery and largely destroyed. The
Marktkirche and the Georgenkirche also received hits. The fact that the
city did not suffer any major damage is attributed in particular to the
former corvette captain of World War I, Felix Graf von Luckner, who
lived in Halle at the time, and the chemist and later mayor of Halle
Theodor Lieser and his so-called anti-fascist "Lieser Group", who,
together with the Mayor and a Wehrmacht officer handed the city over to
the American troops without a fight. At the beginning of July 1945, the
Americans withdrew again, and the Soviet Union followed as the occupying
power in accordance with the definition of the occupation zones.
Halle became the capital of the Prussian province of Saxony, which
was merged into the state of Saxony-Anhalt in 1947. In October 1949, the
Soviet Zone of Occupation (SBZ), including the countries re-established
after the end of the war, became part of the territory of the GDR. The
countries were dissolved and districts established in their place; Halle
became the district capital of the Halle district.
Since Halle
was less extensively destroyed after the Second World War than other
cities in the GDR, initially only little was invested in urban
development (urban development, urban planning). The Old Town Hall,
which was badly damaged in the air raid of March 31, 1945 but can be
rebuilt, and the Rats Waage next to it were demolished in the late
1940s. In 1965 the Hotel Zur Börse, which had just been renovated, was
removed on the market square. The first major urban expansion,
Wohnstadt-Süd, began in 1959. The Heide-Nord residential area and the
Silberhöhe followed later – with a total of over 20,000 residential
units for more than 50,000 people. The largest building area came about
in the 1960s with the construction of the chemical workers' town of
Halle-West, initially for around 70,000 people. The Halle-West
residential area became the independent city of Halle-Neustadt in 1967,
which it remained until reunification in 1990. Significant building
resources in the district were tied up in Halle-Neustadt for a long
time. As the old town became increasingly dilapidated, the pressure to
take action to carry out urban renewal became great. In the 1980s, the
old town lost some valuable historical buildings due to extensive
demolitions. During this time, examples of downtown renewal in
industrial panel construction emerged. The civil rights movement in
Halle (Saale) was founded in the 1980s.
The city awarded the Art
Prize of the City of Halle.
On June 17, 1953, more than 90,000 people took part in demonstrations
against the GDR government in Halle (Saale). Halle (Saale) thus formed
one of the largest centers of the popular uprising in the GDR. "Only in
Berlin and Magdeburg did more people take to the streets!"
As
early as the morning of June 17, 1953, around 9,000 employees of
Waggonbau (LOWA) Ammendorf marched to the demonstration in Halle. The
workers' demands were "overthrow of the government", "immediate
all-German elections" and "release of the political prisoners". By noon,
up to 40,000 citizens gathered happily and peacefully on the market
square. At 2:30 p.m., the GDR police forces in Halle (Saale) received
the order to shoot. In the city of Halle (Saale) the only successful
prisoner liberation in a GDR prison took place that afternoon. In
dramatic events, the demonstrators managed to free all 248 imprisoned
women and three men from the prison on Kleinen Steinstrasse. The central
strike committee was constituted with various members from Halle
companies and spokesman Herbert Gohlke. The committee called for the
central rally on Hallmarkt at 6 p.m. More than 60,000 peacefully
demonstrating people gathered there in the evening. From 4 p.m.
countermeasures were taken by local SED officials, Soviet officers and
MfS officials. Soviet Army tanks drove into the city center and
surrounded the market square. At least four demonstrators were killed in
the demonstrations in front of the Red Ox prison. From 9 p.m. the curfew
was enforced by the GDR security organs with force of arms and
harshness. Cameraman Albert Ammer documented the historical events with
his 35 mm film camera. In Halle (Saale), Ammer created the only
professional film recordings of the popular uprising in the GDR on June
17, 1953. The individual images from his recordings, which were
discovered in the Stasi archive 40 years later, show hundreds of happy
demonstrators waving happily on the market square. The cameraman Albert
Ammer was sentenced to three years in prison by the East German
judiciary for his historical film recordings.
On that day, 33
public buildings in the city were occupied. Between nine and eleven
people were killed. 728 people were arrested. Numerous participants in
the demonstrations were sentenced by the GDR judiciary to prison terms,
some of which lasted several years. Today, on the Hallmarkt, at the
eastern end in the direction of Marienkirche, on the right side of the
substation, there is a plaque commemorating the events of June 17, 1953
in Halle (Saale).
In 1990 the district of Halle was dissolved and Halle (Saale), which
had been combined with Halle-Neustadt since 1990, has since belonged to
the newly founded state of Saxony-Anhalt.
On Sunday, October 28,
1990, the constituent meeting of the new state parliament of
Saxony-Anhalt took place in Dessau in the hall of the Johann Philipp
Becker army barracks. The 106 freely elected representatives of the
newly created Central German state had to vote on whether Magdeburg or
Halle (Saale) should become the capital of Saxony-Anhalt. The result was
57 to 49 votes in Magdeburg's favour. Magdeburg became the state capital
and the seat of parliament. This decision ended a serious dispute that
had lasted for months, but it did reignite the rivalry between Halle and
Magdeburg.
In July 1991, Halle Mayor Klaus Peter Rauen said
goodbye to the Soviet troops from the garrison of the former Army and
Air Force Intelligence School. Previously, Soviet nuclear warheads were
withdrawn from Halle, which had probably been stored near Halle-Neustadt
since the mid-1960s.
Between 1990 and 2005, the city lost about
80,000 residents. This development was particularly discussed during the
exhibition of the Federal Cultural Foundation Shrinking Cities and the
IBA Stadtumbau 2010.
In his 1992 film Traffic Jam, documentary
filmmaker Thomas Heise portrayed neo-Nazi youth from Halle.
At
the beginning of June 2013, Halle experienced the heaviest flooding
since 1890. The highest level of the Saale was measured in Halle-Trotha
UP on the morning of June 5 at 8.10 m. Disaster alert has been raised.
The Gimritzer Damm, which threatened to collapse, was particularly at
risk. The evacuation of parts of Halle-Neustadt was strongly
recommended. Power cuts took place there and in Klaustorvorstadt. Due to
the disaster alarm, the Handel Festival was canceled.
On October
9, 2019, a terrorist carried out a right-wing extremist attack on the
synagogue, killing two people.
Due to the corona pandemic,
numerous major events could not take place from March 2020. The Handel
Festival for 2020 was also canceled.
The population of the city of Halle rose to over 50,000 in 1871 and
doubled to 100,000 by 1890, making it a major city. In the 1960s, to the
west of the Saale, the residential suburb of Halle-Neustadt developed,
which was run as an independent urban district from 1967, but was merged
with Halle before German reunification. A short time later, the
population of Halle reached its all-time high of 316,776 on June 30,
1990. From 1990 to 2009, the city lost about a quarter of its residents
due to out-migration, suburbanization, and a declining birthrate.
Comparatively high unemployment favored emigration. After the population
decline slowed down in the 2000s, the number of inhabitants reached its
lowest level since the Second World War on December 31, 2009, according
to figures from the city of Halle, at around 230,000 (only main
residences). Since then, the city's population has been increasing
again, although forecasts predict a further decline. The State
Statistical Office published the fourth regionalized population forecast
for Saxony-Anhalt in 2007 and the fifth in 2010. It was expected that
Halle's population would decline by 13.1 percent (31,078 people) between
2005 and 2025. As of December 31, 2017, the forecast released in 2010
underestimated the population by about 18,000 people. According to the
State Statistical Office, the population in 2017 should be 222,921
inhabitants. However, according to the city of Halle, 241,093 people
with their main residence were registered as of December 31, 2017. In
2017, it moved up to 31st place in terms of population among major
German cities and has since been the fourth largest city in the new
federal states.
The population growth in 2013, 2014 and the sharp
increase in 2015 were mainly due to an increase in the proportion of
foreigners. The proportion of foreigners, which was 3.1% in 2000 and has
been relatively constant at around four percent since 2003, increased to
5.2% in 2014 and 7.3% in 2015, doubling within just a few years. In
2020, 239,053 people lived in Halle, of which foreigners accounted for
9.83% (in absolute numbers 24,325) (determined by the Department of
Residential Affairs on September 30, 2020).
The ironically intended categorization of the inhabitants of Halle
into Hallenser, Halloren and Hallunken (not to be confused with the
rogue, because of its double "L") is attributed by many to Heinrich
Heine. Although there is no corresponding passage in Heine's writings,
this does not rule out an oral statement. This division can be grasped
for the first time in the third volume of Robert Moritz' Halloren
stories, 1904, where it says on page 40:
"Lover! This is where
all the people who serve the Lord come together, beloved! And also those
who pretend to serve him. And everyone feels one! But they are not one!
Since they are Hallenser, scoundrels and Halloren."
Halloren were
the salt workers who originally lived in the "Thale zu Halle", today's
Hallmarkt, and won the "white gold" in the salt works. The people of
Halle, on the other hand, were the traders and citizens who lived around
the higher-lying Old Market, today's market square, and traded in salt.
Finally, the residents of the run-down suburb of Glaucha had to be
called scoundrels.
Nowadays Halloren are those who are members of
the brotherhood of the salt workers in the valley of Halle. Hallenser
refers to people born in Halle, while those who have moved here are
jokingly called "Hallunken". A Hallunke can never become a Hallore, but
a male Hallenser can if he can prove that a member of his family was
once active in salt production.
Within the city and in the immediate vicinity, an East Central German urban colloquial language with typical linguistic idiosyncrasies is spoken. Due to the border location, the Halle dialect is assigned to Northeastern Upper Saxony on the one hand and Northeastern Thuringian on the other hand.
As of December 2018, of the 241,333 inhabitants, 21,505 (8.9%) were
Protestant, 9,642 (4.0%) Roman Catholic and 210,186 (87.1%) are
non-denominational or belong to another religious community.
The
vast majority of the city's population is non-denominational. Since the
1970s, the number of non-denominational residents has increased about
tenfold.
From the very beginning, the city of Halle belonged to the
archbishopric of Magdeburg in the diocese of Merseburg. From 1194 there
were archpriests' seats in Halle, but the city had probably only been
part of the church structure of the diocese since the 12th century. From
1518, the Reformation moved step by step into the city's citizenship.
This process was completed in 1541, and Halle was a Protestant city for
several centuries. The Lutheran confession was dominant, but a Reformed
congregation was also founded in the 17th century.
In 1698 August
Hermann Francke founded the Franckesche Foundation in Halle, an existing
social institution named after him. Twelve years later, in 1710,
Francke, together with the lawyer Carl Hildebrand Freiherr von Canstein
(1667–1719), co-founded the Canstein Bible Institute, which is still
based in Halle and is dedicated to the printing and distribution of
Bibles.
Halle fell to Brandenburg in 1680 as a result of the
Peace of Westphalia. The city belonged to the Duchy of Magdeburg and
shared ecclesiastical affairs with the entire Duchy, which means that in
1817 Lutheran and Reformed communities throughout Prussia were united to
form a unified state church (United Church). All Protestant parishes in
Halle then belonged to the Evangelical Church in Prussia or its
provincial church in Saxony, whose head was the respective king of
Prussia as summus episcopus.
The Evangelical Lutheran (Old
Lutheran) Church in Prussia came into being as a reaction to the union
between the Lutheran Church and the Reformed tradition, which was
enacted by the Prussian state. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of St.
Mary Magdalene was therefore founded in Halle, which belongs to the
church district of Saxony-Thuringia of the Independent Evangelical
Lutheran Church. She celebrates her Lutheran masses in the St. Mary
Magdalene Chapel in Moritzburg.
After the abolition of the
sovereign church regime in 1918, the provincial church of Saxony was a
founding member of the "Evangelical Church of the Old Prussian Union"
and was an independent state church from 1947 to 2008 (Evangelical
Church of the Church Province of Saxony) headed by a bishop. Since 2008,
the Protestant parishes in Halle – unless they are free churches – have
belonged to the Halle-Saalkreis church district within the Magdeburg
provost of the Evangelical Church in Central Germany.
In addition
to the congregations and institutions of the regional church, there are
a large number of other evangelical churches, most of which are counted
among the free churches. This includes, among other things, a Baptist
congregation (services in the Friedenskirche).
In the 19th century the number of Catholics in Halle increased again. From 1821 they belonged to the diocese and from 1929 to the archdiocese of Paderborn. After the Second World War, it became increasingly difficult for the archbishop to carry out his official duties in the eastern part of his archdiocese. Therefore, in 1946, a Vicar General was appointed in Magdeburg, who was appointed auxiliary bishop in 1949 and whose district also included the parishes in Halle. Due to the reorganization of the Catholic Church in the GDR, the areas were formally separated in 1972 and elevated to the Bishop's Office of Magdeburg. An apostolic administrator with the title bishop became head of this office. On July 8, 1994, the former Episcopal Office of Magdeburg was elevated to the status of a diocese and (again) subordinated to the Archdiocese of Paderborn as a suffragan diocese. The parishes of Halle thus belong to the deanery of Halle within the Diocese of Magdeburg.
A small Old Catholic parish is based in Halle, which holds its
services once a month in the St. George's Chapel in the Francke
Foundations.
There is also a small Russian-Orthodox congregation
that conducts its services in the Holy Cross house church in the Francke
Foundations, as well as a congregation of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
The Baha'i community, the New Apostolic Church, the Seventh-day
Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses are also represented in Halle.
There are two Jewish communities in Halle: the Jewish community in
Halle belongs to the state association of Jewish communities in
Saxony-Anhalt, while the synagogue community in Halle is independent.
The Islamic Cultural Center has existed since 1993.
At the head of the city of Halle was the mayor or salt count,
appointed by the archbishop under the authority of the burgrave. In 1258
the Council appeared for the first time. However, it was only
constitutionally recognized by the sovereign, the Archbishop of
Magdeburg, in 1310. After that, the bourgeoisie could also gain a say in
the city administration. After the transition to Prussia, the Prussian
king appointed a mayor in 1780. From 1807 Halle was part of the Kingdom
of Westphalia and was headed by a mayor. After the renewed transition to
Prussia in 1815, there was again a mayor at the head of the city and in
1831 the Prussian city ordinance was introduced. After that, the city
was headed by the mayor or mayor.
During the National Socialist
era, the Lord Mayor was appointed by the NSDAP and after the Second
World War, the Soviet occupation zone formed the city council with a
Lord Mayor. The council was elected by the people. After the
reunification of Germany, the body now known as the City Council, later
known as the City Council, was freely elected again. This body is
chaired by the City Council President. The committee initially also
elected the mayor. Since 1993, the mayor has been elected directly by
the city's citizens.
On May 25, 2009, the city was awarded the
title of Place of Diversity by the federal government.
Bernd Wiegand (independent) has been the mayor since December 1,
2012. Since April 7, 2021, Wiegand has been temporarily suspended from
work in the course of the affair surrounding his premature corona
vaccination and is no longer allowed to conduct official business. In
addition, Wiegand was provisionally relieved of his office on June 7,
2021. Mayor Egbert Geier will represent him. On July 15, 2012, Wiegand
narrowly defeated his competitor Bönisch from the CDU in the run-off
election. Nine candidates had applied to succeed the previous mayor,
Dagmar Szabados (SPD), who was no longer running for reasons of age,
with the candidates from the CDU and SPD, Bernhard Bönisch and Kay
Senius, and the non-party Bernd Wiegand being given the best chances. On
October 27, 2019, Wiegand was elected for another term with 61.42%
against the left candidate Hendrik Lange.
In the previous
election for the mayor, Dagmar Szabados was elected the new mayor in the
runoff on November 26, 2006 with 54.47% of the votes cast.
Blazon: "In silver, a rising red moon between two six-pointed red
stars, the superelevated star shown slightly larger."
Coat of
arms justification:
The coat of arms probably comes from the provost
seal of the local Augustinian monastery. The oldest surviving image of
the coat of arms dates back to 1327, on which it is shown on a seal as a
symbol of the valley jury court. For the later years, there are multiple
representations of the coat of arms, of which in particular the oldest
surviving one above the Moritztor at the Moritzburg and the
representation of Lucas Fürttenagel on the bookplate of the Council
Library, which shows the coat of arms for the first time in red on a
white background. It is likely that it was used as the city's coat of
arms from around the middle of the 15th century. There is no evidence of
the meaning of the coat of arms. However, it can be assumed that the
colors red and silver (white) can be traced back to the archbishopric of
Magdeburg and the Hanseatic League. In contrast, the symbolic content of
the coat of arms elements moon and stars is disputed because of their
ambiguity. One of the oldest interpretations states that it is a
stylized salt pan and salt crystals. Other assumptions relate to
Byzantium or the Middle East or see a sun in one of the stars and thus
the coat of arms as a symbol of day or the presence of God. More recent
considerations, on the other hand, see symbols of justice in the
elements of the coat of arms. A combination of the symbols with Marian
devotion is usually favored, since the coat of arms was added to the
council seal in the 14th century, which showed a Madonna.
A legend
reports that the Halloren asked the bishop to be allowed to build a city
on the wooded banks of the Saale. Alluding to their poor condition, the
bishop asked if they had found a good buyer for their rags to build
cities with. But they replied: "If we take care of water and wood, then
tomorrow we will have silver and gold." The bishop replied: "Build with
water and wood, and may the sun, moon and stars shine on you!"
The city's flag consists of two horizontal stripes of equal size – red at the top and white at the bottom – with the city coat of arms applied. The city coat of arms used here differs from the official national emblem in that a semicircular coat of arms is used instead of a pointed coat of arms. In addition, the frame of the coat of arms is black instead of red.
In 2016, Halle had a gross domestic product (GDP) of €6.891 billion,
ranking 53rd among German cities by economic output. In the same year,
per capita GDP was €29,013 (Saxony-Anhalt: €26,364/ Germany: €38,180).
In 2017 there were around 126,600 employed people in the city. In 2022,
the median gross salary in Halle will be €3,170.
The Future Atlas
2019 shows Halle's regional importance as a business location. In the
ranking, the city on the Saale occupies 310th place, within
Saxony-Anhalt it is only surpassed by Magdeburg at 290th place.
In higher-level organizations
Halle is a network region and a
member of the European Metropolitan Region of Central Germany. The focus
is on renewable energies, (electric) mobility, (special) mechanical
engineering, sensors, biotechnology and the media and creative
industries. Companies in the service sector, the food and beverages
industry, logistics, design and IT are also located in Halle. With the
technology park Weinberg Campus and the industrial area Star Park A14 -
Halle (Saale) there are two large developed investment areas in Halle.
Star Park industrial area
The Star Park industrial area, with a
size of 230 hectares, is located on the site of the city of Halle as
well as on areas belonging to Dölbau (Kabelsketal) and Queis (Landsberg)
near the Halle-Ost exit of the federal autobahn 14 and about 12
kilometers away from the Leipzig/Halle Airport. International companies
such as Relaxdays, Greatview, eBay enterprise and Deutsche Post are
based here.
Technology Park Weinberg Campus
The second largest
technology park in eastern Germany, the Weinberg Campus, relies on
developments from the solar, bio and nano sectors. To date, one billion
euros have been invested here. More than 100 companies and institutes
with around 5,600 employees have settled here. 7,600 prospective natural
scientists study in the university institutes on campus.
At times, Halle had an above-average unemployment rate. For example,
in January 2016, at 11.6%, it was above the state average for
Saxony-Anhalt (10.9%) and for the eastern federal states (9.6%) and for
Germany as a whole (6.7%). not least also higher than in the Saale
district surrounding the city (9.5%).[102] Nevertheless, the
unemployment rate in Halle, as in the rest of the country, is declining.
In January 2013 it was still 12.8%. By October 2021, it dropped to 8.3%.
Every day, 39,750 employees subject to social security contributions
commute from the area to Halle and 26,542 from Halle to the surrounding
area, resulting in a commuter balance of 13,208 (as of June 30, 2012).
With the inauguration of the Köthen-Halle section of the
Magdeburg-Leipzig railway on July 22, 1840, the town on the Saale was
connected to the emerging German railway network; only a few weeks later
the connection to Leipzig was opened. From 1841 there was a first
connection to Berlin (Anhalter Bahn; 1859 commissioning of a shorter
route via Bitterfeld to Wittenberg). With the section to Weißenfels, the
first section of the Thuringian Railway projected by the Thuringian
Railway Company was put into operation in June 1846. Connections to
Sangerhausen (part of the Halle-Kassel railway; September 1865) and
Halberstadt (today part of the Halle-Vienenburg railway) and the
Halle-Cottbus railway (both 1872) followed.
The first station was
built in the middle of 1840, initiated by the then city councilor
Matthäus Ludwig Wucherer. With the connection to the Thuringian railway
station, which had been in operation since 1841, the first expansion
took place a few years later. Due to further line connections and the
associated increase in passenger traffic, the station quickly reached
its capacity limit. Although a new building was decided, the
implementation failed for years due to divergent ideas from the various
railway companies whose routes emanated from Halle. So it took until
October 1890 before the main station could be put into operation as a
"central passenger station".
The main station is an island
station with 13 platforms. The station porch has undergone several
changes in recent decades. During the renovation in 2002 it was slightly
enlarged, and since then glass has been used instead of metal and
light-colored stones have shaped its appearance. In October 2005, it was
connected to the urban tram network. In addition to the main train
station, there are stations in Trotha, Wohnstadt Nord, Zoo, Dessauer
Brücke, Steintorbrücke, Messe, Ammendorf, Rosengarten, Silberhöhe,
Südstadt, Zscherbener Straße, Neustadt and Nietleben in the city area.
Halle is the most important hub in rail traffic in Saxony-Anhalt.
Intercity Express trains to and from Munich and Berlin stop there every
two hours. In addition, intercity trains run on the line Leipzig -
Magdeburg - Braunschweig - Hanover - Bremen - Oldenburg - Emden or
Leipzig - Magdeburg - Rostock - Warnemünde and the line Dresden -
Leipzig - Halle - Magdeburg - Braunschweig - Hanover - Bielefeld -
Dortmund - Cologne every two hours, resulting in an hourly service
between Leipzig and Hanover. Individual trains run on the route Berlin -
Kassel - Cologne. Since the completion of the Saale-Elster Viaduct and
the new line to Erfurt, the travel time to Erfurt has been reduced by 45
minutes. On the route u. a. ICE Sprinter from Berlin to Frankfurt am
Main and Munich every two hours.
Regional trains run by Deutsche
Bahn and Abellio Rail Mitteldeutschland.
Halle has had an S-Bahn
since the opening of the Halle-Neustadt S-Bahn tunnel in September 1969.
For a long time there was a single line that ran from Trotha to
Nietleben or Dölau and connected the parts of the city in the north,
south and west. Since the completion of the Leipzig City Tunnel in
December 2013, the city has been connected to the Central Germany S-Bahn
network. Lines S3 (Halle-Nietleben – Halle Hbf – Schkeuditz – Leipzig –
Wurzen) and S5/S5X (Halle Hbf – Halle/Leipzig Airport – Leipzig –
Zwickau) operate in the direction of Leipzig. In December 2017, the new
S-Bahn line S8 (Halle Hbf - Landsberg - Bitterfeld - Dessau /
Wittenberg) was integrated into the network, in December 2021 lines S7
(Halle Hbf - Teutschenthal - Eisleben) and S47 (Halle Hbf -
Halle-Trotha).
Halle is an important node in rail freight
transport. East of the tracks of the main station is the Halle freight
yard. This was extensively modernized as the Halle-Nord train formation
facility by mid-2018. With the Container Terminal Halle (Saale) (CTHS)
at the Saalehafen in Trotha and its connection with the Halle port
railway to the Halle-Vienenburg railway line, the city has a transport
interface for multimodal transport (rail/road/ship).
Halle is surrounded on three sides by a ring road that is part of the
Mitteldeutsche Loop, which also encloses Leipzig. The A 14 federal
motorway and the A 9 are by far the busiest part of the ring. This is
also reflected in the fact that the A 9 is continuous and the A 14 has
three lanes from the Halle/Peißen junction. The A 14 leads from
Magdeburg past Halle and Leipzig in the direction of Dresden. The A 9
connects Berlin and Munich. The federal autobahn A 38, built as part of
the German Unity transport project, represents the southern part of the
central German loop. Known as the "Südharzautobahn", it forms an
east-west connection between Göttingen and Halle-Leipzig. The completion
of the federal autobahn A 143, in the section through the Saale valley
west of Halle, was suspended due to a class action lawsuit led by the
Nature Conservation Union (NABU) Halle, which was confirmed by the
Federal Administrative Court on January 17, 2007. After a new planning
approval decision in 2019, construction for this section started on
December 3, 2019. Completion of this section and the A 143 is planned
for 2025.
The federal highway runs through the city of Halle
B6 (Bremen - Hanover - Goslar - Halle - Leipzig - Dresden - Görlitz).
Three main roads start and end in Halle:
B80 (Halle -
Sangerhausen - Nordhausen - Bad Karlshafen),
B91 (Halle - Weißenfels
- Zeitz) and the
B100 (Halle - Bitterfeld - Eutzsch).
Due to
the minor damage during the Second World War, Halle still has a
fragmented road network that often does not meet today's requirements.
In the course of the construction of Halle-Neustadt, it was therefore
decided to build new expressways in the old town. A four-lane elevated
road was built from Halle-Neustadt in the direction of the main station.
It divides the city south of the historic center along the Francke
Foundations and ends in Riebeckplatz, one of the largest urban
roundabouts in Germany. This was extensively refurbished in 2005 and
2006 so that trams and cars can use the square separately on two levels.
In addition to this large east-west connection, there is also a
four-lane north-south tangent east of the city center, which also runs
as an overpass via Riebeckplatz and is connected in the north to the
feeder road towards Bitterfeld to the A 14. On the one hand, these two
streets form the backbone of Halle's daily traffic management, but at
the same time they represent a corset that unfavorably divides the city.
In December 2018, the Osttangente was opened to traffic after 20
years of construction. It connects the B 91 federal road in Ammendorf
with the B 6 and the B 100 in the east and north-east of the city, where
it finally ends at the latter federal road. The city of Halle expects
the new bypass to relieve the city center and improve environmental
quality.
Halle has several bridges over the Saale, although only
the Kröllwitzer Bridge built in 1928/1929 and the Magistrale represent a
complete crossing of the Saale that can be used by traffic. Although it
is possible to get to the western bank of the Saale via the Schiefer and
Elisabeth bridges, since there is no car connection from there in the
direction of Halle-Neustadt, the construction of a third crossing of the
Saale has remained a much-discussed topic for decades.
Public transport in Halle is provided by HAVAG (1918 to 1951 Halle
municipal tram, 1951 to 1990 Halle public transport company, external
appearance today SWH.HAVAG). It operates a total of 14 tram and 20 bus
lines, including four night lines (two bus and two tram lines). In
addition, Halle is part of the Central Germany S-Bahn network, a
regional transport system.
Trams play the most important role in
public transport in Halle (Saale). They connect all densely populated
parts of the city. Halle's tram network is one of the most extensive
route networks in Germany. From 1891 the first commercially used
electric trams in Germany drove. After the Second World War, large parts
of the tram network, which was already well developed, were preserved.
After reunification, it was expanded with the development of the
Neustadt district and its direct connection to the main train station,
the Kröllwitz-Heide connection and the development of the Büschdorf
district. The Halle–Bad Dürrenberg interurban tram is a special feature.
This tram connects Halle (from Kröllwitz) via Schkopau, Merseburg and
Leuna with Bad Dürrenberg. The line 5 that runs on it is one of the
longest tram lines in Europe at over 30 kilometers.
Buses play a
subordinate role in urban transport. HAVAG only uses buses to access
parts of the city that do not have a tram connection.
Halle and
the municipal HAVAG have been (founding) members of the Central German
Transport Association (MDV) since 2001. The association creates a
uniform fare zone and coordinated traffic for a cross-state Central
German region (in the states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia) from
the two independent cities of Halle and Leipzig and currently five rural
districts.
The following connections run from Halle via the
PlusBus of the Saxony-Anhalt state network:
Line 320: Halle ↔
Angersdorf ↔ Holleben ↔ Delitz ↔ Bad Lauchstädt
Line 330: Halle ↔
Morl ↔ Wettin ↔ Nauendorf ↔ Löbejün
Line 350: Halle ↔ Oppin ↔
Brachstedt ↔ Spören ↔ Zörbig
The public transport company
Omnibusbetrieb Saalekreis operates other intercity bus connections to
surrounding towns and villages. These buses also stop at more important
stops within the city area.
Leipzig/Halle Airport acts as an international commercial airport for
the region of the same name. It is located at the Schkeuditzer Kreuz
south-east of Halle, halfway between the two cities and has a direct
motorway connection. The easternmost section of the new
Erfurt–Leipzig/Halle line currently under construction gave the airport
a long-distance train station, which will be integrated into the ICE
network when the railway line is completed in 2015. In addition, there
are two S-Bahn stops in the southern area of the airport and a freight
station at the DHL hub in Leipzig.
In the passenger area, the
major German hub airports, European metropolises, holiday destinations
primarily in the Mediterranean region and North Africa and some
intercontinental destinations are served.
North of Halle is the
Halle-Oppin airfield near Oppin in the Saalekreis district, which is
used for traffic and sporting purposes. It was built between 1968 and
1971 to replace the airfield in Halle-Nietleben that had been closed. In
GDR times, the focus was primarily on parachute training. After
reunification, the airfield was able to further expand its importance as
a sports airfield. It has a 1100 m long runway and records almost 30,000
aircraft movements a year.
The Saale is navigable for sports boats and excursion boats
downstream to the mouth at Barby and upstream to Bad Kösen. There are
four docking points for sports boats in Halle between river kilometers
88.5 and 97, some with boat rentals. Excursion boats operate from the
pier at the Giebichensteinbrücke in the city area and to Wettin. The
Saale is regulated in Halle by five weirs with locks.
Halle has
two docks: the northern port of Halle-Trotha has quay facilities,
weighing facilities and loading technology for multimodal freight
transport by rail/road/ship, as well as modern sidings with the
Halle-Trotha port railway. The older Sophienhafen is unused. Its
facilities have largely fallen into disrepair. The city is currently
pursuing concepts for using it as a marina. In a first step, the city
harbor with berths for sports boats opened in April 2010 not far from
the harbor basin on the other side of the Saline Island. The renovation
of the Sophienhafen is one of seven Halle projects at the International
Building Exhibition.
The Saale is not navigable for cargo ships
all year round due to low water levels. River regulation in the area
where it flows into the Elbe was started before the Second World War,
but is still not complete. At the beginning of the 2010s, the
construction of a Saale canal near Klein Rosenburg and Tornitz (near
Barby) was discussed. Although the country's Minister of Transport
approved the canal, the Federal Ministry of Transport made it clear that
such a canal would not be profitable because of the low volume of
traffic to be expected. The expansion of the Saale also depends on
further expansion of the Elbe. Because the cost-benefit ratio is too
low, an expansion of the Saale for shipping freight traffic is not to be
expected in the medium to long term. The port of Halle-Trotha, built by
the city of Halle in anticipation of an expansion of the Saale, has only
been used for transhipment between trucks and freight trains since it
was built in the late 1990s due to the lack of accessibility for cargo
ships.
The Central German Multimedia Center (MMZ) is located in Halle, where
companies specializing in audiovisual production have settled. The local
television station "TV Halle" and the Internet-based "Bürgerforum
HalleForum" have a purely local focus.
Several radio programs are
produced in Halle. Apart from the respective regional programs, MDR
produces all MDR programs broadcast in the transmission area in the
radio center in Halle. In addition to the mass program MDR Jump, this
includes the information program MDR Aktuell and the special interest
programs MDR Sputnik, MDR Kultur and MDR Klassik. In addition to these
national broadcasters, MDR Saxony-Anhalt has a regional studio in Halle.
In addition to the public broadcasters, there are several private
radio stations in Halle. These are the private programs 89.0 RTL and
Radio Brocken, both partly owned by the RTL Group. While 89.0 RTL is
limited to a very young audience, Radio Brocken focuses more on regional
programming for a target group of up to 49 years of age. There is also
the free and non-commercial local radio station Radio Corax in Halle,
which is characterized above all by its alternative program content,
which is created by volunteer editors and thus has a large variety of
topics. The radio station radio SAW operates a regional studio in Halle.
Mitteldeutsches Druck- und Verlagshaus GmbH & Co. KG – high-tech
printing house, which has the daily newspaper Mitteldeutsche Zeitung as
its most important print medium, which has several local editions and
publishes the two free city magazines aha – everything Halle and Zachow.
Regional edition of the Bild newspaper for Halle
Sunday News – a
Sunday news bulletin distributed free of charge
Super Sunday - a
Sunday news bulletin distributed free of charge
Regional edition of
Frizz magazine
Regional issue of Blitz magazine!
There are several websites in Halle that provide local news reports on a daily basis, including: dubisthalle, HalleON, HalleSpektrum, hallelife and H@llAnzeiger.
largest employer in the state of Saxony-Anhalt based in Halle,
measured by the number of employees (as of
2012)
Deutsche Post DHL
(5100)
Stadtwerke Halle including the subsidiaries Hallesche
Verkehrs-AG, Hallesche Wasser und Stadtwirtschaft GmbH and EVH GmbH
(4593)
Central German printing and publishing house GmbH and Co. KG
(1947)
Walter Services Holding GmbH (1588)
GP Günter Papenburg AG
(1360)
Envia Mitteldeutsche Energie and subsidiary GISA GmbH (923)
Saale Savings Bank (837)
Gegenbauer Holding SA & Co. KG GmbH (813)
Finsterwalder Transport and Logistics GmbH (799)
Convergys GmbH (786)
Marseille Clinics AG (644)
GISA GmbH (560)
KSB SE & Co. KGaA (496)
Herrmann & Tallig Object Services GmbH (463)
other important
companies
Deutsche Bahn
Mechanical engineering and service GmbH
Ammendorf
ABB transformer factory
Halloren Schokoladenfabrik -
Germany's oldest chocolate factory
Kathi baking mixes
Coca-Cola
Erfrischungstrinke AG Halle branch – production of soft drinks
Dell
Halle GmbH (service and sales center)
eBayEnterprise
Innotech
Solar
great view
Enka Technica GmbH
Promet safe
Halle paint
factory novatic GmbH
numerous call centers, for example for ADAC,
Transcom and regiocom as well as the savings bank marketing agency S
Direkt, which emerged from a call center
The city of Halle is a nationally significant court location. In
addition to the Saxony-Anhalt State Labor Court and the Saxony-Anhalt
State Social Court, a regional court, a district court, a labor court,
an administrative court and a social court are located here.
The
city is also the seat of the following facilities, institutions,
corporations and institutions under public law:
Federal Police Office
Halle
Federal Agency for Real Estate Tasks Halle
Federal Agency
for Technical Relief Local Section Halle (Saale)
Sampling center in
the hall of the district military replacement office in Magdeburg
Federal Cultural Foundation – Foundation for the promotion of art and
culture within the framework of federal responsibility
Agency for
Innovation in Cyber Security (Federal Cyber Agency)
Federal treasury,
Halle office
The Autobahn GmbH of the federal government, branch east
Federal Railway Authority, Halle branch
Saxony-Anhalt state
administration office (former regional council)
State Office for
Environmental Protection of the State of Saxony-Anhalt
Branch of the
German Youth Institute (Munich) in the Francke Foundations
Deutsche
Rentenversicherung Mitteldeutschland (since September 1, 2005, formerly
LVA, Landesversicherungsanstalt)
State Statistical Office
State
Office for Consumer Protection
State Office for Geology and Mining
Saxony-Anhalt (LAGB)
State Office for Monument Preservation and
Archeology Saxony-Anhalt (with attached State Museum for Prehistory)
State computer center (LRZ) of the state of Saxony-Anhalt (main location
in Halle, branch in Magdeburg)
Media authority Saxony-Anhalt (state
media authority)
Branch of the district office of Saalekreis
Saxony-Anhalt State Education Authority
Halle's development as an educational location is closely linked to
the last years of the 17th century, when the University of Halle (1694)
and the Francke Foundation (1698) were founded. With Christian Thomasius
and Christian Wolff, both of whom were rectors, the university formed a
major part of the German Enlightenment. Tensions quickly arose between
the conservative Pietist representatives and the more enlightened
contemporaries. With scholars such as Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten,
Johann Christian Reil and Friedrich Schleiermacher, the university
achieved a high reputation throughout Germany, especially in the 18th
century. In 1754, Dorothea Christiane Erxleben was the first woman in
Germany to receive her doctorate at the University of Halle.
After a brief closure by Napoleon, the University of Halle was merged
with the University of Wittenberg. Since 1933 it has borne its current
name, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. In 1993, the University
of Education Halle-Köthen and parts of the Technical University of
Leuna-Merseburg were integrated into the university. After 1989, many
buildings were rebuilt. The university concentrates on the inner-city
campus around the university square (with the main building, AudiMax,
Melanchtonianum and Juridicum) and the weinberg campus technology park.
Around 20,700 students were enrolled in the 2012/2013 winter semester.
The University and State Library of Saxony-Anhalt is affiliated with
the university. With 5.3 million units, it is the largest scientific
general library in the state of Saxony-Anhalt and has valuable
collections with the Library of the Oriental Society, the Ponickau
Library and the Hungarian Library.
The second important
university in Halle is the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and
Design Halle. It has existed in its current form since 1915. It goes
back to a commercial drawing and craft school from 1879. The Mayor Rive,
who was very important for Halle, appointed Paul Thiersch as the new
director in 1915, which is regarded as the founding year of the Burg
Giebichenstein Art School. Thiersch tried with other teachers, some of
whom came from the Bauhaus, like Gerhard Marcks and Marguerite
Friedlaender, to implement the themes of the Deutscher Werkbund in this
school. The current structure of the Burg Giebichenstein University of
Art and Design was defined at that time. The art school lost important
teachers in 1933, but was able to survive the National Socialist era.
The existence was endangered in the course of the "formalism dispute" in
the GDR in the 1950s. From 1963 to 1970 there was only training in arts
and crafts and in design (today design). After 1970, the college was
able to resume the structure of the 1920s, teaching both design, arts
and crafts. The college has about 1000 students. Every year in July she
opens her workshops and studios for three days so that the work of
students and teachers can be viewed; a fashion show introduces these
days.
The Evangelical University for Church Music in Halle goes
back to the Evangelical Church Music School in Aschersleben, which was
founded in 1926 as the first institution of its kind. In 1939 she moved
to Halle and has been officially recognized since 1993. The sponsor is
the Evangelical Church in Central Germany.
The school landscape in Halle is diverse and extensive. In addition to the more than 30 elementary schools in all districts, there are 15 special schools, five comprehensive schools, a number of vocational schools, nine secondary schools and nine grammar schools, including the Georg Cantor grammar school, the Elisabeth grammar school in Halle (Saale), the Giebichenstein grammar school "Thomas Müntzer ", the Latina August Hermann Francke and the sports high school in Halle as well as two secondary schools, the adult education center Adolf Reichwein, and the 5 comprehensive schools, including the 4 four municipal comprehensive schools such as the IGS am Steintor, the cooperative comprehensive school "Wilhelm von Humboldt", the cooperative Comprehensive school Ulrich von Hutten and the Marguerite Friedlaender comprehensive school in Halle and an independent comprehensive school including the Saaleschule.
Some of the oldest student associations in Germany are based in Halle. While the majority of the connections returned to Halle after the political change, there were a few connections that were already active in Halle in the last years of the GDR (cf. Rudelsburg Alliance). The student associations are part of the long university tradition of the city on the Saale. The color song of many Halle student associations is In the crowns of old lime trees, the melody of which is played by the chimes of the Red Tower every forty-five minutes. The last stanza reads: "You defiantly withstood the storms, you were a haven for science. Your gates proclaim it loudly, carry it from place to place: Halle, old city of the Muses. Vivat, crescat, floreat!"
In addition to the universities, the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina is an important pillar of Halle's research landscape. As the oldest German scientific academy (founded in Schweinfurt in 1652), it attracted and still attracts important researchers. During the period of German division, the Leopoldina was the only academic organization that continued to exist undivided. It includes several Nobel Prize winners. With the Young Academy she is involved in the current interdisciplinary discourse.
After reunification, several Max Planck and Leibniz institutes
settled in Halle, some of which were able to fall back on existing
structures. In 1994 the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Development
in Transition Economies (IAMO) was established. The Leibniz Institute
for Economic Research Halle (IWH) and the Leibniz Institute for Plant
Biochemistry (IPB) also belong to the Leibniz Association.
The Max
Planck Society operates two institutes: the Institute for
Anthropological Research and the Institute for Microstructure Physics.
The Max Planck Research Center for Enzymology of Protein Folding has
been closed. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is represented by the Institute
for Mechanics of Materials (IWM), the Fraunhofer Center for Silicon
Photovoltaics (CSP) and a branch of the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell
Therapy and Immunology (IZI). The Helmholtz Association is present with
a location of the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research - UFZ.
The German Youth Institute has a branch in Halle. The University of
Halle maintains the Institute for Music, Media and Speech Studies.
Institute for Structural Policy and Economic Development (ISW),
Center for Applied Medical and Human Biological Research (ZAMED).
International Max Planck Research School for Science and Technology of
Nanostructures
The Weinberg Campus technology park is an important structural hub. After Berlin-Adlershof, it is the second largest science and technology park in East Germany. Eight departments of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and six of the non-university research institutions are located on the campus. The technology and start-up center (TGZ) and the BioCenter offer high-quality laboratory and research facilities in a total of seven buildings. Over 100 companies and institutes are currently represented here. The “Weinberg Campus e. V.” was founded on March 5th, 2004 and forms a network for consulting, development and realization of innovative marketable projects.
In addition to the state capital of Magdeburg, the regional center in
Halle is a member of the Healthy Cities Network. The nationally known
maximum care providers in the city are the University Hospital Halle
(Saale) and the Bergmannstrost trade association clinics.
The
main care is guaranteed by the hospital St. Elisabeth and St. Barbara.
There is also a psychiatric center run by Arbeiterwohlfahrt, the
Diakonie Hospital and a hospital run by the Martha-Maria Diakoniewerk in
Halle.
All somatic hospitals in the city are available as
academic teaching hospitals of the medical faculty of the Martin Luther
University Halle-Wittenberg.
In Halle there is a large number of sports facilities for competitive
and popular sports.
Stadiums with different types of use are the
former Kurt Wabbel Stadium - today: Erdgas Sportpark - (pure football
stadium, home of Halle's FC), the stadium in the training center
(traditional multi-purpose stadium), the stadium of the wagon builders
in Ammendorf (BSV Halle-Ammendorf), the athletics stadium Robert Koch
and the Stadion am Zoo (football, VfL Halle 1896).
Ice rink on
Gimritzer Damm, formerly Saxony-Anhalt's only facility of this kind.
After the Saale flood in 2013, a new building was built about 1 km to
the west. Ice hockey therefore has a certain tradition in the city (ESC
Hall 04).
The 1st Motoball Club 70/90 Halle e. V. holds its
tournaments on the city's own hard court at the stadium in the north of
Neustadt. In 2022, the sports committee of the city of Halle approved a
new construction of the venue costing almost 1.3 million euros. The city
of Halle, the state of Saxony-Anhalt and the Lotto Sachsen-Anhalt are
responsible for financing.
Indoor, outdoor and natural pools: the
pool landscape in Halle is diverse. In addition to the Maya Mare leisure
pool, there are the Saline-Bad pools with indoor and outdoor pools, the
Neustadt pool hall with a separate diving hall suitable for competitions
(10 m diving facility), and the art nouveau-style city pool (indoor
pool). The Nordbad (outdoor pool with 10 m diving board) and the managed
natural pools Angersdorfer Teiche and Heidesee complete the bathing and
swimming opportunities. The competitive Robert Koch swimming pool, which
was newly built in 2011, is reserved for competitive swimming.
For
equestrian sports there is a horse racing track in Halle on theFitdorfer
Wiesen
Canoeing and rowing is practiced on the competition facilities
at Osendorfer See (canoe regatta route), on the canal between Neustadt
and the Saale (rowing regatta route) and on the Saale (canoe slalom,
canoeing, whitewater canoeing).
Halle has a modern, competitive
athletics hall, the Brandberge sports hall, with outdoor facilities that
are also suitable for competitions. Together with other facilities
(martial arts center for wrestling, boxing, judo), it forms the
Brandberge/Kreuzvorwerk sports complex, one of three locally
concentrated sports infrastructure locations in the city.
The second
of three locally concentrated sports infrastructure locations is the
sports complex Bildungszentrum in Neustadt. These include the training
center sports hall (handball, etc.), the Neustadt swimming pool (see
indoor, outdoor and natural pools), the multi-purpose stadium in the
training center and a few other facilities.
The third central sports
infrastructure location is formed by the sports high school in Halle,
the Robert Koch athletics stadium, the Robert Koch swimming pool and the
natural gas sports park.
(Club) soccer fields available throughout
the city.
A modern skate park was opened in 2011 in the center of
Halle-Neustadt.
Railway park at the old Thuringian freight station with sports and
playground facilities as well as the start of the Hafenbahn route as a
cycling and hiking trail in the city
Tennis courts (club facilities):
Sandanger, Ziegelwiese (USV Halle), TC Halle 94 e. V., Böllberger Weg
Falkenfield (American Football), home ground of UPS Halle Falken
Golf
driving range at the racecourse
Miniature golf and beach volleyball:
Sports paradise Halle on Böllberger Weg
From 1886 there were three
cycle tracks in Halle one after the other: an open cement track in the
Olympiapark Merseburger Straße (1886-1919), an open wooden track on
Böllberger Weg (1930-1938) and from 1951 to the 1970s/80s the open
cement track Albert-Richter -track.
The most popular local recreation areas, which, with the exception of the Dölauer Heide, are connected to the Saale, also have a few sights or other leisure facilities to offer. These include the Saale floodplain with a racecourse, the adjacent islands or peninsulas of Würfelwiese, Ziegelwiese with fountain and Peißnitzinsel with the Peißnitzexpress Halle (Saale) park railway, as well as Rabeninsel. Along the course of the river, the Klausberge, Riveufer and Trothaer Ufer should be mentioned as far as the island of Forstwerder. The large and small Galgenberg as well as Lehmann's and Reichardt's garden invite you to go for a walk. The forest area of the Dölauer Heide with Bischofswiese (on it fortifications and barrows from the Neolithic Age) offers a larger area. In the south of the city, the Saale-Elster-Aue is the largest local recreation area. In these areas and in the city itself there are several nature trails (Dölauer Heide, geological trail, drinking water trail).
Some notable inventions, discoveries and developments were made in
Halle, such as:
Hoffmann's drops: The drug was developed by Friedrich
Hoffmann (* 1660; † 1742).
Chemistry: Johann Heinrich Schulze,
polymath, discovered between 1717 and 1719 that silver salts are
sensitive to light (a prerequisite for traditional photography).
Medical history: With his five-volume universal history of medicine,
Kurt Sprengel (* 1766; † 1833) is considered one of the fathers of
medical historiography.
Psychiatry: Johann Christian Reil first used
the term in 1808 and is considered a co-founder of modern psychiatry.
Teratology: Johann Friedrich Meckel the Younger (* 1781; † 1833) is
considered the founder of modern teratology.
Electrical engineering:
Johann Schweigger invented the electromagnetic multiplier (galvanometer)
in 1820.
Agriculture: Julius Kühn (* 1825; † 1910), founds the
university degree in agriculture in Germany at Halle University.
Developmental mechanics: Wilhelm Roux (* 1850; † 1924) is regarded as
the founder of developmental mechanics within evolutionary developmental
biology.
Set theory: Georg Cantor, a professor at the university,
founded and developed set theory in Halle from 1874 to 1897.
Lignite
briquetting: Ferdinand August Schulz developed the tube dryer in lignite
briquetting (first built in 1885).
Hyperbolic concrete shell: Herbert
Müller (* 1920; † 1995) developed the HP shell here.
Heart-lung
machine: Karl-Ludwig Schober (* 1912; † 1999) constructed the first
heart-lung machine in the GDR.
Honorary citizen
Robert Franz, actually Robert Knauth (* June 28,
1815 in Halle, † October 24, 1892 in Halle), composer
Marianne Witte
(* 1923 in Marburg/Lahn; † June 25, 2012 in Mülheim an der Ruhr),
daughter of the Nobel Prize winner Karl Ziegler, financed the renovation
of the Stadtgottesacker
Hans-Dietrich Genscher (* 1927 in Reideburg;
† March 31, 2016 in Wachtberg-Pech), politician (FDP), 1974-1992 Foreign
Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany
Paul Raabe (* 1927 in
Oldenburg; † July 5, 2013 in Wolfenbüttel), 1992-2000 Director of the
Francke Foundations
Richard von Volkmann-Leander (born August 17,
1830 in Leipzig, † November 28, 1889 in Jena), physician
Peter Sodann
(* 1936 in Meissen), actor, 1981-2005 director of the New Theater
Sons and daughters of the city of Halle
The baroque composer
Georg Friedrich Handel and the former Federal Foreign Minister
Hans-Dietrich Genscher, who was born in Reideburg, a district
incorporated in 1950, are considered to be important sons of the city.
Other personalities
Personalities such as the central German
enlighteners Christian Thomasius and Christian Wolff, and their opponent
August Hermann Francke (founder of the Francke Foundations) worked in
Halle. Among Halle's many artists are the composers Johann Friedrich
Reichardt (Reichardt's Garden, now part of the Sachsen-Anhalt Garden
Dreams project) and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, and in the visual arts
Lyonel Feininger, Gerhard Marcks, Karl Völker, Albert Ebert and the
long-standing President of the Professional association of visual
artists in the GDR Willi Sitte. In the field of literature, Joseph von
Eichendorff, Curt Goetz and, in the second half of the 20th century,
Rainer Kirsch and Heinz Czechowski worked here. In the field of science,
Johann Christian Reil (inventor of the term psychiatry) and Georg Cantor
stand out. The philosopher Hans Vaihinger, who became known for his
“philosophy of as-if”, taught here at the university.