Halle

Halle is one of those cities that are not small by the standards of Germany, but is still considered as a province. It is located in the state of Saxony-Anhalt and is bigger than capital Magdeburg. Nevertheless, everybody knows Magdeburg, and who outside Germany heard about Halle?

The city is quite old, in 2006 celebrated the 1200 years anniversary. It has historical center and all the attractions are located within it. City was lucky during the Second World War as it was not bombed due to bad weather.

There is a large red house on the market square, this is the tourist information center.

Take there a map of the city in the A3 format. It is ideal for sightseeing. Here is the scan.


The main sight of the city is the Market square with the magnificent ensemble of preserved old buildings.


Over the past 100 years it has not changed, except that the Red Tower (to the right) lost some of it's parts.


Near the tower remained one of the attractions of the city - Roland. It symbolizes freedom and independence of the medieval city. First, wooden Roland appeared here in the 13th century. The current statue is made of sandstone and several times changed the location, it is made as a copy of the original.


There is an observation deck (3 euros) on the top of Church of Our Lady, although it is necessary to climb on foot.












Unusual coloring of residential buildings


The city has two castles. Fortified castle-palace Moritzburg is located within the old city. It was built in 1484-1503 years and served as the residence of Bishop of Magdeburg. Now inside is an art gallery.








The second castle Giebichenstein is located three kilometers to the north of Market Square. We did not visited it, but if you have enough time then take a stroll along the river. From the castle opens panorama of the city.

Halle in translated from Celtic as "a place rich in salt". Actually, salt was the main source of wellness in the Middle Ages. In GDR times city has received a developed chemical industry and a poor environment. After the reunification of Germany, Halle started to develop culture and tourism. Now it hosts several large festivals, such as Salt Holiday and International Music Festival of Handel. The great German composer (1685-1759) spent 18 years in Halle and now almost on every step you can find something named after him.


Near the opera house is located the oldest university in Germany (Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg), founded in 1502. In the times of scientist and theologian August Hermann Francke (1663-1727) here was created a fund to educate the poor people. In those years that was a revolutionary step.

And next to the Moritzburg located the building of Lepoldina Academy, the oldest German Society of Naturalists. It was founded in 1652 and later became the Academy of Sciences in Germany. Its members were Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), Albert Einstein (1879-1955) and Max Karl Ernst Luedwig Planck (1858-1947). Election to the Academy Leopoldina is the highest academic honor in Germany.


More photos of Halle
















Local candidate :)


Like many cities in East Germany, Halle use new and old trams.


Getting there: Take the train to Halle Hbf, use bahn.de. The nearest airport is Leipzig/Halle Airport.