Halle (Saale)
Map of Germany showing Halle
Halle (also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish from Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia) is the biggest town in the German Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, in the southern part of the state on the river Saale. Population: 243,045 (2001).
History
The name Halle derives from the Celtic word for salt, like that of it's namesake in Westphalia, Hallein and Hallstatt in Austria and Schwäbisch-Hall in Germay, while the name of the river Saale contains the Germanic root for salt.
Salt-making has been conducted in Halle since at least the Bronze age.
historic saltern in Halle, Sachsen-Anhalt
The town was first mentioned in 806. It became a part of the bishopric principality of Magdeburg in the 10th century and remained so until 1680, when it was annexed by Brandenburg together with Magdeburg.
After World War II Halle was the capital of the short-lived administrative region of Saxony-Anhalt (until 1952), when the "Länder" were abolished in the GDR. As a part of East Germany (until 1990), it was the capital of the administrative district ("Bezirk") of Halle. When Saxony-Anhalt was reestablished as a Bundesland, Magdeburg became the capital.
Sights
- Giebichenstein Castle, first mentioned in 961, west of the city centre on a hill above the Saale river.
- Moritzburg, a newer castle, built in 1503; residence of the bishops of Magdeburg; destroyed in the Thirty Years' War, then a ruin for centuries, rebuilt in 1904; today an Art Gallery
- Cathedral, a steepleless building, originally a church within a Dominican monastery (1271)
Miscellaneous
In the GDR Halle was important for its chemical industry, now mainly shut down.
The famous Baroque composer Georg Friedrich Händel was born in Halle. Today there is an annual Händel-festival.
Georg Cantor was a professor at the university of Halle.
A university was founded in Halle in 1694. It is now combined with the University of Wittenberg and is therefore called University of Halle-Wittenberg, or Martin Luther University.
Many plattenbaue can be found in Halle, especially in Halle-Neustadt.
GDR revolutionary monument, demolished in 2003.
External links
Referenced By
Gorch Fock (author) | Johann Kinau | List of Rivers of Europe | Rivers of Europe
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