Halle (Saale)
Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: "Hall in Sachsen"; until the beginning of the 20th century: "Halle an der Saale" ; from 1965 to 1995: "Halle/Saale") is the largest city of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the fifth most populous city in the area of former East Germany after (East) Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz, as well as the 31st largest city of Germany, and with around 239,000 inhabitants, it is slightly more populous than the state capital of Magdeburg. Together with Leipzig, the largest city of Saxony, Halle forms the  polycentric Leipzig-Halle conurbation. Between the two cities, in Schkeuditz, lies Leipzig/Halle International Airport. The Leipzig-Halle conurbation is at the heart of the larger Central German Metropolitan Region. Halle lies in the south of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Leipzig Bay, the southernmost part of the North German Plain, on the River Saale (a tributary of the Elbe), which is the third longest river flowing entirely in Germany after the Weser and the Main. The White Elster flows into the Saale in the southern borough of Silberhöhe. Halle is the fourth largest city in the Thuringian-Upper Saxon dialect  area after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz. Halle is an economic and educational center in central Germany. The Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, with campuses in Halle and Wittenberg, is the largest university in Saxony-Anhalt, one of the oldest universities in Germany, and a nurturing ground for the local startup ecosystem. The university hospital of Halle ("Universitätsklinikum Halle (Saale)") is the largest hospital in the state. Geography. Halle (Saale) is located in the southern part of Saxony-Anhalt in central Germany, along the river Saale which drains the surrounding plains and the greater part of the neighbouring Free State  of Thuringia just to its south, and the Thuringian basin, northwards from the Thuringian Forest. Leipzig, one of Germany's major cities, is only away. Climate. Köppen climate classification classifies its climate as oceanic (Cfb). However, it is close to being a cold semi-arid climate (BSk) or hot semi-arid climate (BSh), depending on whether mean annual temperature isotherm or mean temperature in the coldest month isotherm is applied. Using the most current climate data from April 2017 to March 2022, the annual precipitation is 17 mm too much to be classified as a cold or hot semi-arid  climate. For example, using the climate data from September 2015 to August 2020, the climate would fulfill the requirements to be classified as a cold or hot semi-arid climate. Notwithstanding, the great variation of annual precipitation between the years allows agriculture and large trees to grow, surviving recurring drought periods and years like in the summers of 2018 and 2019 with severe drought because of regularly occurring wet periods and years and absence of extremely hot temperatures with never reaching . With its vegetation, Halle is far from the steppe or semi-desert vegetation typical of hot or cold semi -arid climates. History. Name. Halle's early history is connected with the harvesting of salt. The name of the river Saale contains the Germanic root for salt, and salt-harvesting has taken place in Halle since at least the Bronze Age (2300–600 BC). From 1965 to 1995, the official name was Halle/Saale. Middle Ages until industrialisation. The earliest documented mention of Halle dates from AD 806. It became a part of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg in the 10th century and remained so until 1680, when the Margraviate of Brandenburg annexed it together with Magdeburg as the Duchy of Magdeburg , while it was an important location for Martin Luther's Reformation in the 16th century. Cardinal Albert of Mainz (Archbishop of Magdeburg from 1513 to 1545) also impacted on the town in this period. According to historic documents, the city of Halle became a member of the Hanseatic League at least as early as 1281. Halle became a center for Pietism, a movement encouraged by King Frederick William I of Prussia (reigned 1713–1740) because it caused the area's large Lutheran population to be more inclined to Fredrick William I's religion (Calvinism), as well as more loyal to the  Prussian king instead of to the decentralized feudal system. By the 1740s Halle had established many orphanages as well as schools for the wealthy in the sober style Pietism encouraged. This Halle education was the first time the "modern education" system was established. The Halle Pietists also combatted poverty. During the War of the Fourth Coalition, French and Prussian forces clashed in the Battle of Halle on 17 October 1806. The fighting moved from the covered bridges on the city's west side, through the streets and market place, to the eastern suburbs. In 1815 Halle became part of the  Prussian Province of Saxony. World War II (1939–1945). During World War II, KZ-Außenlager Birkhahn, a subcamp of Buchenwald was in Halle, where prisoners from Poland, Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, France, Netherlands and other nations were forced to work in the Siebel aircraft plants, making combat aircraft. The plant was later dismantled. In Ammendorf, a large factory owned by produced mustard gas. Near the end of World War II, there were two bombing raids carried out against the town: the first on 31 March 1945, the second a few days later. The first attack took place between the railway station  and the city's centre, and the second bombing was in the southern district. It killed over 1,000 inhabitants and destroyed 3,600 buildings. Among them, the Market Church, St. George Church, the Old Town Hall, the municipal theatre, historic buildings on Bruederstrasse and on Grosse Steinstrasse, and the city cemetery. On 17 April 1945, American soldiers occupied Halle, and the Red Tower was set on fire by artillery and destroyed. The Market Church and the Church of St. George received more hits. However, the city was spared further damage because an aerial bombardment was canceled, after former naval officer Felix  von Luckner negotiated the city's surrender to the American army. In July, the Americans withdrew and the city was occupied by the Red Army. German Democratic Republic (1949–1990). After World War II, Halle served as the capital of the short-lived administrative region of Saxony-Anhalt until 1952, when the East German government abolished its "Länder" (states). As a part of East Germany (until 1990), it functioned as the capital of the administrative district ("Bezirk") of Halle. Since German unity (after 1990). When Saxony-Anhalt was re-established as a "Bundesland" in 1990, Magdeburg, not Halle, became the capital . On 9 October 2019, two people were killed in a shooting incident at a synagogue in Halle. The Federal Prosecutor (Generalbundesanwalt) classified the attack as an act of right-wing terrorism stemming from antisemitism; as a consequence security measures at Jewish facilities were increased. Population. Population of foreign residents: Industrial heritage. Salt, also known as "white gold", was extracted from four "Borns" (well-like structures). The four Borns/brine named Gutjahrbrunnen, Meteritzbrunnen, Deutscher Born and Hackeborn, were located around the Hallmarket (or "Under Market"), now a market square with a fountain, just across from the TV station, MDR. The brine  was highly concentrated and boiled in "Koten", simple structured houses made from reed and clay. Salters, who wore a unique uniform with eighteen silver buttons, were known as "Halloren", and this name was later used for the chocolates in the shape of these buttons. The Halloren-Werke, the oldest chocolate factory in Germany, was founded in 1804. Old documents are on display and a chocolate room can be visited. Within East Germany, Halle's chemical industry, now mainly shut down, was of great importance. The two main companies in the region were Buna-Werke and Leuna, and Halle-Neustadt was  built in the 1960s to accommodate the employees of these two factories. Science and culture. Baroque composer Georg Friedrich Händel (later "George Frideric Handel") was born in Halle in 1685 and spent the first 17 years of his life in the city. The house where he lived is now a museum about his life. To celebrate his music, Halle has staged a Handel Festival since 1922, annually in June since 1952. The "Franckesche Stiftungen" (Francke Foundations) are home to the "", which was founded before the year 1116 and is one of the oldest boys' choirs in the world. The University  of Halle was founded here in 1694. It is now combined with the University of Wittenberg and called the "Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg". The university's medical school was established by Friedrich Hoffmann. Its botanical garden, the Botanische Garten der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, dates back to 1698. Halle's German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina is the oldest and one of the most respected scientific societies in Germany. Halle is also home to Germany's oldest Protestant church library, known as the , with 27,000 titles. The seat of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, one of  the world's largest social anthropological research institutions and a part of the Max Planck Society, is in Halle. Halle was a centre of German Pietism and played an important role in establishing the Lutheran church in North America, when Henry Muhlenberg and others were sent as missionaries to Pennsylvania in the mid-18th century. Muhlenberg is now called the first Patriarch of the Lutheran Church in America. He and his son, Frederick Muhlenberg, who was the first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, were graduates of Halle University. The Silver Treasure of the "Halloren" is displayed occasionally at  the Technical Museum Saline. It is a unique collection of silver and gold goblets dating back to 1266. The ancient craft of "Schausieden" (boiling of the brine) can be observed there too. The State Museum of Prehistory houses the Nebra sky disk, a significant (though unproven) Bronze-Age find with astrological significance. Halle Zoo contributes to the EAZA breeding programme, in particular for the Angolan lion and the Malaysian tiger. Halle is also known for its thriving coypu (or nutria) population, which is native to South America. With writers such as Heine, Eichendorff, Schleiermacher, Tieck and Novalis the town was  a vibrant scene of the German Romanticism. Also Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a regular guest at the house of his close friend Johann Friedrich Reichardt. German-American expressionist painter Lyonel Feininger worked in Halle on an invitation by the city from 1929 to 1931. As one of eleven views of the city termed "Halle Cycle", he painted in 1931 "Die Türme über der Stadt" (The towers above the city), which is now in the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. This painting appeared on a 55 eurocent stamp on 5 December 2002 as a part of the series “Deutsche Malerei des  20. Jahrhunderts” (German painting of the 20th century). Transport history. Ludwig Wucherer made Halle an important rail hub in central Germany. In 1840 he opened the Magdeburg-Halle-Leipzig line, completing a connection between Magdeburg and Dresden. In 1841–1860, other lines to Erfurt, Kassel and Berlin followed. The centrepiece of Halle's urban public transport system is the Halle (Saale) tramway network. It includes the world's first major electric-powered inner-city tram line, which was opened in 1891. Halle (Saale) Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station. Halle's prominence as a railway centre grew with the arrival of  the Erfurt-Leipzig/Halle high-speed railway. Leipzig is also connected to this route, but since it is a terminus station (though the Leipzig City Tunnel is currently under construction, the route will be shared with S-Bahn trains, making it unlikely that it will be used as a through station for Berlin-Munich trains), Halle is more likely to be used as an intermediate stop for Berlin-Munich trains. The completion of the Nuremberg–Erfurt high-speed railway also provided a further impetus to use the route. Leipzig/Halle Airport (opened in 1927) is an international airport located in  Schkeuditz, Saxony, and serves both Leipzig, Saxony, and Halle, Saxony-Anhalt. it is Germany's 11th largest airport by passengers, handling more than 2.57 million mainly with flights to European leisure destinations. In terms of cargo traffic, the airport is the fifth-busiest in Europe and the second-busiest in Germany after Frankfurt Airport. Sports. The football team "Hallescher FC Wacker 1900" had some regional importance before World War II. In the German Championship "Wacker" reached the semi-finals in 1921, and the quarter-finals in 1928. The successor team became East German champions in 1949 and 1952 under the  names of "ZSG Union" and "BSG Turbine Halle". From these evolved today's "Turbine Halle" and "Hallescher FC". In the era of the German Democratic Republic, the latter club (as "Chemie Halle" ) was a mainstay in the first division and won the Cup tournament in 1956 and 1962. The most prominent player was 72-times international Bernd Bransch, who was with "Chemie" in the 1960s and 1970s. These days, "Hallescher FC" usually plays in the third division. The general sports club "", originating from "Chemie Halle", created a notable number of Olympic gold medallists and world champions, mainly in nautical and  watersports, e.g., swimmer Kornelia Ender won four Olympic gold medals in 1976 and Andreas Hajek won four rowing world championships between 1998 and 2001. The basketball team of the club – these days known as "Lions" and focusing on the woman's team which plays in the national first division – won five men's and 10 women's championships of the German Democratic Republic. The Hallesher FC's location is extremely close to a train station. Twin towns – sister cities. Halle is twinned with: Friendly cities. Halle also has friendly relations with: Around Halle. Nearby towns. Halle (Saale) and Leipzig are  the two centres of the Central German Metropolitan Region with more than 2.4 million people.