Halle (Saale)

Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (), is the second largest city of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is the sixth-most populous city in the area of former East Germany after (East) Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz, and Magdeburg, and is Germany's 31st-largest city.

With around 226,000 inhabitants, Halle is less populous than the state capital, Magdeburg. With Leipzig, Saxony's second largest city, Halle forms the polycentric Leipzig-Halle conurbation. Leipzig/Halle International Airport lies between the two cities, in Schkeuditz. The Leipzig-Halle conurbation is at the heart of the larger Central German Metropolitan Region.

Halle has been known by many names during its history. From the 15th to the 17th century it was called Hall in Sachsen. From then until the beginning of the 20th century, the name Halle an der Saale was used, and it remains a more formal term for the city. From 1965 to 1995, the city was called Halle/Saale.

Halle lies in the south of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Leipzig Bay, the southernmost part of the North German Plain, and is the largest city on the River Saale (a tributary of the Elbe), which is the third-longest river 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 one of the main economic and educational centers of Central Germany. The Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, with campuses in Halle and Wittenberg, is Saxony-Anhalt's largest university and one of Germany's oldest. The university hospital of Halle (Universitätsklinikum Halle (Saale)) is the largest hospital in the state. The German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina) has its seat in Halle. Halle is an important radio hub; Halle Radio Tower is Germany's second-tallest lattice tower, and at night many public German radio stations switch to the broadcasting center of Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk in Halle, which is responsible for the night program.

The Halle tramway is one of the most extensive German tramway networks, and Halle (Saale) Hauptbahnhof is the second-most important hub of the S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland rapid transit network, after Leipzig Hauptbahnhof. The Saale-Elster Viaduct, Germany's longest bridge and Europe's longest high-speed rail bridge, which is part of the Erfurt–Leipzig/Halle high-speed railway, runs through the southern borough of Planena.

The Nebra sky disc that was discovered in Nebra in the Unstrut valley between Halle and Erfurt is exhibited in the Halle State Museum of Prehistory. The city is the birthplace of German-British Baroque composer George Frideric Handel. The Handel House has been converted into a museum. The Handel Monument in Halle is Germany's only monument to him.

Geography Halle (Saale) is 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 neighboring Free State of Thuringia just to its south, and the Thuringian basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. Leipzig, one of Germany's major cities, is away. Its area is .

City structure and incorporations The city is divided into five districts ('Stadtbezirke'): Central, North, East, South, and West. The city districts are in turn are divided into neighbourhoods ('Stadtteile'), which are further divided into quarters ('Stadtviertel').

The following municipalities and districts have been incorporated into the city of Halle (Saale) over the years.

1817: Glaucha and Neumarkt 1891: Gutsbezirk Freiimfelde 1900: Giebichenstein, Trotha, Kröllwitz, and Gut Gimritz (on Peißnitz Island) 1 July 1950: Town 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 12 May 1967: Separation of the Halle-West development area north of Passendorf, which became an independent town under the name Halle-Neustadt, later a district-free city 6 May 1990: Reintegration of Halle-Neustadt

Climate Köppen climate classification classifies its climate as oceanic (Cfb). However, it is close to being a cold semi-arid climate (BSk). 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 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 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 high temperatures - never reaching . With its vegetation, Halle is far from the steppe or semi-desert vegetation typical of 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 nationsDas vergessene Lager: Eine Dokumentation zum Außenkommando des KZ Buchenwald in Halle/Saale 1944/45 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, are 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 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

Halle has a population of about 227,000 and is the second-largest city in Saxony-Anhalt after the state capital Magdeburg. In the East Germany era Halle had a lot of big industry with many workplaces. At the time Halle was one of the leading cities in East Germany, along with Leipzig and Dresden. Halle reached its highest population in 1991 with about 305,000 people. After German reunification Halle's population began to decline owing to its loss of industry, with many people moving to former West Germany. Halle is now considered one of the poorest cities in Germany. Halle's foreign population began to grow in 2015 after refugees from Syria and other war-torn countries moved there.

Population of foreign residents: RankNationalityPopulation (31 March 2022)1 5,4682 4,3303 1,3184 1,1745 1,0666 1,0337 9788 8439 78210 721

Politics Mayor

The mayor of Halle has been independent politician Alexander Vogt since 2025. The most recent mayoral election was held on 2 February 2025, with a runoff held on 23 February, and the results were as follows:

City council The most recent city council election was held on 9 June 2024, and the results were as follows:

! colspan=2| Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Alternative for Germany (AfD) | 69,813 | 21.2 | 7.2 | 12 | 4 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 67,804 | 20.6 | 3.2 | 11 | 1 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| The Left (Die Linke) | 40,831 | 12.4 | 5.4 | 7 | 3 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 39,081 | 11.9 | 0.6 | 7 | 1 |- | bgcolor=|

Halle (Saale)

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