Halle

Halle (Halle an der Saale), a city of Prussian Saxony 20 miles N.W. of Leipzig. It is built upon several islands on the Saale, and is at the junction of several railways. It is a very old town. In the 10th century it belonged to the Archbishop of Magdeburg, in the 13th was one of the leading Hanse Towns, but after a struggle of five centuries again in 1478 it fell under ecclesiastical power. At the Peace of Westphalia Halle went to Brandenburg, and in 1694 Frederick I. of Prussia founded its celebrated university. This was suppressed by Napoleon, but re-established in 1815, when it was incorporated with Wittenberg. It was long a theological stronghold, but at length became a centre of Rationalism. Chief among the buildings of the city are St. Mary's church (16th century) and the Gothic church of St. Maurice, which dates from the 12th; the remains of the Moritzburg, the former residence of the Archbishops of Magdeburg; the University library, the Red Tower (276 ft. high), and Roland statue in the market-place; the Town Hall and the Francke Institution. [Francke.] Halle is celebrated for its salt springs, worked by the "Halloren" from the beginning of the Middle A'res. These men are supposed to be descendants of the original inhabitants, and have peculiar customs and immunities. Machine-making and sugar-refining are the chief industries. At Halle was born Handel the composer.