Halberstadt (
Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
in the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
state of
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of
and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...
, the capital of
Harz district. Located north of the
Harz
The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...
mountain range, it is known for its
old town
In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...
center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bombings in late stages of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
after local Nazi leaders refused to surrender. The town was rebuilt in the following decades.
In World War I, Halberstadt was the site of a German military airbase and aircraft manufacturing facilities. In World War II, Halberstadt was a regional production center for
Junkers
Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (JFM, earlier JCO or JKO in World War I, English: Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works) more commonly Junkers , was a major German aircraft and aircraft engine manufacturer. It was founded there in Dessau, Germ ...
aircraft, which also housed an
SS forced labor camp
A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...
. Halberstadt now encompasses the area where the
Langenstein-Zwieberge
The Langenstein-Zwieberge was a concentration camp, an under-camp of the Buchenwald concentration camp. More than 7000 prisoners from 23 countries were imprisoned there between April 1944 and April 1945. The camp was situated in the village of ...
concentration camp existed.
Geography
Halberstadt is situated between the Harz in the south and the
Huy
Huy ( or ; nl, Hoei, ; wa, Hu) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. Huy lies along the river Meuse, at the mouth of the small river Hoyoux. It is in the ''sillon industriel'', the former industrial ...
hills in the north on the
Holtemme
The Holtemme is a long tributary of the river Bode in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
It rises in the Harz mountains at the eastern foot of the Brocken, descends during its upper course as the Steinerne Renne, a steep stream bed riddled with granite ...
and
Goldbach rivers, both left tributaries of the
Bode. Halberstadt is the base of the Department of Public Management of the
Hochschule Harz
The Hochschule Harz – University of Applied Studies and Research has two bases in Saxony-Anhalt. The Department of Automation and Computer Sciences as well as the Department of Business Studies are located in Wernigerode. The Department of Pub ...
University of Applied Studies and Research.
The town center retains many important historic buildings and much of its ancient townscape. Notable places in Halberstadt include
Halberstadt Cathedral
The Halberstadt Cathedral or Church of St Stephen and St Sixtus (german: Dom zu Halberstadt) is a Gothic church in Halberstadt in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was the episcopal see of the Bishopric of Halberstadt, established by Emperor Charlemagne ...
, the Church of Our Lady (''Liebfrauenkirche'') and St Martin's, churches built in the 12th and 13th centuries. Halberstadt is the site of the first documented large, permanent
pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...
installation in 1361.
[Kennedy, Michael (Ed.) (2002). "Organ". In ''The Oxford Dictionary of Music'', p. 644. Oxford: Oxford University Press.] The cathedral is notable among those in northern European towns in having retained its medieval treasury in virtually complete condition. Among its treasures are the oldest surviving tapestries in Europe, dating from the 12th century. The town is also a stop on the scenic
German Timber-Frame Road
The German Timber-Frame Road (German: ''Deutsche Fachwerkstraße'') is a German tourist route leading from the river Elbe in the north to the Black Forest and Lake Constance in the south. Numerous cities and towns each with examples of the vernacu ...
.
The town can be reached via the
Bundesstraße 6n
The Bundesstraße 6n is a German federal road that runs east-west from the Vienenburg district of Goslar to Bernburg, where it connects to the A14. It was originally planned to be the A 36 motorway.
It is intended to have four lanes running f ...
(since 2019 called
Bundesautobahn 36
Bundesautobahn 36 (translates from German as Federal Motorway 36, short form Autobahn 36, abbreviated as BAB 36 or A 36) is an autobahn in Germany. It was established on 1 January 2019 from the Bundesautobahn 395 and parts of the Bundesstraße 6.
...
), 79,
81, and
245 federal highways.
Halberstadt station is an important railway hub on the
Magdeburg–Thale and
Halle–Vienenburg lines, mainly served by
Transdev Sachsen-Anhalt
Transdev Sachsen-Anhalt (formerly: ''Veolia Verkehr Sachsen-Anhalt'') is a regional railway company, a subsidiary of Transdev Germany. It provided passenger services on the North Harz network from 2005 to 2018 under the name HEX (''HarzElbeExpres ...
. The
Halberstadt tramway network currently operates two lines.
Germania Halberstadt
VfB Germania Halberstadt is a German football club from Halberstadt in Saxony-Anhalt.
History
The club was founded on 26 October 1949 as ''Betriebssportgemeinschaft Reichsbahn Halberstadt'' before being renamed ''BSG Lokomotive Halberstadt'' ...
is a football club that plays in Halberstadt.
Divisions
The town Halberstadt consists of Halberstadt proper and the following ''Ortschaften'' or municipal divisions:
[Hauptsatzung der Stadt Halberstadt]
March 2020.
*
Aspenstedt
*
Athenstedt
*Emersleben
*Klein Quenstedt
*
Langenstein
*
Sargstedt
Sargstedt is a village and a former municipality in the Harz (district), district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Halberstadt.
Former municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt
Halberstadt
{{Harz-geo-stu ...
*
Schachdorf Ströbeck
These are all formerly independent municipalities: Emersleben was absorbed into Halberstadt in 1995, Klein Quenstedt in 1996, and Aspenstedt, Athenstedt, Langenstein, Sargstedt and Schachdorf Ströbeck in 2010.
[
]
History
In 814 the Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...
emperor Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...
made the Christian mission in the German stem duchy of Saxony
The Duchy of Saxony ( nds, Hartogdom Sassen, german: Herzogtum Sachsen) was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 and incorporated into the C ...
the episcopal see
An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...
of the Diocese of Halberstadt
The Diocese of Halberstadt was a Roman Catholic diocese (german: Bistum Halberstadt) from 804 until 1648. . It was vested with market rights
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
by King Otto III
Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu.
Otto III was crowned as King of ...
in 989. The town became the administrative centre of the Saxon Harzgau
The Harzgau was a medieval shire ('' Gau'') in the northeastern foorhils of the Harz mountains, part of the Eastphalia region of Saxony.
It included the towns of Halberstadt, Quedlinburg, and Osterwieck, and was bounded by the Oker in the west, b ...
and an important trading location. The Halberstadt bishops had the Church of Our Lady erected from about 1005 onwards. In his fierce conflict with Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on ...
, the forces of the Saxon duke Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion (german: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty who ruled as the duke of Saxony and Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180.
Henry was one of the most powerful German p ...
devastated the town in 1179.
Upon Henry's downfall, the Halberstadt diocese was elevated to a prince-bishopric about 1180. Its cathedral was rebuilt from 1236 and consecrated in 1491. Halberstadt, Quedlinburg
Quedlinburg () is a town situated just north of the Harz mountains, in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg became a center of in ...
and Aschersleben
Aschersleben () is a town in the Salzlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approximately 22 km east of Quedlinburg, and 45 km northwest of Halle (Saale).
Geography
Aschersleben lies near the confluence of the r ...
joined a league of towns Several leagues of cities (in German: ''Städtebünde'', singular ''Städtebund'')
became influential in the history of the Holy Roman Empire.
Military alliance and mutual assistance strengthened the position of imperial cities, especially during
t ...
(''Halberstädter Dreistädtebund'') in 1326; from 1387, the city was also a member of the Hanse
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label= Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German ...
.
From 1479, the diocese was administrated by the Archbishops of Magdeburg
The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was a Roman Catholic archdiocese (969–1552) and Prince-Archbishopric (1180–1680) of the Holy Roman Empire centered on the city of Magdeburg on the Elbe River.
Planned since 955 and established in 968, the Roma ...
. While the Halberstadt citizens turned Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
around 1540, the cathedral chapter elected Prince Henry Julius of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
Henry may refer to:
People
* Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portuga ...
first Lutheran bishop in 1566. During the Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
, the town was occupied by the troops of Albrecht von Wallenstein
Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...
in 1629 and temporarily re-Catholicized according to the imperial Edict of Restitution
The Edict of Restitution was proclaimed by Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna, on 6 March 1629, eleven years into the Thirty Years' War. Following Catholic military successes, Ferdinand hoped to restore control of land to that specifie ...
. According to the 1648 Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia (german: Westfälischer Friede, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought pea ...
, the prince-bishopric was finally secularized
In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...
to the Principality of Halberstadt held by Brandenburg-Prussia
Brandenburg-Prussia (german: Brandenburg-Preußen; ) is the historiographic denomination for the early modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenz ...
. The first secular governor was Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal
Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal (1606 in Berlin – 1657 in Halberstadt) was a German nobleman. He was a diplomat and the founder of the Brandenburg-Prussian Army.
The son of Christoph von Blumenthal and his wife Dorothea von Hacke, and the fir ...
.
Halberstadt became part of the newly established Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...
in 1701. From 1747 Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim
Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim (2 April 1719 – 18 February 1803) was a German poet, commonly associated with the Enlightenment movement.
Life
Gleim was born at the small town of Ermsleben in the Principality of Halberstadt, then part of Prussia ...
worked here as a government official and made his home an intellectual center of the Enlightenment (''Aufklärung'') movement. Upon the 1807 Treaty of Tilsit
The Treaties of Tilsit were two agreements signed by French Emperor Napoleon in the town of Tilsit in July 1807 in the aftermath of his victory at Friedland. The first was signed on 7 July, between Napoleon and Russian Emperor Alexander, when t ...
, the town became part of the Kingdom of Westphalia
The Kingdom of Westphalia was a kingdom in Germany, with a population of 2.6 million, that existed from 1807 to 1813. It included territory in Hesse and other parts of present-day Germany. While formally independent, it was a vassal state of the ...
, a Napoleonic
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
client-state, and administrative seat of the Westphalian Department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
of Saale
The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale (german: Sächsische Saale) and Thuringian Saale (german: Thüringische Saale), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Fränkische Saale, ...
. On 29 July 1809, a Westphalian regiment was defeated by the Black Brunswickers under Prince Frederick William of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in the Battle of Halberstadt.
After the defeat of Napoleon, the town was restored to Prussia and subsequently administered within the Province of Saxony
The Province of Saxony (german: link=no, Provinz Sachsen), also known as Prussian Saxony () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg.
It was formed by the merge ...
. From 1815, Halberstadt was home of garrison of the Prussian 7th (Magdeburg) Cuirassiers "von Seydlitz" regiment, with Otto von Bismarck
Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...
in the rank of an officer à la suite
À la suite (, ''in the entourage f') was a military title given to those who were allotted to the army or a particular unit for honour's sake, and entitled to wear a regimental uniform but otherwise had no official position.
In Prussia, these w ...
from 1868. The town's economy was decisively promoted by the opening of the Magdeburg–Halberstadt Railway in 1843. The tramway was inaugurated in 1903.
In 1912 the Halberstädter Flugzeugwerke
Halberstädter Flugzeugwerke or Halberstadt was a German aircraft manufacturer. It was formed on 9 April 1912 under the name ''Deutsche Bristol Werke Flugzeug-Gesellschaft mbH'' in Halberstadt, Province of Saxony.
History
The British-German jo ...
aircraft manufacturer was founded followed by the opening of a military airbase, providing the German ''Luftstreitkräfte
The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Force)—known before October 1916 as (Flyer Troops)—was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, alt ...
'' in World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. After the war it had to close down according to the regulations of the Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
, until in the course of the German re-armament
German rearmament (''Aufrüstung'', ) was a policy and practice of rearmament carried out in Germany during the interwar period (1918–1939), in violation of the Treaty of Versailles which required German disarmament after WWI to prevent Germa ...
, it opened again in 1935 as a branch of the Junkers
Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (JFM, earlier JCO or JKO in World War I, English: Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works) more commonly Junkers , was a major German aircraft and aircraft engine manufacturer. It was founded there in Dessau, Germ ...
company in Dessau
Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Roßlau ...
. The aircraft factory was the site of an ''SS'' forced labor
Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...
camp, one of several subcamps of Buchenwald
Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...
; the production facilities and the nearby ''Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
'' airbase were targets of Allied bombing during the 'Big Week
Big Week or Operation Argument was a sequence of raids by the United States Army Air Forces and RAF Bomber Command from 20 to 25 February 1944, as part of the Strategic bombing during World War II#US bombing in Europe, European strategic bombin ...
' in February 1944.
In the last days of World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, in April 1945, US forces approached Halberstadt as they attacked remaining Nazi troops in the short-lived Harz pocket. They dropped leaflets instructing Halberstadt's Nazi ruler to fly a white flag on the town hall as a token of surrender. He refused, no white flag was raised and on 8 April 1945, 218 Flying Fortresses of the 8th Air Force
The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces ...
, accompanied by 239 escort fighters, dropped 595 tons of bombs on the center of Halberstadt. This killed about 2,500 people and converted most of the old town into some 1.5 million cubic meters of rubble, which American troops briefly occupied three days later. By June 1945, the town and its garrison was handed over to the 3rd Shock Army of the Soviet Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
forces.
Halberstadt was part of newly established Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of
and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...
from 1945–1952, after which it was within Bezirk Magdeburg
The Bezirk Magdeburg was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Magdeburg.
History
The district was established, with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substituting the old German states. After 3 Octo ...
in East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
. During the Peaceful Revolution
The Peaceful Revolution (german: Friedliche Revolution), as a part of the Revolutions of 1989, was the process of sociopolitical change that led to the opening of East Germany's borders with the West, the end of the ruling of the Socialist Unity ...
in Autumn 1989, St Martin's Church was a center of the Swords to ploughshares
Swords to ploughshares (or plowshares) is a concept in which military weapons or technologies are converted for peaceful civilian applications.
The phrase originates from the Book of Isaiah chapter 2:
The '' ploughshare'' ( ''’êṯ'', al ...
movement. After the reunification of Germany
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
, Halberstadt became part of the restored state of Saxony-Anhalt.
Jewish culture
Halberstadt's Jewish community is mentioned in records from the 13th century and the town had a synagogue in 1464. In the early 18th century, Halberstadt had one of the largest Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
communities in central Europe and was known as a center of theology and learning after Berend Lehmann (1661–1730) founded a beth midrash
A ''beth midrash'' ( he, בית מדרש, or ''beis medrash'', ''beit midrash'', pl. ''batei midrash'' "House of Learning") is a hall dedicated for Torah study, often translated as a "study hall." It is distinct from a synagogue (''beth kness ...
there in 1703. The building, called the"Klaus", included a library and living quarters for scholars to study the Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
. Lehmann also financed an impressive Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
synagogue that was completed in 1712.
Halberstadt's synagogue was ransacked and burned in the 9 November 1938 ''Kristallnacht
() or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...
'' pogrom
A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russia ...
. The synagogue's Torah scrolls were removed and burned in the street. On 18 November 1938, the local building authority ordered the demolition of the synagogue and required the Jewish community to pay the cost of the work.
Today the Moses Mendelssohn
Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'Je ...
Academy is based in the "Klaus", providing exhibitions, presentations, and information about Jewish culture
Jewish culture is the culture of the Jewish people, from its formation in ancient times until the current age. Judaism itself is not a faith-based religion, but an orthoprax and ethnoreligion, pertaining to deed, practice, and identity. Jewi ...
.
One of the world's slowest, longest "concerts"
A performance of John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...
's organ piece ''As Slow As Possible
''Organ2/ASLSP'' (''As Slow as Possible'') is a musical piece by John Cage and the subject of one of the longest-lasting musical performances yet undertaken. Cage wrote it in 1987 for organ, as an adaptation of his 1985 composition ''ASLSP'' fo ...
'' began in the Burchardikirche in Halberstadt in September 2001; the performance is scheduled to take 639 years. The concert began on 5 September 2001 with a rest lasting 17 months. On the dates of the sound changes the church is usually well visited.
Education
Halberstadt is site of the Harz University of Applied Studies.
Notable people
* Caspar Abel
Caspar Abel (14 July 1676 – 11 January 1763) was a German theologian, historian and poet.
Abel was born in Hindenburg in der Altmark, the son of a pastor, and gained his theological education in Braunschweig and University of Helmstedt, Hel ...
, theologian, historian, and poet
* Albert of Saxony (philosopher)
Albert of Saxony ( Latin: ''Albertus de Saxonia''; c. 1320 – 8 July 1390) was a German philosopher and mathematician known for his contributions to logic and physics. He was bishop of Halberstadt from 1366 until his death.
Life
Albert was b ...
, logician, physicist, and Bishop of Halberstadt from 1366–1399
* Johann Christian Josef Abs Johann Christian Josef Abs (26 August 1781 in Wipperfürth – 15 April 1823 in Königsberg) was a German teacher.
In the year 1799 Abs gave his vow in the Franciscan monastery of Hamm and adopted the name of Theodosius. In 1806 he became head ...
, teacher and school administrator
* August Binkebank
August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...
, Trompeter der Halberstädter Kürassiere, Freiligraths ''Trompeter von Mars-la-Tour''
* Martin Bormann
Martin Ludwig Bormann (17 June 1900 – 2 May 1945) was a German Nazi Party official and head of the Nazi Party Chancellery. He gained immense power by using his position as Adolf Hitler's private secretary to control the flow of information ...
, private secretary to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
* Lily Braun
Lily Braun (2 July 1865 – 8 August 1916), born Amalie von Kretschmann, was a German feminist writer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).
Life
She was born in Halberstadt, in the Prussian province of Saxony, the daught ...
, feminist writer
* Wibke Bruhns
Wibke Gertrud Bruhns (born Klamroth; 8 September 1938 – 20 June 2019) was a German journalist and author. In 1971, she was the first woman to present the news on German public television. She was a journalist for several television stations, an ...
, journalist and author, author of ''My Father's Country
My or MY may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* My (radio station), a Malaysian radio station
* Little My, a fictional character in the Moomins universe
* ''My'' (album), by Edyta Górniak
* ''My'' (EP), by Cho Mi-yeon
Business
* Market ...
''
* Gottfried August Bürger
Gottfried August Bürger (31 December 1747 – 8 June 1794) was a German poet. His ballads were very popular in Germany. His most noted ballad, '' Lenore'', found an audience beyond readers of the German language in an English and Russian ada ...
, poet
* , Circus director, founder of the Carré Theatre
Carré is a French language, French word, which means "wikt:square, square". ''Carré'' may also refer to:
People
*Carré (surname)
*Carré Otis, American model and actress
Places
*Fort Carré, sixteenth-century fort in France
*French Quarter, ...
* Karl Friedrich von Dacheröden, lawyer
* Johann Augustus Eberhard
Johann Augustus Eberhard (August 31, 1739January 6, 1809) was a German theologian and "popular philosopher".
Life and career
Eberhard was born at Halberstadt in the Principality of Halberstadt, where his father was a school teacher and the singin ...
, theologian and philosopher
* Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim
Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim (2 April 1719 – 18 February 1803) was a German poet, commonly associated with the Enlightenment movement.
Life
Gleim was born at the small town of Ermsleben in the Principality of Halberstadt, then part of Prussia ...
, poet
* Adalbert of Hamburg
Adalbert (also Adelbert or Albert; c. 1000 – 16 March 1072) was Archbishop of Bremen from 1043 until his death. Called ''Vikar des Nordens'', he was an important political figure of the Holy Roman Empire, papal legate, and one of the regen ...
, Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen
The Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen (german: Fürsterzbistum Bremen) — not to be confused with the modern Archdiocese of Hamburg, founded in 1994 — was an ecclesiastical principality (787–1566/1648) of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic ...
* Ferdinand Heine
Jakob Gottlieb Ferdinand Heine (9 March 1809, in Halberstadt – 28 March 1894) was a German ornithologist and collector.
Heine had one of the largest private collection of birds in the mid-19th century. The collection now housed at the Heineanum ...
, ornithologist
* Azriel Hildesheimer
Azriel Hildesheimer (also Esriel and Israel, yi, עזריאל הילדעסהיימער; 11 May 1820 – 12 July 1899) was a German rabbi and leader of Orthodox Judaism. He is regarded as a pioneering moderniser of Orthodox Judaism in Germany an ...
, rabbi
* Gustav Eduard von Hindersin
Gustav Eduard von Hindersin (18 July 1804 – 23 January 1872) was a Prussian general from Wernigerode (now in Saxony-Anhalt). Until 1864, when he was ennobled, his name was Gustav Eduard Hindersin.
Life
Hindersin was the son of a Luthe ...
, general
* Johann Georg Jacobi
Johann Georg Jacobi (September 2, 1740 – January 4, 1814) was a German poet.
Biography
The elder brother of the philosopher Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, Johann Georg was born at Pempelfort near Düsseldorf. He studied theology at Göttingen and ...
, poet
* Israel Jacobson
Israel Jacobson (17 October 1768, Halberstadt – 14 September 1828, Berlin) was a German-Jewish philanthropist and communal organiser. Jacobson pioneered political, educational and religious reforms in the early days of Jewish emancipation, a ...
, philanthropist and father of Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous searc ...
* Alexander Kluge
Alexander Kluge (born 14 February 1932) is a German author, philosopher, academic and film director.
Early life, education and early career
Kluge was born in Halberstadt, Province of Saxony (now Saxony-Anhalt), Germany.
After growing up durin ...
, film director and author
* Issachar Berend Lehmann Issachar Berend Lehmann, Berend Lehmann, Yissakhar Bermann Segal, Yissakhar ben Yehuda haLevi, Berman Halberstadt (April 23, 1661 in Essen, Westphalia – July 9, 1730 in Halberstadt, Kingdom of Prussia), was a German banker, merchant, diplomatic ag ...
, banker, merchant, diplomatic agent and army contractor
* Paul Laurentius, theologian
* George Müller
George Müller (born Johann Georg Ferdinand Müller, 27 September 1805 – 10 March 1898) was a Christian evangelist and the director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England. He was one of the founders of the Plymouth Brethren mov ...
, Christian evangelist and administrator of orphanages
* Emil D. Munch
Emil D. Munch (December 12, 1831 – August 30, 1887) was an American politician and businessman.
Munch was born in Halberstadt, Prussia. He emigrated to the United States in 1849 and settled in Taylors Falls, Minnesota, in 1852, and then in C ...
, American politician
* Adolf Reubke, organ builder
* Eberhard Graf von Schmettow, general
* Jürgen Sparwasser
Jürgen Sparwasser (born 4 June 1948 in Halberstadt) is a retired German football player and later briefly a football manager.
Sparwasser started his playing career in the youth department of his hometown club BSG Lokomotive Halberstadt in 19 ...
, footballer and manager
* Adolf Stoecker
Adolf Stoecker (December 11, 1835 – February 2, 1909) was a German court chaplain to Kaiser Wilhelm I, a politician, leading antisemite, and a Lutheran theologian who founded the Christian Social Party to lure members away from the S ...
, theologian and politician
* Friederike Vohs (1777–1860), operatic soprano
* Helmut Weidling
Helmuth Otto Ludwig Weidling (2 November 1891 – 17 November 1955) was a German general during World War II. He was the last commander of the Berlin Defence Area during the Battle of Berlin, and led the defence of the city against Red Army, So ...
, general
* Andreas Werckmeister
Andreas Werckmeister (November 30, 1645 – October 26, 1706) was a German organist, music theorist, and composer of the Baroque era. He was amongst the earliest advocates of equal temperament, and through this advocacy was highly influential to t ...
, organist and music theorist, from 1696 to 1706
* Walter Wislicenus, astronomer
* Carl Zillier, American politician
Twin towns – sister cities
Halberstadt is twinned with:
* Banská Bystrica
Banská Bystrica (, also known by other alternative names) is a middle-sized town in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica Mo ...
, Slovakia
* Náchod
Náchod (; german: Nachod) is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 19,000 inhabitants. It is known both as a tourist destination and centre of industry. The town centre with the castle complex is well preserved ...
, Czech Republic
* Villars, France
* Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth largest city in the German state of Lower Saxony, located on the river Aller. It lies about east of Hanover and west of Berlin.
Wolfsburg is famous as the location of Volkswagen AG's hea ...
, Germany
See also
* Bishopric of Halberstadt
The Diocese of Halberstadt was a Roman Catholic diocese (german: Bistum Halberstadt) from 804 until 1648. , a Roman Catholic diocese and state of the Holy Roman Empire until the Peace of Westphalia
* Principality of Halberstadt, the secularized successor to the Bishopric of Halberstadt after the Peace of Westphalia
References
External links
Official Webpage
Moses Mendelssohn Akademie
*
{{Authority control
Towns in the Harz
Historic Jewish communities
Members of the Hanseatic League
Holocaust locations in Germany