Halle

Halle, town, Belgium

Halle (häl`ə), Fr. Hal, commune (1991 pop. 32,758), Flemish Brabant prov., central Belgium, on the Charleroi-Brussels Canal. It is a commercial and industrial center. Manufactures include textiles, carpets, and iron and steel products. Halle's Gothic Church of Our Lady (14th–15th cent.), a popular pilgrimage site, contains a celebrated miraculous image of the Virgin.

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Halle, city, Germany

Halle, city (1994 pop. 195,370), Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany, on the Saale River. It is an industrial center and a major transportation hub. Manufactures include chemicals, refined sugar and other food products, machinery, rubber, cement, and electrical and chemical products. Lignite and potash are mined in the region. Industrialization has caused Halle and the region surrounding it to become one of the most polluted areas in Europe. Located on the site of Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements, Halle was first mentioned in the 9th cent. In 968 it was given to the archbishops of Magdeburg, who frequently resided there. The city was a member (1281–1478) of the Hanseatic League and accepted (1544) the Reformation. Halle was annexed by Brandenburg in 1648. The famous Univ. of Halle was founded in 1694, and in 1817 it absorbed the Univ. of Wittenberg. In Halle in 1695 the philanthropist A. H. Francke founded a school for paupers, the first of the Francke Institutes. The first Bible Society was founded at Halle in 1710. Noteworthy buildings include the Gothic Red Tower (1418–1506) and the Marienkirche, a 16th-century church. The composer Handel was born (1685) in Halle.

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Halle (an der Saale)

City (pop., 2002 est.: 243,045), east-central Germany. Lying on the Saale River, Halle's location was the site of settlements that centred around the local salt deposits and flourished c. 1000–400 BC. Halle and its valuable saltworks were granted to the archbishopric of Magdeburg in AD 968. It was a member of the Hanseatic League (1281–1478). The capital of Halle district in East Germany (1952–90), it is an important rail junction and a principal commercial and industrial centre. It was the birthplace of George Frideric Handel and the site of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, founded in 1694.

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Halle

a city in E central Germany, in Saxony-Anhalt, on the River Saale: early saltworks; a Hanseatic city in the late Middle Ages; university (1694). Pop.: 240 119 (2003 est.)