Halberstadt (Eastphalian: Halverstidde) is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center, which was largely destroyed by Allied bombings in the late stages of World War II 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 aircraft, which also housed an SSforced labor camp. Halberstadt now includes the area where the Langenstein-Zwieberge concentration camp was situated.
Today the city has around 450 timber framed houses in its city centre and timber framed old villages like Langenstein.[3][4]
Geography
Cathedral square
Halberstadt is situated between the Harz in the south and the Huy hills in the north on the Holtemme and Goldbach rivers, both left tributaries of the Bode. Halberstadt is the base of the Department of Public Management of the Hochschule Harz 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 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 installation in 1361.[5] 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.[6][7] The town is also a stop on the scenic German Timber-Frame Road.
Divisions
The town of Halberstadt consists of Halberstadt proper and the following Ortschaften or municipal divisions:[8]
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.[8]
On 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 and Aschersleben joined a league of towns (Halberstädter Dreistädtebund) in 1326; from 1387 the city was also a member of the Hanse.[citation needed]
In the last days of World War II, 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.[11] He refused, no white flag was raised and on 8 April 1945, 218 Flying Fortresses of the 8th Air Force, 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.[12] Around 450 of 1600 timber framed houses survived in the city centre.[13] By June 1945, the town and its garrison was handed over to the 3rd Shock Army of the Soviet Red Army forces.
Interior of Halberstadt Synagogue in 1930 (watercolor painting by Käthe Lipke)
Jewish culture
Halberstadt's Jewish community is mentioned in records from the 13th century and the town had a synagogue in 1464.[14] In the early 18th century, Halberstadt had one of the largest Jewish communities in central Europe and was known as a center of theology and learning after Berend Lehmann (1661–1730) founded a beth midrash there in 1703. The building, called the"Klaus", included a library and living quarters for scholars to study the Talmud.[15] Lehmann also financed an impressive Baroque synagogue that was completed in 1712.[14]
Halberstadt's synagogue was ransacked and burned in the 9 November 1938 Kristallnachtpogrom.[16] 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.[17]
Today the Moses Mendelssohn Academy is based in the "Klaus", providing exhibitions, presentations, and information about Jewish culture.
One of the world's slowest, longest "concerts"
Sankt-Burchardi-Church
A performance of John Cage's organ piece As Slow As Possible 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.[citation needed]
Education
Department of Public Management of the Harz University of Applied Studies
Gabriel Bach, (1927 - 2022), a German-born Israeli jurist, who was a judge of the Supreme Court of Israel and deputy prosecutor in the prosecution of Adolf Eichmann
