Guided Tours
Great Elector and Patron of Arts: Cardinal Albert of Brandenburg (1490-1545)

Dom, ca. 1300, durch Renaissanceelemente 1520-24 überformt
Our guided tour begins under the turret tower of the St. Maurice-Castle (1484-1503). Here we visit the Chapel of Mary Magdalen. It contains a dedication-stone crafted by Peter Schro (Mayence) in 1516. According to the timetable of the Staatliche Galerie Moritzburg (State Galery in St. Maurice-Castle), precious works of art from the Renaissance era can be seen afterwards.

Where castle hill and mill hill meet, close to an affluent of the river Saale, a statue of Matthias Grünewald focuses attention on Albrecht as Maecenas. Grünewald, creator of the Isenheim-altar-piece (Colmar), became painter to Albrechts Mayence court in 1516. The St. Erasmus-St. Maurice board (1517/1523), now in Munich, was a work for the new collegiate church in Halle. Grünewald, who left Frankfurt/Main in 1527 to Halle, died there on the 1st of September 1529.

On cathedral hill stands the old Dominican monastery-church (1270), transformed by Albrecht into the collegiate church St. Maurice and St. Mary Magdalen (1520). The chaplet of rounded arches, that sits on top of the building, is the earliest to be found in German architecture. As a frame for his huge collection of pieces of adoration (Hallesches Heiltum), Albrecht ordered Cranach Senior´s Wittenberg workshop to produce 16 altar screens. All, but one, have been moved to Aschaffenburg (Bavaria) in 1541. Nevertheless, 12 statues portraying apostles (each 2,13 inches high) remained. They originated in Peter Schro´s Mayence workshop. The statues are seen as "a thundering finale of medieval stone masonry" (Grote) and "most cryptic larger than life works of the time (Lühmann-Schmidt).

Next stop of the tour is the market church. In 1530 the naves of St. Gertrude (west) and St. Mary's (east) were torn down. Between the remaining two double-towers a new, sublime nave was erected. In 1541 Albrecht presented a painted altar-furniture (by Simon Franck, 1529) to the parish, that formerly had its place in the new collegiate church.
Dates: Please call - we always try to be at your service! Phone: +49 (345) 20 36 96 86
Location: Torturm der Moritzburg bzw. Kassenraum Staatl. Galerie Moritzburg

Portal der Ratswaage (1575), seit
1694 Universitätshauptgebäude
 Georg Friedrich Händel, seine Familie und die Stadt Halle (Publikation!!!)
Händels Geburtsstadt ist der Ort, sich mit der Geschichte seiner Familie, seiner Kindheit und Jugend sowie den politischen und kulturellen Rahmenbedingungen der Jahre 1660 bis 1703 zu befassen. Während Vater Händel unter einer sächsischen Sekundogenitur zu Rang und damit Ehre aufgestiegen war, brachte es der Übergang des Erzbistums an Brandenburg (1680) mit sich, dass der Sohn Untertan Friedrichs III., des späteren ersten Königs in Preußen, wurde. Stationen der Stadtführung sind: Stadtgottesacker (im Stil italienischer Camposanto-Anlagen) - Franckesche Stiftungen (Gründer August Hermann Francke, Bau des Haupthauses 1698-1700) - Riesenhaus (Akademiebau durch Friedrich Mateweiß, 1697) - Jenaisches Fräuleinstift (Eigentümer z.Zt. Händels: Gottfried von Jena, Kanzler des Herzogtums Magdeburg, 1687-1703) - Händel-Denkmal (Künstler: H. Heidel, 1859); Geburtshaus und nachbarliche Umgebung (Hugenotten und Pfälzer).
Dates: Please call - we always try to be at your service! Phone: +49(345) 20 36 96 86
Location: Händeldenkmal auf dem halleschen Marktplatz

Further guided tours (planned):

 

Price per ticket: 5.- Euro (does not include entry fees - money goes into the reconstruction of acknowledged renaissance buildings)

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