Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia

Infobox German Location
Name = Halle
Wappen = Wappen von Halle (Westf.).pnglat_deg = 52 |lat_min = 04
lon_deg = 8 |lon_min = 22
Lageplan = North rhine w gt Halle.pngBundesland = Nordrhein-Westfalen
Regierungsbezirk = Detmold
Kreis = Gütersloh
Höhe = 125
Fläche = 69.21
Einwohner = 21329
Stand = 2006-12-31
PLZ = 33790
Vorwahl = 0 52 01
Kfz = GT (until 1974 HW)
Gemeindeschlüssel = 05 7 54 012
Gliederung = 6
Straße = Ravensberger Straße 1
Website = [http://www.hallewestfalen.org/ www.hallewestfalen.org]
Bürgermeister = Anne Rodenbrock-Wesselmann
Partei = SPD

Halle (officially Halle (Westf.), in order to distinguish from the larger Halle, Saxony-Anhalt) is a town in the German Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia and belongs to the district of Gütersloh. It lies approx. 37 km south-east of Osnabrück and 15 km west of Bielefeld.

Geography

Geographic Location

Halle is situated in sandy plain of the river Ems on the southern slopes of the Teutoburg Forest, which crosses the town area from northwest to southeast. This mountain range separates the Eastern part of the Münsterland and the Westfalian Bay. The highest points are the Hengeberg elevating 316 meters and the Eggeberg elevating 312 meters. With 70 meters the south- western outskirts are the lowest point. There the creeks Hessel, Rhedaer Bach as well as the Ruthebach leave the city limits. All creeks have its source in the Teutoburg Forest and ultimately join the river Ems. The town area is essentially characterized by agriculture, but has also substantial amount of forest areas, namely the Teutoburg Forest and the Tatenhauser Forest. The 52nd degree of latitude traverses the town area in its southern part.

As a result of communal elections on September 26, 2004 currently the CDU, the SPD, the The Greens, the FDP as well as two independent voters alliances, the UWG and the STU (agenda party favouring a specific marked-out route for the unfinished motorway) are represented in the Halle town council.

Communal politics are strongly coined by local topics, with one of the major issues of the voters being the future dealing with the Bundesautobahn 33 (see below). The above mentioned STU stood for election for the first time in 2004, their only agenda being the continuation of the Autobahn on a specific marked-out route. The STU gained 6 seats at the first go and took away votes mainly from the CDU, but also from the SPD.

Mayor

Sitting mayoress since 2002 is Anne Rodenbrock-Wesselmann (SPD).

Coat of Arms

The coat of arms of Halle shows three silver lilies on red ground. In the foreground as the heart sign it shows the coat of arms of the County of Ravensberg (three red chevrons on silver).

It was granted for the first time in 1908 by order of the King of Prussia, continued to be used unchanged after the incorporations of 1973. The three chevron presumably hint to the former to the belonging to county of Ravensberg, the three lilies assumedly date back to an official community seal of the 18th century.

Town Twinning

The town twinning between Halle and flagicon|FRA Ronchin (France) dates back to September 22, 1984. In honour of the twinning a central square in Halle was named "Ronchin-Platz" (Platz = square). There is regular cultural exchange and sporting encounters. During the town fest "Haller Willem" Ronchin is represented with a stand offering local delicacies.

Culture and Sights

Architecture

In Town

* The Protestant parish church is located amidst the tree-lined church square and surrounded by half-timbered buildings, altogether often called "The Heart of Halle". The arched building was originally built single-nave in the 13th century; a square choir and a west tower were added to the southern side aisle in the 15th century. The northern addition dates from 1886. Remnants of Baroque features in the interior could be preserved, among them the sandstone pulpit of 1716. In the northern side aisle there is a gallery balustrade that dates back to 1661. The church was equipped with a new organ in 1992. The church square was Halle's most important graveyard until 1828.

* To this date a considerable number of half-timbered buildings could be preserved. The built-up area around the church has an impressive closedness, only few comparable structures are preserved in the area (compare Delbrück, Gütersloh). The oldest building is "Kirchplatz No. 3", which was dated dendrochronologically to the year 1512. "Kirchplatz No. 11" has a storefront that is carved with fan rosettes, the storefront was used for a new building after the old building to which it originally belonged was broken down. In the nearby "Bahnhofstraße" there are further eminent half-timbered buildings. The house no. 10 is exceptionally stately, showing a special form of bay windows to the street, that dates back to the 17th century.

* Kiskerhaus ("Kisker House"), nowadays used by the folk high school. The former head office of the Kisker distillery consists of an older core building from 1692 that was extended in 1712. It served as residence and office. On the same compound furthermore the Schinkenhaus ("Ham House"), a plastered stone house with garret roof and a half-timbered gavel to the northwest, the distillery house, built early in the 19th century and with the old distillery in the cellar that can be sightseen to date, and the remise, built as a coach and store house around 1880.

* The Catholic Church Herz-Jesu was inaugurated on November 14, 1909. The building was donated by countess Julia Korff-Schmising- Kerßenbrock.

* In front of the old building of the county court a war memorial can be seen, which was erected in 1898. The inscription reads: Ihren in den siegreichen Feldzügen 1866 und 1870/71 gefallenen Soehnen in Darkbarkeit; Die Kirchengemeinde Halle i./W. 1898 ("With gratitude to its sons killed in action in the victorious expeditions of 1866 and 1870/71; The parish of Halle i./W. 1898")

Out of Town

* The moated castle Tatenhausen is situated in the Tatenhausen Forest. The castle was ancestral home to the barons and counts von Korff, called Schmising. It was built in the Weserrenaissance style. The erection of the east wing started in the year 1540, based on foundations from the 14th century. The centre section and the west wing were built in Baroque style in the 18th century. The Baroque style Orangery was designed by Johann Conrad Schlaun in 1751. The castle is still inhabited. The surrounding lake is fed by the creek Laibach.

*The "Kaffeemühle" ("Burr Mill"; 52° 04′ 09″ N, 8° 22′ 03″ O) is a building in the Teutoburg Forest. It was built by the Hagedorn family, a merchant family from Bremen that worked in Halle. It is in possession of the town of Halle by way of donation by the families Julius and Florenz Kisker since 1904. The building offers views on Halle as well as the surrounding region to the south. The name of the building has been coined by the public because of its great resemblance to a burr mill.

* Shortly below the burr mill the Hagedorn Memorial was erected in honour of Hermann Hagedorn on the occasion of his 68th birthday.

* On a number of places on the slopes of Teutoburg Forest bordered forest graveyards can be found, e.g. at 52° 04′ 11″ N, 8° 22′ 00″ O.

* Also on the slopes of Teutoburger Wald a Walther von der Vogelweide-Memorial can be found (52° 04′ 06″ N, 8° 22′ 13″ O). Its erection was encouraged at the of the years 1920 by the Men's Singing Club Ravensberg, despite the known fact that Vogelweide had never visited the region. By its construction the singing club wanted to express its great attachment to Walther von der Vogelweide. The memorial was unveiled in 1930 in Vogelweide's 700th year of death. Since the singing club annually holds its traditional Whitsun Singing at the memorial. The inscription on the memorial reads: Grüß Gott mit hellem Klang / Heil deutschem Wort und Sang; Zur Erinnerung an das 700. Todesjahr Walther's von der Vogelweide / Halle(Westf.) den 29.Juni 1930 / Männer-Gesang-Verein Ravensberg / "Walther von der Vogelweide, wer sein vergäße, tät mir leid!" ("Greetings with bright clang / Hail to German word and sang; To commemorate the 700th year of death of Walther von der Vogelweide / Halle(Westf.) June 29, 1930 / Men's Singing Club Ravensberg / "Walther von der Vogelweide, he who would forget him would have my pity!"). The memorial is a station on the cultural path "Teutoburger Wald Laibachweg".

*Halle was home to coal and iron ore mining for roughly 400 years. In the year 1505 erlaubte Duke Wilhelm IV. of Jülich-Berg granted rights to his stadtholder Count Philipp II. of Waldeck to erect mines in the County of Ravensberg. The first pit assumedly was in the borderland between Halle and Werther. In the mid-17th century coal digging also took place in Eggeberg. Furthermore ore was searched near the surface on the hilltop of the Teutoburg Forest. Log wood to support the extension of the pits was available in abundance in the Teutoburg Forest. In the middle of the 18th century coal mining yielded due to high wood prices and difficulties to import less expensive coal. During the mining booms in the 19th century therewere as many as 23 coal pits and 24 pits for near-surface ore. All pits were closed down in 1883 due to the growing impact of the Cologne-Minden railway line and the options to import coal cheaper from the Ruhr Area. Due to the Occupation of the Ruhr by French troups in 1923 one drift was reopened for a short period. On a marked hiking trail starting at 52° 04′ 27″ N, 8° 22′ 02″ O with an information panel the hiker goes past some of the old drifts and the pithead building.

Parks

Halle has no laid-out parks. Merely the Friedhof I (Cemetery I) near the train station is park-like with large free spaces. Numerous playgrounds, among them those covering a relatively vast area, e.g. the Laibach-playground, are used like parks by the population.

Museums

Halle has the only ‘’museum for works of childhood and adolescence of important artists" in the world. Namely paintings during adolescence of artists like Paul and Felix Klee, August Macke, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Pablo Picasso are in the focus of the museum's work.

In the remise of the "Kisker House" there are regular single and group exhibitions of visual arts with regional reference. Contemporary artwork, sculptures, acrylic, oil and aquarelle paintings and photo arts are presented.

In the former leather manufacture Güttgemanns more than 15 local artists and artisans took domicile. They regularly organize joint exhibitions and presentations.

Music

In February Halle hosts the super regionally renowned "Haller Bachtage", with choir- and orchestra concerts, chamber and organ concerts being staged during one week. In many cases international celebrities of classical music can be engaged (Peter Schreier, Thomas Quasthoff, Petr Eben a.o.).

Natural Monuments

Approx. 437 acres of the Tatenhausen Forest are protected by the Habitats Directive of the European Union. This area hosts rare bats like the Bechstein bat (Myotis Bechsteinii), the greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis Myotis) and the lake bat (Myotis Dasycneme). Moreover the Laibach creek is a habitat for the common kingfisher. The reserve is the only known habitat for a rare bug species (Heldbock ). Typical types of biotopes are mixed forests of beech and oak with a high degree of old wood and alder-ash tree-pasture forests.

Sports

Every year in June Halle hosts the Gerry Weber Open, one of a handful of ATP tournaments in the world played on grass. Tennis professionals use this tournament as a tune-up for Wimbledon.

In 2007 the Gerry-Weber-Stadium, which is the 2nd- biggest stadium in the district of Gütersloh, hosted several matches of World Men's Handball Championship.

The men's team of "TC Blau-Weiß Halle" have won the German Team Tennis Championships in 1995 and 2006.

There is a number of possibilities to do sports in clubs [ [http://www.hallewestfalen.net/firmen/branche.php?type=&stichwort=&branche=&plz=&menuid=276&topmenu=98&letter=&search_plz=&search_firma=&search_telefon_fax=&search_email=&search_url=&search_strasse=&search_ort=&page=1 Website of Halle (Westfalen), List of sports clubs] ] :
* various football clubs
* various tennis clubs
* various gymnastics clubs
* Golfclub Teutoburger Wald with 27 holes
* CVJM athletics club
* Canadian Canoe Club
* 1st RSC Gerry Weber Rackets e. V., Squash Club
* 1st sports fishing club of Halle
* Automobile Club Halle (Westf.) e. V.
* Karate Dojo Halle e. V.
* Karate Dojo Mushin Halle of 1991
* Modellfluggruppe Halle (Westf.)
* Horse Riding and Carriage Driving Club Halle
* Chess Club Halle 1946 / Künsebeck 1948 e. V.
* Swimming Club Halle (Westf.)
* Folk Dance Club Halle

Regular Events

Besides the Gerry-Weber-Open and the "Haller Bachtage", mentioned in earlier sections, the town fest "Haller Willem" traditionally takes place on Ascension Day.

Further regular events are:
* Weekly Market: The weekly market takes place in city center each Friday
* Hörster Bummel: an annual funfair in the village Hörste
* Hemdsärmelball: an annual folk festival
* Party im gelben See (= "party in the yellow pond"): an annual folk festival on a field with sunflowers that have been sown for this occasion
* Christmas Market: annual market around the protestant church, takes polace on one of the Advent Sundays
* Gewerbeschau Gartnisch: annual exhibition of local trade and industry

Infrastructure

Traffic

Road Traffic

The highway B68 runs through Halle. The marked- out path of the Bundesautobahn 33 runs trough Halle. For decades the planning of this highway is politically controversial. On one hand it is bound to take pressure of the highway B68 in city centre, on the other hand the marked- out path runs through the Tatenhauser Wald, part of which is protected by the FFH.

Train and Bus Transport

The train stations "Halle (Westf.)", "Künsebeck", "Halle Gerry-Weber-Stadion" and "Hesseln" are located alongside the railway tracks of the Haller Willem (KBS 402). The identically named Regionalbahn commutes hourly between Bielefeld, Halle and Osnabrück (during weekdays partly half- hourly between Bielefeld and Halle). The service is run by the NordWestBahn which uses Talent trains for speeds up to 120 km/h. The line was opened in 1886.

Regional buses run to Bielefeld, Gütersloh, Werther (Westfalia), Steinhagen (Westfalia), Brockhagen and Versmold.

For all public transport within North- Rhine Westfalia there are two unified tariffs: "Der Sechser" and the NRW- tariff. For connections to Osnabrück an additional tariff ("VOS plus") is valid.

Lines within Halle are reinforced by four taxi-bus lines during early morning/ late evening hours and the weekend.

Pedestrian and Bicycle Traffic

Halle is located on four supra- regional bike routes. The "BahnRadRoute Teuto-Senne" leads from Osnabrück via Halle and Bielefeld to Paderborn. The routes R3 from Haaksbergen to Bad Pyrmont and R45 from Schledenhausen to Hainchen lead through Hörste and Bokel. The Wellness(i.e. Fitness)- bike route Teutoburg Forest, which is layed out as a circular route of roughly 500 km, also runs through Halle. Additionally four circular routes, each approx. 20 km long, run through Halle, developing in a shamrock shape starting at the train station.

Halle has a car-free zone which is host to the weekly market and hikers find a choice of twelve signposted circular routes.

Air Traffic

Bielefeld, being the next bigger town, does not have a commercial airport. Hence farther drives must be accepted, which timewise, however, do not differ substantially from those in large cities. There is a choice of four regional commercial airports within one to one and a half, thus the number of destinations that can be reached with a direct flight is quite high. The Münster/ Osnabrück- Airport lies within 55 km distance, the Paderborn/ Lippstadt- Airport is ca. 70 km away. Dortmund Airport lies within 100km, that of Hanover roughly within 130 km distance.

Companies residing in Halle

The most renowned employers in Halle are:
* Gerry Weber International AG, a listed fashion and lifestyle company,
* August Storck KG, a confectionery manufacturer, whose headquarters are located in Berlin nowadays, but with its origin in Halle still has its main plant there,
* Kisker-Brennereien, a liquor producer, as well as a
* Branch of Baxter International, operating in pharmaceuticals and medical technology.

Media

Print Media

The Haller Kreisblatt, a subsidiary of the Neue Westfälische, and a local edition of the Westfalen-Blatt are published as daily newspapers Monday through Saturday with a comparable number of copies. Both papers receive their non-local content from their head offices in Bielefeld. Both papers cover the entire former district of Halle. Additionally the free-of-charge-paper "OWL am Sonntag" (East-Westfalia on Sundays), a branch of the Westfalen-Blatt is published each Sunday. The city magazine "Haller Willem" is published monthly with a number of copies of 10,550.

Radio and Television

Halle belongs to the reporting area of the regional studio of the WDR and also to the coverage area of Radio Gütersloh (a local radio station).

Public Facilities

The town offers a number of public services for its citizens. The public library holds approx. 30.000 books. It is located in a landmarked distillery building of the Kisker- Brennereien. This building also hosts the municipal archive.

The "Lindenbad" is fun spa that combines indoor and outdoor swimming pools. It is operated by the Technische Werke Osning GmbH which is owned by the town.

The local hospital with 163 beds available is run by the Klinikum Ravensberg gGmbH which also operates a hospital in Versmold.

The County Court in Halle is also responsible for the former district of Halle, i.e. Borgholzhausen, Steinhagen, Versmold and Werther.

The auxiliary fire brigade of Halle is responsible for fire protection and fire fighting and deployed out of Halle, Hörste and Kölkebeck.

Education

With one exception (Comprehensive School] Halle offers all available types of schools. There are four elementary schools ("Grundschule") within the city limits:

* Grundschule Gartnisch
* Grundschule Lindenschule
* Grundschule Hörste
* Grundschule Künsebeck

Secondary schools are:

* Hauptschule Halle
* Realschule Halle
* Kreisgymnasium Halle
* Berufskolleg Halle ("vocational school")

Hauptschule and Realschule reside on the same premises.

Additionally there is the special school

* Gerhard-Hauptmann-Schule

and for adult education the

* Folk high school Ravensberg

Some schools of Halle are of relevance beyond Halle since they provide offers for adjacent communities, namely the Berufskolleg, the Kreisgymnasium and the Folk High School, since neighbouring communities do not always offer these school types.

In the year 2006 in Halle's schools (except Berufskolleg and Folk High School) 198 teachers taught a total of 2,933 students, about 33% thereof in elementary schools, ca. 8% in Haupt- and 24,2% in Realschule, approx. 30,2% at the Kreisgymnasium, and finally some 4,2% at the special school. [ [http://www.lds.nrw.de/kommunalprofil/l05754012.html Landesamt für Datenverarbeitung und Statistik Nordrhein-Westfalen, Kommunalprofil Halle (Westf.)] ]

Public Characters

Sons and daughters of the town

Born in Halle are:
* 1803: Ferdinand Wilhelm Brune, architect of the classicism era
* 1939: Heiner Erke, psychologist
* 1962: Sarah Wiener, cook
* 1963: Monica Theodorescu, dressage rider
* 1975: Jörg Ludewig, race cyclist

Other public characters that are connected with Halle

Not born in Halle, but living/ having lived or worked there:
* Hans Schwier, politician (SPD) and minister of cultural affairs in North Rhine-Westphalia, represented Halle in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia between 1970 and 1975
* Burghard Schloemann, church musical director and founder of the "Haller Bach-Tage"
* Gabriele Behler, later minister of cultural affairs in North Rhine-Westphalia, taught at Kreisgymnasium Halle
* Heribert Bruchhagen, football official, taught at Kreisgymnasium Halle

References

External links

* [http://www.hallewestfalen.org/ official portal of Stadt Halle (virtual town hall), in German only]
* [http://www.museum-halle.de/ homepage of the museum for works of childhood and adolescence of important artists, in German only]
* [http://www.haller-lederfabrik.de/, homepage of the artisan domicile "Alte Lederfabrik Güttgemanns", in German only]
* [http://www.haller-bach-tage.de/ homepage of the Haller Bachtage, in German only]
* [http://www.haller-willem.de/willem.php?link=0 official homepage of the Haller Willem within the transport authority OstWestfalenLippe, in German only]
* [http://www.hallo-willem.de/html/der_haller_willem.html, homepage of the Haller Willem initiative, with historic data about the Haller Willem, in German only]
* [http://www.haller-kreisblatt.de/ homepage of Haller Kreisblatt newspaper, in German only]
* [http://www.westfalenblatt.de/redaktion/vor_ort/halle.php web presence of the local editorial office of Westfalen-Blatt newspaper, in German only]
* [http://www.lindenbad.de/lindenbad/ homepage of the public swimming pool "Lindenbad", in German only]
* [http://www.two.de/wDeutsch/ homepage of the public utility company "TWO", in German only]
* [http://www.klinikum-ravensberg.de/cms/front_content.php?idart=94 homepage of the local hospital, in German only]
* [http://www.feuerwehr-halle-westfalen.de/ homepage of Halle fire brigade, in German only]
* [http://www.lindenschule-halle.de/ homepage of the elementary school "Lindenschule" Halle, in German only]
* [http://www.gskuensebeck.de/ homepage of the elementary school Künsebeck, in German only]
* [http://www.schulen-gt.de/index.php?object=262919 homepage of the Hauptschule Halle, in German only]
* [http://212.100.49.174/ homepage of the Realschule Halle, in German only]
* [http://www.kreisgymnasium-halle.de/cms/web/index.php?id=23 homepage of the Kreisgymnasiums Halle, in German only]
* [http://www.berufskolleg-halle.de homepage of the Berufskollegs Halle, in German only]
* [http://www.gerhart-hauptmann-schule-halle.de/ homepage of the special school "Gerhard-Hauptmann-Schule" Halle, in German only]
* [http://www.vhs-ravensberg.de/ homepage of the Folk High School Ravensberg, in German only]
* [http://altkreis-halle.info AltkreisHalle.info - Community, a.o. with online news of the Haller Kreisblatt, in German only]
* [http://www.env-it.de/umweltbundesamt/luftdaten/stationdata.fwd;jsessionid=2640F2F5E80133B7232E645FE5F047CF?comp=PM1&type=1TMW&date=20080324&time=-1&state=NW&station=DENW222 regularly updated measured data about particulate matter in Halle city centre]