Mercure Hotel Alba Halle Leipzig

Einstein on simplicity

by Nemorino

When I was in Halle in 2009 they had banners with quotations by famous people on display around the city in connection with a cultural theme year that they were doing.

The one I liked best was this quotation from the physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1955): Man soll die Dinge so einfach wie möglich machen. Aber nicht einfacher. Which means: One should make things as simple as possible, but not simpler.

Händel statue on the Market Square

by Nemorino

In the Market Square (Marktplatz) there is a statue of Georg Friedrich Händel which was erected in 1859 on the one hundredth anniversary of the composer's death.

Queen Victoria of England was in attendance when the statue was unveiled.

Additional photos: Cyclists at the Market Square near the Händel statue

Leipziger Street and Tower

by Nemorino

Although parts of Halle have been seriously mauled by ugly motorways cutting straight through the city, there is also a long pedestrian zone leading from the main railroad station (passing under one of the motorways) to the Market Square and a bit beyond, a distance of about 1.4 kilometers.

The only serious interruption is when you have to cross a very wide street by the Leipziger Tower, as shown in the third, fourth and fifth photos.

Photos:
1. Leipziger Street and Tower
2. Leipzigerstraße pedestrian zone
3. Street crossing by the Leipziger Tower
4. Crossing the street at Leipziger Tower
5. Crossing the street at Leipziger Tower

A Wombat in Halle

by Russell_the_Wombat

On a marvelous spring day we set out on a day trip from Braunschweig, where we stayed for Easter, to Halle. The beginning was boring - I had to spend one and a half hours inside the bag at the cloakroom of a museum that would not allow wombats in. Afterwards, however, I was rewarded with a visit to the zoo where I met many nice animals. In the afternoon we walked round the city centre until our feet hurt so much that we had to stop for coffee and icecream.

Mommy's Halle page provides more information on the things we saw and did.

Russell the Travelling Wombat has returned to Halle in late August. We stayed for three days but Mommy was attending a congress so there was not much time for wombat trips. One afternoon we went to see some off the beaten path places in Halle: the socialist architecture in Halle-Neustadt, Giebichenstein castle and the Saale banks, a romantic old churchyard, and Halle's traditional sweets.

GDR Days

by Bigs

"Welcome to the past!"

This travelogue is about the former days of the German Democratic Republic! All pics on this side are from GDR days! I took them in 1987, as I remember this right....

All houses were gray or dark brown, due to the heavy air pollution from the brown coal, the people heated their homes with in the winter. It was also very smelly on the streets in winter, as you might can imagine.....

This pic is a bit newer, I think it must be from 93 or so. It´s an old communism sign that says: "My work - fighting place for freedom!" I´m glad, that those signs aren´t seen in the streets anymore..........

The Trabant or the Lada have been the common cars in the GDR.