Hall Münsterland
The Messe und Congress Centrum Halle Münsterland is a trade fair, congress and event center in the Westphalian city of Münster . It was founded in 1926 and today consists of the Great Hall, three exhibition halls and the Congress Center with various halls and conference rooms. In total, it comprises around 20,000 square meters of exhibition space and around 10,000 square meters of outdoor space. Since January 2009 the former Halle Münsterland has been officially operating as the Messe und Congress Centrum Halle Münsterland in order to emphasize the variety of events that take place here.
history
Planning and completion
At the beginning of the 20th century, there were only a few places in Münster where major events could take place. In particular, the public cattle markets, which had to be held in the open air on Neuplatz (today Schlossplatz ), presented the city administration with increasing space and hygiene problems. At the same time, the up-and-coming city lacked a large event hall for meetings, exhibitions, trade fairs and sports tournaments.
The Münsterland hall was built from 1925 on the site of the former municipal gas works in the southeast of the city. In addition to the city of Münster as the client, the three agricultural breeding associations in Westphalia participated in the construction and sponsorship. The modern building complex was 180 meters long and 45 meters wide. A curved wooden roof arched at a height of 16 meters over the almost 3,500 square meter central hall, which could accommodate up to 6,000 people. On April 17 and 18, 1926, the Münsterland hall was opened with a two-day tournament of the Westphalian riding and driving clubs. The official construction costs amounted to 753,000 Reichsmarks.
The driving force behind the new event hall was Lord Mayor Georg Sperlich . With their help, he wanted to increase regional competitiveness, especially since the Westfalenhalle was being built in neighboring Dortmund at the same time . The fact that Sperlich had ordered the start of the work without the consent of the city council caused high waves of local politics. Subsequent approval of the construction and financing was given a year and a half after the opening.
Events 1926–1939
In the early years, the Münsterland hall was primarily the venue for agricultural events. The first auction of pigs and cattle took place in June 1926, followed by the first breeding cattle auction in November 1926. Up until the beginning of the Second World War , around 20 cattle auctions were held annually. There were also stallion licensing and small animal shows.
In addition, 30 sports festivals (athletics, ball sports and gymnastics events) took place in the Halle Münsterland until 1939. The equestrian sport was represented with riding and driving tournaments, there were also numerous bowling, boxing and wrestling competitions. The bike races on a 160-meter-long cycling track by the local architect Clemens Schürmann with domestic and foreign sports stars developed into the biggest visitor magnets before the war. The annual carnival festival attracted around 10,000 visitors each time. The first major event was the German Catholic Day from September 4 to 8, 1930 with around 30,000 participants.
With the rise of National Socialism , the number of political rallies increased. In July 1932, the newly deposed Chancellor Heinrich Brüning ( center ), who came from Münster, was celebrated with a storm during an election campaign. On April 8, 1932, Adolf Hitler spoke to 10,000 people at the first NSDAP rally in the Münsterland hall. 38 other major events of the party followed until 1939, as the ruling National Socialists could use the city hall at any time free of charge.
Military use and destruction
Since August 1939, the Münsterland hall has served military purposes as a loading station for weapons and vehicles, a horse hospital, a substitute catering office and for the administration of the armed forces. Events no longer took place during the war. All buildings were completely destroyed in several heavy Allied bombing raids on Münster from 1941 onwards.
Reconstruction and reopening
Although the whole of Münster was in ruins after 1945, the city quickly began to rebuild the hall: Agriculture needed a place for its markets in order to be able to supply the population with food. In 1948/1949 the new Halle Münsterland was built on the old square, which offers 3,000 square meters of exhibition space for trade fairs and space for up to 7,000 people at concerts. As the Great Hall, it still forms the core of the exhibition grounds today. The Münster rider family again offered great support during the reconstruction. The valuable wood for their characteristic, semicircular barrel roof in Zollinger roof construction came from Bavaria and was exchanged for 120 black horses from the breeders. At that time, the hall floor was designed to be suitable for horses and was covered with hard-wearing floor coverings for other events. Halle Münsterland GmbH, founded in 1947, completed the ensemble by 1952 with offices and foyer, a new cattle market hall, a restaurant and the White Hall as a conference room for 500 people. The construction costs totaled around 2 million DM. This made the Münsterland hall the first and initially largest rebuilt event hall in Germany.
In 1950 the Schürmann cycling track was renewed. It was 153 meters long and made of wood. A total of 33 six-day races were held on it from 1955 to 1988 .
Extensions, conversions and new buildings
Since the 1950s, the hall buildings have been redesigned and expanded again and again. In 1959/1960 a second cattle market was built. From 1966 a larger foyer, conference and office rooms were added. In 1972, work began on the concert and congress hall with which Halle Münsterland wanted to further distinguish itself in the fields of culture and conferences. For the 50th anniversary of the hall in April 1976, the new hall, which since then has accommodated up to 1000 visitors, was opened.
In the 1990s, the appearance of Halle Münsterland changed completely. The room capacities, especially for trade fairs and congresses, were no longer sufficient to survive in the increasingly tough competition between the venues. That is why the city of Münster bought two adjacent properties to expand the hall area in 1988 for 20 million DM. In 1990 a new administration building was built. In 1994 the city made a total of 82 million DM available for renovations, conversions and new buildings. The centerpiece was the construction of three new exhibition halls with a total of almost 16,000 square meters. The north and center exhibition halls were opened in 1996, the south exhibition hall in 2002. The main hall and north foyer were also renovated.
The modernization of the Congress Center took place in 2016.
The Messe und Congress Centrum Halle Münsterland today has around 20,000 square meters of exhibition space and around 10,000 square meters of outdoor space. The largest hall, the Messehalle Mitte, can accommodate up to 11,000 people for major events.
Music and stage
Classical and Jazz
In the decades after the war, mainly classical music and jazz were on the program. The Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics visited Halle Münsterland several times, including under the direction of Wilhelm Furtwängler (1950–51) and Herbert von Karajan (1970–72). On June 2, 1976, the New York Philharmonic performed under Leonard Bernstein in the hall. Classical concerts have not played a major role since the early 1980s. The same applies to jazz, the greats of which performed regularly in the Halle Münsterland until the 1970s (for example Louis Armstrong 1955–62, Lionel Hampton 1956–61, Benny Goodman 1959). The Münster International Jazz Festival took place here between 1986 and 1994 and is now being presented in the Münster Theater .
Schlager and musical
The German premiere of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar on February 18, 1972 brought Halle Münsterland into the headlines across the country and established a musical tradition that continues to this day, ranging from Hair to West Side Story and Grease to Saturday Night Fever . The musical diva Ute Lemper from Münster returned several times with her solo programs on the stage of the hall. Concerts by popular and folk music stars have been an integral part of the program since the 1960s. Big names like Udo Jürgens , Reinhard Mey , James Last , Howard Carpendale , Die Flippers , the Schürzenjäger and the Kastelruther Spatzen have been stopping off on every tour in Münster for decades.
Rock and pop
The Halle Münsterland experienced the rock and pop revolution at the forefront. On September 11, 1965, the Rolling Stones gave their first concert in Germany here. The Münster appearances of Jimi Hendrix (1969), Deep Purple (1970) and Pink Floyd (1971) became legendary . Among the international rock and pop greats who made guest appearances in Halle Münsterland are Ray Charles , Bob Dylan , Jethro Tull , Ten Years After , Johnny Cash , Santana , Tina Turner , Frank Zappa , Rod Stewart , Depeche Mode , DJ BoBo , Modern Talking , Pet Shop Boys , Bryan Adams and the Backstreet Boys . There are also national stars such as Peter Maffay , Die Toten Hosen , Udo Lindenberg , Marius Müller-Westernhagen , Herbert Grönemeyer , Die Prinzen , Wise Guys or BAP , who have been loyal to the hall for a long time. The highlights since the turn of the millennium include the gigs by Coldplay , blink-182 , Böhse Onkelz , Tokio Hotel and Wir sind Helden , as well as by Sportfreunde Stiller , No Angels , Die Ärzte , the Farin Urlaub Racing Team , the Fantastischen Vier and Deichkind . In addition, open-air concerts are regularly held in the parking lot between the halls of the building complex.
Show and entertainment
The biggest show event since the 1970s has been the multi-week guest performance of the ice revue Holiday on Ice at Christmas time. In the past decade, the performance of the magician David Copperfield , André Heller's Wintergarten Varieté or the step show Lord of the Dance guaranteed full halls . During the carnival time, in addition to numerous balls, the ceremonial meeting Westphalia takes place, which is broadcast on WDR television. Otherwise, the number of TV show productions in the Messe und Congress Centrum Halle Münsterland ( Let's go , Musikantenstadl , Wetten, dass ..? ) Has decreased since the 1990s.
Theater and comedy
Since the opening of the city theater in 1956, there have only been a few plays and operas in the Messe and Congress Centrum Halle Münsterland. In addition, the hall has become a popular venue for cabaret artists and comedians such as Helge Schneider , Otto Waalkes , Rüdiger Hoffmann , Dieter Nuhr , Martin Rütter , Eckart von Hirschhausen , Mario Barth , Atze Schröder , Paul Panzer , Cindy from Marzahn , Luke Mockridge and Carolin Kebekus developed.
Sports
Until the 1990s, the hall offered a wide range of sporting events. Numerous wrestling and boxing competitions were joined by national and international championships in dancing, indoor soccer, handball, volleyball, tennis and artistic gymnastics. The biggest visitor magnet was the annual six-day race , in which many of the country's best cyclists started between 1950 and 1981. Today the range of sports is limited to one major event: the international show jumping elite have been competing against each other since 1949 at the traditional riding and jumping tournament ( K + K Cup ), which attracts over 20,000 visitors every January . In 2014, a total of 33,000 spectators were counted on the five days of the event. As part of this event, the Farmer's Olympics will also be held, a team competition of the Münster Equestrian Association for the hiking standards of the city of Münster, which culminates in the team freestyle on Thursday evening. More than one million visitors were counted between 1926 and 2014, for which the organizer was awarded a star on the “Star Walk”.
measure up
In the past decades, trade fairs have become more and more important as a business area for the Messe und Congress Centrum Halle Münsterland. From the 1960s onwards, it increasingly organized trade fairs for specialist audiences (craft, gardening or agricultural shows) as well as for consumers (household, garden or car markets). The Münsterlandschau (1972–2002), the largest consumer fair in the region, and the garden fair Spring - Flowers - Leisure (since 1983) became permanent fixtures.
Since the opening of the three new exhibition halls (1996/2002), international exhibitions have taken place regularly - for example IPOMEX, a trade fair for police and rescue services, or the International Exhibition for Track Technology (IAF), where construction machinery for rail transport is shown and the AAGtechnika . Then there are the own trade fairs of the Messe und Congress Centrum Halle Münsterland, such as the Art & Antik Messe Münster or the DOGLIVE Mein Hund und Ich.
Congresses
Conferences and congresses have also steadily gained in importance over the past decades. German farmers , craft , doctors and lawyers ' days took place in the Messe und Congress Centrum Halle Münsterland as well as various federal party conferences and the German Catholic Day 2018.
Today around a third of all events are conferences and congresses. The spectrum ranges from company and general meetings of regional companies to medical or scientific congresses of international importance. After the modernization of the Congress Center (2016), a total of 10 halls and forums can accommodate up to 4,000 people.
literature
- Christa Wilbrand: The Halle Münsterland 1926 to 2001. Ardey-Verlag, Münster, 2001. ISBN 3-87023-182-3
Individual evidence
- ↑ Westfälische Nachrichten : The “Halle” turns 90: Birthday party of the “Exhibition and Congress Center” with lots of music on April 17th , Münster, Münster, March 16, 2016
- ↑ a b c d e Westfälische Nachrichten : A star that bears his name: Since 1926, the Münster Riding Association has attracted more than a million people to the Münsterland Hall , Local Sports, Münster, Ansgar Griebel, January 28, 2014
- ↑ Westfälische Nachrichten : Big birthday party for the 90th birthday of Halle Münsterland , Münster, April 16, 2016
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 56 ′ 53 ″ N , 7 ° 38 ′ 16 ″ E