Council scales (hall)
The Ratswaage was built between 1571 and 1581 and was one of the most important Renaissance buildings in Halle (Saale) . In addition to the old town hall and the council chapel, it determined the image of the east side of the historic market square. The Ratswaage was the main building of the Friedrichs-Universität Halle for over 140 years . The Ratswaage was partially destroyed in an American air raid on March 31, 1945 and demolished in 1948. Today there is a department store on the property. A bronze relief on its outer wall has been reminiscent of the council scales since 2008.
History of construction and use
From the 14th century at the latest, there was a wooden scales building , from which the trading activities on the market square were controlled: granting concessions, setting taxes, customs duties, and the conversion of measurements and weights. Scales, councilors and market barnacles had their place here. In the 15th century, a larger successor building was built, probably as a half-timbered house.
Under the council builders Leonhard Zeise and George Bentener , and probably significantly influenced by Nickel Hoffmann , the city then erected a new Libra building on the same site from 1573 to 1581 (which, although often changed, existed until the bombing in 1945 and demolition in 1948). It was performed in the style of the German Renaissance as a four-storey, eight-axis solid building with a high gable roof bordered by stepped gables. The roof supported three rows of gabled dormers with crowning points behind the extended attic storeys. The main building was oriented towards the market square and had two two-storey side wings on the courtyard side, so that a three-sided system resulted.
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The front side had a rich sculptural design, two bay-like porches and a "very noble", magnificent arched portal . This was formerly ascribed to Zacharias Bogenkrantz , today it is assumed that Nickel Hoffmann created it. The " archive tower " or "Clausur tower", also called the "red" or "bloody tower" in old documents , was included in the new building . It was the remainder of a manorial complex, had a floor area of 128 m², basement walls up to four meters thick and was also used to accommodate delinquents. The only access to this tower was a covered corridor from the old town hall at the level of its upper floor. This corridor across Rathausstrasse was also retained for the new Renaissance building or was rebuilt - most recently again at the end of the 1930s - and only destroyed during the bombing in 1945. In addition to its function as a council scale, the Libra building also served as a meeting and wedding house for the citizens of Halle.
In 1690 , the legal scholar Christian Thomasius held his first public disputation in the Great Hall of the Waage Building . After that, the father of the state gave permission for the building to be converted for teaching purposes at a university, for the rectorate, senate meetings, academic festivities (auditorium) and the university collections. The function of council scales was also performed on the ground floor. The solemn inauguration of the new Friedrichs University by Emperor Leopold I took place on July 1, 1694 in the presence of its namesake, Elector Friedrich III. of Brandenburg . After Halle was captured by Napoleonic troops in October 1806, the Libra building, the hospital , "all the benches and the catheter were smashed and thrown into the courtyard". Days later possessed Napoleon the closure of the Friedrichs University Halle. After that, the building was also used as a slaughterhouse at times. After the Battle of the Nations in Leipzig, Libra became a hospital again, and then “the ghost of the French era was over”. After that, after a corresponding renovation of the facility, the building served the university again until the university moved into a new auditorium building in 1834 (today's “ Lion Building ”).
Between 1835 and 1837 the building lost essential parts of its interior design, but the exterior shape of the beautiful Renaissance building was also adapted to contemporary architectural ideas. The steep roof with three rows of gable dormers was replaced by a much flatter construction. The building as a whole was reshaped in a classical style, and the oriel turrets were also demolished. The widely visible inscription of the university was removed. The impressive Renaissance portal was preserved.
In 1837 a municipal middle school moved into the Ratswaage, and in 1847 the municipal calibration office. In 1875 the school moved out again. City administration and trade used the building from now on. In 1913 a fire broke out in the roof structure of the north wing, which also affected the roof of the main building. A reconstruction of the earlier high tiled roof was not carried out during the restoration.
In the second half of the 1930s, the Ratswaage building was also included in the “structural upgrading measures” at the old town hall, that is, it was completely renovated both inside and out . On March 31, 1945, the Ratswaage, like the old town hall, was hit by an explosive bomb during an American air raid on Halle's inner city, which caused it to be partially destroyed . 1948 was carried out demolition of both historic building after it had been a "new town hall contest" involving the Ratswaage. When the council scales were removed, the sturdy, one-and-a-half-story remains of the medieval tower were also removed. The Bogenkrantz portal was secured in the Moritzburg courtyard .
After the political change , there were committed efforts of a citizens' initiative not only to rebuild the Old Town Hall, but also the Ratswaage or at least its Renaissance facade on the planned extension of the Kaufhof. Citizens' surveys revealed majorities for the reconstruction of the architectural ensemble "Rathausseite". Nevertheless, the project failed. The department store extension on the grounds of the weighing building was inaugurated in May 2004, accompanied by a vigil under the title “Against the department store block”, which has been repeated every May since then. Since 2008, only a bronze relief on the new department store has been reminiscent of the former Halle council scales. This relief was designed by the sculptor Katrin Pannicke on behalf of the citizens' initiative for the historical town hall side of Halle (Saale) eV, financed by donations and unveiled in November 2008 by the rector of the Martin Luther University. The board shows the following text under the images of the Ratswaage and Old Town Hall: "Here at Markt 24 was the so-called Wedding and Weighing House, the first main university building in Halle, in which the student Georg Friedrich Handel was also enrolled."
literature
- The old town hall in Halle (Saale) . Ed .: Kuratorium Altes Rathaus Halle (Saale) eV Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle 2008. ISBN 978-3-89812-497-3 . In it: Andreas Rühl: On the history of the construction and use of the town hall from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. Hans-Christian Riecken: The old town hall in its last century. Andreas Rühl: Fateful Years - The Destruction of the Old Town Hall from 1945 to 1950.
- Renate Kroll: Halle (Saale) . In: Fate of German Monuments in World War II. Edited by Götz Eckardt. Henschel-Verlag, Berlin 1978. Volume 2, pp. 326-327
- W. Bressel: The block of Halle . Micado-Verlag GmbH, Köthen 2006, ISBN 3-931891-40-2
Web links
- Memorial plaque at Markt 24 (Kaufhof)
- Pictures of the old town hall and scales
- Citizens' initiative for the historic town hall site in Halle (Saale) eV
Coordinates: 51 ° 28 '57.7 " N , 11 ° 58' 14.3" E