HALLE MARKET CHURCH
The Hands and Face of Martin Luther
The Market Church in Halle is more officially Mary’s Church or Our Lady (Frauenkirch), but takes its name from its location at the heart of the city on the Market Square. It’s most notable feature from the outside is the four towers, two on each end of different age and character, the result of being built between two former buildings torn down and the new church built in their place, but keeping the towers. The church was built fairly rapidly, begun in 1529 and completed by 1554, made possible by gobbling up two earlier churches. The St Gertude Church from the 11th Century and St Mary’s from the 12th Century, facing the market square, had been built by the wealth from the medieval salt trade.
Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, Archbishop of Magdeburg and Elector of Mainz, was the main force behind the construction of the church. He wanted an edifice worthy of his exalted expectations at a central location in the town of his residence at nearby Moritzburg Castle. But nearly as soon as his vision for a new church was realized, the force of the Protestant movement overtook him.
The Cardinal had risen to his position through favors and a bit of bribery, and to raise money to pay debts, he is the one who went rather overboard in the selling of indulgences. It was a familiar practice in the Catholic Church, but Albrecht seemed to be hawking them wholesale which attracted Luther’s attention. Albrecht had a particular passion for relics, and had collected more than 8,000 relics including 42 Holy skeletons, and required a place to store them. And it was Albrecht who was the principal target of Martin Luther’s protests against the selling of indulgences in the “95 Theses” he nailed to the church doors in Wittenberg, and sent in letter form to the cardinal in October 31 of 1517.
Martin Luther held three sermons at the market church in Halle. After he died while preaching in his home town of Eisleben in 1546, his body was carried back toward Wittenberg, stopping in Halle where he laid in repose in the church for a night. His friend Lukas Furtenagel had caused a death mask mold of his face and also of his hands to be taken in Eisleben. He left the molds in Halle, where he was from and Luther’s body continued to Wittenberg, where it now rests.
The church’s architecture shows it construction from late Gothic to Baroque with steps in between. The bronze font is the oldest piece in the church, cast in 1430 in Magdeburg by Ludolf of Brunswick and his son. Fourteen sculptures stand around the font representing Christ and the Apostles and his mother Mary. George Frideric Handel was baptized here in February of 1685.
The altar was created in 1529 by Lucas Cranach the Elder. A lower horizontal panel shows Mary and Child with 14 Holy helpers while above are two fixed panels and four movable ones which can be configured for special Holidays, the panel picture The Annunciation, Ursula and St Erasmus, St. Magdalen, John the Baptist, St Augustin and St Catherine. When fully opened the altar shows the Madonna on a moon sickle surrounded by angels, with Cardinal Albrecht kneeling before her.
A monumental artwork above the altar dating from 1593, painted by Heinrich Lichtenfelter, shows scenes from Luke’s Acts of the Apostle, illustrating the Gospel being spread around the world. Like the towers, there are organs at each end of the church. The Reichel Organ on the eastern end is one of the oldest still functioning organs in Germany, built in 1664 by Georg Reichel. On the opposite end, set in a Baroque master framework is a modern replacement from 1984.
The stone pulpit with its winding pillar dates from 1541, marking the introduction of the Reformation in Halle, when Justus Johan conducted the first Protestant service in the newly reconstructed church. The stunningly ornate star shaped pulpit canopy replaced the former wooden pulpit five years later in 1546. The stone galleries are in Renaissance style, built in 1549 to 1554. Wooden galleries were added for more capacity in 1698. The church suffered from a bombing raid on Halle in March of 1945 and artillery shells in April as allied forces closed toward Berlin.
But it is Martin Luther and the Reformation where the church takes its place in history. In a small anteroom of the church are two forms of the death mask of Martin Luther. A rather plain plaster cast in the original form, taken from later castings from the original mold, and the more eerie and lifelike casting of Luther face and hands, made of wax, this version with the eyes sculpted open.
These were since about 1740 when a figure of Luther was placed in lifelike form, as if translating his bible writing the 38 tenants of his catechism. The spooky form stood (or sat) in various locations for almost 250 years for visitors to Halle, now, behind a glass in the museum, below the original wooden pulpit from which he preached.
The market church is also home to the oldest and possibly the largest Protestant Church library collection in Germany. The "Marienbibliothek" holds a number of Luther Bibles, many with Luther’s own hand-writing.
Visiting Market Church Halle
Opening hours are Monday to Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday 3 pm to 5 pm. Admission to the church is free. The small museum with Martin Luther’s Death Mask and Pulpit is €2 for entry. Organ music is played on Tuesday 4-4:40 pm and Thursday 12-12:30 pm, with concerts held on special occasions. A rather unique souvenir available is a printed version of the multiple panel altar art of Lucas Kranach. The tower of the church can be climbed for views of the Halle cityscape, and the familiar photogenic viewpoint of the church can be found on the upper floors of the shopping mall across the city plaza beyond the Handel Statue (see Handel House). © Bargain Travel EuropeFind best hotel and vacation deals in Halle (Saale) on TripAdvisor
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Marktkirche Halle
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See Also:
HALLOREN CHOCOLATE WORLD MUSEUM HALLE
ALL SAINTS CASTLE CHURCH WITTENBERG
500th ANNIVERSARY MARTIN LUTHER - WARTBURG CASTLE
WILHELMSBURG CASTLE SCHMALKALDEN
ST GEORG CHURCH - SCHMALKALDEN
BAUHAUS & MASTER HOUSES DESSAU
