Giebichenstein Castle

Giebichenstein Castle sits on a rock above the Saale.
Built as a bishop's seat in the 12th century and destroyed by fire 400 years later, it is now the most beautiful ruin in the city.
Here was Halle's birth, it was ruled from here,
here "Ludwig the Springer" managed to escape from prison
by making a daring leap into the Saale.
The ruins served as inspiration for Romantic poets.
The old castle is full of history and stories.
You can discover it in a newly designed exhibition. halle365.de/veranstaltungsort/burg-giebichenstein

Visible from afar and always inspiring from near and far.

Parts of the Halle Art Academy are located in the Lower Castle, where, among other things, the fine arts have their home but also artists study at home and abroad. I met a head designer at the Manufaktur Meißen porcelain factory, who also studied here.

Inspired, Johann Freiherr von Eichendorff wrote in Berlin in 1840, looking back on his time studying in Halle:

There is a castle above the valley
And look into the stream.
This is the happy hall,
This is the Giebichenstein.
the castle no less:

Here is the first verse of seven.

Another very well-known song pays no less tribute to the castle:
Franz Kugler 1826

On the bright beach of the Saale
Castles stand proud and bold.
Their roofs have crumbled
And the wind blows through the halls,
Clouds move over it.

During a tour of the castle I learned the exciting fact why the clock faces of the tower clock can only be seen on the Halle side.
When the clock was to be installed in the tower, the people of Kröllwitz were also asked whether they would contribute financially.

This was rejected by them. No money, so no dial on the Kröllwitz side of the Saale.

Thank God for the people of Kröllwitz, the church bell of St. Peter rings twice an hour.