Marktkirche Uber Lieben Frauen - Halle, Germany

This is where I was "this" morning (at least according to my body-clock!).  For clarity, it was the morning of Saturday, May 14, 2016, and it was quite windy!  (By the way, California this isn't!  Nobody is protecting anybody from their own stupidity up here!)  The Halle "Dom" (cathedral) can be seen in white in the far left of the picture above.

 I'd been looking at pictures online of this of this beautiful kirche for a year and a half prior to my trip - really wanting to get up there at this unique location - found the tower closed on other days during my visit this week - so was super happy to find it open this morning so I could fulfill that dream!

It was quite a hike up!

Looking down over the marktplatz from the towers - and other views from the top -

Quite a view from these patios I would imagine!

Close up of tower - see the bells?

After my climb this morning I entered the church for a quick "good-bye" and found an organist practicing, and this really is a practice session and not polished - but neither is the videography! - but I want it for my memories, and since the organist is neither pictured nor named I think it's all OK!

  

I saw many beautiful churches on this lengthy trip through many European cities and countries, but this one particularly drew me.  It's beautiful, though not necessarily the very prettiest that I saw (which is not to say it's not gorgeous - it is gorgeous!).  It is certainly nowhere near the largest that I saw - nor is it the oldest.  Somehow this one just stood out, perhaps because of its history (including Luther and Handel) and because of its unique style.  I took as many opportunities as I could to visit it while I was in the city.  It was one of my first stops (Tuesday), then I wandered down Wednesday evening and happened upon on organ concert already in progress, then I went to an organ concert at noon on Thursday, then was here again Saturday to climb the tower.  

As I think about it, part of the draw may have been that it was both so accessible and also so "real," not as much a tourist attraction as such places as Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's, and Notre Dame, all of which charged an admission fee, which meant I didn't just wander in and out of them as here, and in all of which there were crowds during "opening hours."  Here are some other pictures of this church taken earlier in the week.

The Pulpit

The choir practicing up front was AMAZING.  I get chills every time I listen.  To hear a clip, click here, and scroll down a bit.

This is the baptismal font at which Georg Friedrich Handel was baptized.

The church also has on permanent display Martin Luther's death mask and casts of his hands and face:

This display is just inside the western door, a small room on the left dedicated to Luther-related items.  It also contains a pulpit from Luther's time that it is nearly certain that he preached from.  (The white-gilded one you see in the photos above is more recent than his time.)

Halle is known at the city of the five towers because of the four towers of the the Marktkirche and the Red Tower (Der Rote Turm) which stands in front.

Good-bye, Halle!  I miss you!