If Professor Henrique Pereira has his way, people in Europe will carry a piece of biodiversity in their wallets in the future. The ecologist is part of the “Motifs Advisory Group”, which is proposing new designs for the European Central Bank (ECB) to print on the next generation of euro notes. Read more
The University and State Library Saxony-Anhalt (ULB) is making part of its extensive collection of historical maps available online. The first 1,000 maps are already accessible, including some amazing unique objects. Read more
The University’s natural science collections turn 250 years old in November. Since the beginning, they have been enriched by civic scientists. One of them today is Dr Andreas Stark, who has dedicated himself to special insects for decades. Read more
His time in Halle was relatively short. Nevertheless, Friedrich Schleiermacher, whose 250th birthday will be celebrated in November, spent two intense periods of his life here – first as a student and then as a theology professor. He is not just remembered by a street in the Paulusviertel; the scholar also wrote a Christmas story here. And his life and his work still provide the basis of academic work in Halle to this day. Read more
The area between the Heide district in Halle and the river Saale was used in the past for very different things. The land-use demarcation “vineyard” (Weinberg in German) was based on the fact that vineyards had been officially documented multiple times on this land since the 13th century. The fruit played such an important role in Mediaeval wine culture that in 1750 the chronicler Dreyhaupt compared the good wine to that of the Rhine Valley. Read more
The name “Georg Cantor” might not mean a great deal to a lot of people, yet the professor, who once worked in the City of Halle, is one of the most prominent mathematicians who has ever lived. We have Cantor to thank for set theory, as well as the definition of infinity. Even the genius Albert Einstein expressed his appreciation for Cantor’s abilities. The University’s history connects it to many well-known figures or big ideas. Not everyone, however, is fully clued up on the whys and wherefores of these connections. But that’s about to change. The section, “Big Names” is a reminder of the outstanding researchers and academics who have links to the City of Halle. Read more
There’s a Martin Luther Playmobile figure and a Martin Luther noodle. It’s hard to escape the reformer’s face during the 2017 jubilee year. But what does the Reformation have to do with the present day? A lot, say researchers from many disciplines at the University of Halle. Because the Reformation’s legacy extends far beyond that of theology. Read more
Effective this year, the University of Halle has two new partner institutions, one in Poland and one in Italy. In August, a cooperation agreement was signed with Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, in Milan, and the Universities of Halle and Warsaw entered into a contract for a partnership in October. Martin Luther University now maintains close teaching and research ties in the form of university partnerships with 62 higher education institutions worldwide. Read more
A repository of books? A tranquil reading space? A place of erudite learning? To Anke Berghaus-Sprengel, director of the University and State Library of Saxony-Anhalt (ULB) since April 2016, a modern library is much more than that. She is head of an institution that looks back on a long tradition but has also undergone plenty of change – and will continue to do so in the future. Read more
