city of Prussian Saxony, government of Merseburg, on the Saale, 20 miles N.W. of Leipzig, with which, as well as with Magdeburg and Eisenach, it is connected by railways. Halle is surrounded by old walls, and irregularly built, with little to attract the eye of the stranger. It is chiefly celebrated for its university, which once ranked among the foremost in Germany. It was founded in 1694, and in 1815 was united with that of Wittenberg. It still continues to maintain a high character, particularly as a school of Protestant theology. It has faculties of theology, law, medicine, and philosophy; and in session 1853-54 had 71 professors and teachers, and 650 students. Connected with it are a number of scientific institutions, as a botanic garden, observatory, museum, library of 90,000 vols., theological and philological seminaries, chemical laboratory, anatomical theatre, cabinet of minerals, &c. Three hospitals connected with the medical school afford the students ample opportunities of seeing practice. There are a number of other educational institutions in Halle, the chief of which is the Frankesche Stiftung, founded by A. W. Franke in 1698. It comprises schools for the education of children of both sexes, in various stations of life, though chiefly of the poorer classes, to the number of 2220; a laboratory, where medicines are prepared and distributed; and a Bible press, which has sent forth some millions of copies of the Scriptures at a cheap rate. In the inner court of the building a fine bronze statue of the founder by Rauch was erected in 1829. Its cost was defrayed by public subscription, to which the King of Prussia largely contributed. St Mary's Church is a Gothic building of the sixteenth century; St Maurice's is a building of the twelfth, and was restored in 1840. In the market-place is a singular structure, 250 feet high, called the Red Tower. The old Castle of Moritzberg, formerly the palace of the Archbishops of Magdeburg, was mostly destroyed in the Thirty Years' War, and the only remaining wing is now used as a Calvinistic church. Outside the walls is an elegant monument to those Germans that fell at the battle of Leipzig in 1813. The salt springs in the neighbourhood of the town produce annually about 280,000 cwt. of salt. The labourers employed in them are a peculiar and distinct race called Halloren, said to be descendants of the Wends, who anciently peopled this country. Halle, besides several suburbs, comprises the towns of Glaucha and Neumarkt, each of which has its own magistrates. Pop. (1849) 33,848.