The city of the born dream. Club of the Military Institute of Foreign Languages \u200b\u200bWho liberated Mr. Galle in the GDR

Recently on the Internet I got acquainted with the memories of Vladimir Razumovsky about his stay in the GDR (1953-1955). After reading these materials, for several days I was greatly impressed by what I read, because my family lived in this military town from January to August 1957. This military town was called SKK (Soviet Control Commission). In mid-1955, the JCC was liquidated.
My dad, Major VOSO (military communications service on railway and air transport) left Simferopol - the city where we lived - through Odessa - Kiev - Brest - Wünsdorf - Halle to a new duty station in the 20th of October 1956.
At that time, the political situation in the world was turbulent: the events in Hungary and the military conflict in the Suez Canal region caused the difficult position of Soviet troops abroad.
Before the new year, 1957, dad called his family to him, in Halle. On December 28, 1956, my mother, Inna Pavlovna, my older brother Sergei and I, Sevastyanov Valery, 8 years old left for the GDR. On the way, we stopped in Kherson, where our relatives lived on my mother's side, met New Year, and on January 2, 1957, we left through Kiev - Brest - Magdeburg to the father of the family, Pavel Fedorovich Sevastyanov. On January 6, at about 15 o'clock by train Brest - Magdeburg, we arrived on German soil. Dad met us in Magdeburg, and after an hour and a half we arrived in the city of Halle on a local train. It was already evening, overcast, drizzling rain. We took tram number 7 (at that time trams number 5, 7, 17 had a final stop at the railway station) and through Telmanplatz - Clement Gottwaltstrasse (now this pedestrian street is called Leipzigerstrasse) - Marktplatz - GroßUlrichstrasse - Railik - Rosa Luxemburgplatz Museum of the Prehistoric Era). Here we went out and proceeded to Ernestustrasse Street, where in house no. 6, on the second floor there was our apartment: three small rooms, an entrance hall, a bathroom with a toilet, a kitchen with a large balcony and a view of an abandoned garden. Everything is exactly like the Razumovskys, only on the even side of the street. The apartment had everything you needed: solid furniture, a gas stove, a water heater, the heating was briquette, i.e. burned the furnace with brown coal. Of course, after the one-room housing in Simferopol, with partial conveniences, it all seemed to us almost a luxury.
In the morning of the next day, the family went for a walk through the unknown city. Near the museum there was a square with a sculpture of four geese. We went to the Raylik area, went into shops, settling in a new place, in a foreign country. On the way back we went into a cafe, drank coffee and cakes. It was interesting, unusual, the walk was remembered for a lifetime, so were the sharp first impressions.
On January 11, 1957, my brother and I went to Soviet school No. 5, Sergei went to grade 4, and I went to grade 1. The school was located near the city commandant's office, on Johann Andreas Segnarstrasse. The school building made a big impression on us: a large three-storey U-shaped building, the school had an excellent gym, a boarding school for children from Merseburg. The building is solid, good solid construction. We went to school by tram number 6, three stops to Marks-Engels Platz, and then on foot for about 10 minutes along Grosssteinstrasse street, past the Steintor variety show, along Margaretenstrasse. At the beginning of 1957, the military town of the JCC began to be phased out and transferred to the area of \u200b\u200bthe military commandant's office. In August of the same year we moved to 6 Margaretenstrasse Street. This is a three-storey corner house, an apartment on the 2nd floor, two-room, with large rooms, central heating, with every conceivable convenience. However, with a shared kitchen for three families. These were our colleagues from the Pope in VOSO, the Fedorov and Kornilov families. They lived very amicably, there were no conflicts. Opposite our house was a three-story red brick building - a German fire station. In our house there was a club for Soviet servicemen, where we went to the cinema, to the library. On holidays, there were festivities, dances, concerts (no one had TVs, they all had fun together). In our house there was an office of the vice-consul of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was often empty because the consulate was located in Leipzig, the consul came to Halle very rarely.
In our house lived 5 families of officers of the city commandant's office and 4 families of VOSO officers. The Soviet store from Ernestrushtrasse moved to the courtyard, to the building of the city commandant's office. The Soviet city commandant's office was located in a two-story mansion, on Luisenstrasse, in the very center of the city. Our military town was completely open, that is, both German and Soviet citizens freely walked the streets. In the town lived officers of the city commandant's office, officers of the VOSO, KGB officers, communications officers of the command and control center (near the building of the commandant's office there was a two-story communications building - the command center, where a company of soldiers was quartered), representatives of the Trade Mission, school teachers and a military adviser to the NPA division of the GDR colonel, later Major General Alenykh (I have forgotten the name and patronymic, unfortunately). In the old town on Ernestrushtrasse, on the even-numbered side of the street, they left one house where the families of the hospital officers lived, fortunately, the hospital was not far away, along Advocaenweg Street. An officer with his family, a dentist Alexander Alexandrovich Lyubchevsky, lived there with his dad's friend from Simferopol. We were friends with this family, we went to visit. Then the Lyubchevskies moved to the city of Weimar, we twice went to visit them. Subsequently A.A. Lyubchevsky, a colonel of the medical service, became the chief dentist of the Kiev military district, was a very good person and a great specialist in his field, it is a pity that he left us early, I still remember him with warmth and love.
My elder brother Sergei Pavlovich Sevastyanov dreamed of entering the Nakhimov school from early childhood. In the summer of 1957, after finishing the 4th grade of the school, we went with dad to Wünsdorf, where Sergei successfully passed the exams for admission to the school. However, the assignments came to the GDR only to the Suvorov schools, they had to become a Suvorov soldier. Sergey studied at the Kazan SVU (1957-1964). Sergey lived only 7 months in the GDR. The brother dedicated his entire subsequent life military service... Currently, the reserve colonel S.P. Sevastyanov lives with his family in Moscow.
Our life near the school proceeded as follows: after school, having done the homework, I helped my mother a little - went to the shops, and then - on the street, to communicate with the children. After moving to a new town, I became friends with Gena Khaleev, their family settled in the town before us, his dad was a command and control officer. With him, we examined all attics and basements in unoccupied buildings. Opposite the building of the commandant's office there was a large sports ground where one could play towns (in those days many officers were fond of this game, including my dad), volleyball, basketball. There were also gymnastic apparatus where one could practice well. In our club - a hall for 150 seats - feature films were shown 4 times a week, on Sundays - 2 sessions, at 12 noon for children and in the evening, at 8 pm for adults. Tickets cost 1 mark for adults and 50 pfenings for children. Film shows were served by two soldiers from the commandant's platoon: the elders - Vladimir Shmigelsky, 1957-1960 years of service, Nikolay Mokretsov, 1960-1963 years of service. Their duties included keeping order and cleanliness in the cinema and selling tickets. As a projectionist, I remember the soldier Lenya, originally from Kazan, who was remembered for the following: when they brought the film and carried it to the club, to the question: "What film?", Lenya always calmly answered with one phrase - "Sound!". As we got older, we ran to watch movies and to the hospital club. We also talked with the German guys, played sports games, talked, everything happened in a friendly, friendly way. Even when they played war games, everything happened normally, with understanding. Now, after the lapse of time - and more than 50 years have passed - I remember with warmth these years of childhood, all the guys in our small town: Valera Sinelnikov, Vadim Maksimov and his younger brother, Volodya Tenetko, Gennady and Anatoly Khaleevs, the Semyonov brothers, Volodya Rodnenko, Sasha Semikhatov, Sergei Vakhitov, Vova and Sveta Lupovs, Nikolai Mikho, Tolik Yakovs, Valentina Meshkov, Yuri Dovzhenko, Yuri Altukhov, Alexandra and Natalia Gritchin, Valera Efimov, Anatoly Petyukhov, Oleg Khomenko, Irina, Larisa and Serezhuu Sergeevs, Tationu Sergeevs and Lyusya Chvokin, Evgeny Ryzhkov, Olga Knyazev, Natalia Kurzin, Elvir Vlasenkov, Sasha Leleka. Sorry if I forgot anyone. Greetings to all of you and wish you well-being.
In 1959, after the replacement, we had new neighbors in the apartment: the Khomenko and Sergeev families. The relations were warm, friendly, my parents subsequently corresponded and were friends, they came to us in Crimea. During these years, my parents and I visited Berlin (even before the wall dividing Berlin into two zones), in 1959, in Potsdam, Leipzig, Weimar, Merseburg, Uterbog, Eisleben, Dresden, Meissen, Magdeburg, Erfurt, Frankfurt-on- Oder, in the Tale mountains. I fondly remember how in the summer of 1961 the city of Halle celebrated its millennium. Now, however, it turned out that as a settlement Halle an der Saale was founded in 806, and modern Halle celebrated its 1200th anniversary in 2006. It was very nice to see the prettier center, after the restoration and repair of the houses they became very beautiful and attractive. I remember the Christmas markets at Marktplatz with attractions, various treats, music, and various entertainment. At the end of April, every year in the Heide Park area there were auto and motorcycle races, which we watched with great attention and interest. I regret that at one time I did not visit the house-museum of the composer Handel, the Moritzburg castle and a number of districts, especially South Halle.
Always in my entire life, when I enter compartment cars, I am overwhelmed by the proud feeling that many of these cars (more than 25 thousand pieces) were made in Ammendorf, in the southern suburb of Halle. As a football fan, he always followed the performance of the Chemi (Halle) team in the GDR Ober League. Although the team was the middle peasant of the championship, two defenders of the GDR national team - Klaus Urbanchik and Berndt Branches played in it. In May, very often the stage of the world cycling race took place through Galle, and we went out to greet the participants in the cycling race. Currently, in tennis before the Wimbledon tournament, a tournament is held every year in Halle, where the best tennis players in the world play. In world swimming, swimmers from Halle Cornelia Ender (multiple Olympic champion, world and European champion) and Paul Biederman were noted.
During the summer holidays we went to visit our relatives in Kherson, where we swam and sunbathed on the Dnieper. When we stayed in Halle in the summer, we went to the Trotta area, there was a recreation area where there were three outdoor pools - for children, for adults and for jumping from a tower. Around these pools was a landscaped lawn where we sunbathed, played ball games, and sold soft drinks and ice cream. Nearby, just one tram stop, there was a zoo where we have been repeatedly. In the summer, we went by tram number 4 to Heide, to the final stop. There were lakes in the forest where we rested. In winter, when we got older, the guys from our town and I went several times to the indoor swimming pool. It was located next to the main post office. From the main post office through the square - in the summer the flower beds of the square were filled with beautiful flowers and a fountain worked - there was a city theater, now it is the Galsher-opera. I never went inside the theater, but my parents went to performances and concerts: the ensemble of dances of the peoples of the world under the direction of Igor Moiseyev, the ensemble "Beryozka" and theatrical performances. Not far from our town there was a variety show "Steintor", I was there three times for Christmas performances, it was very beautiful and interesting. My parents were more often in this variety show. I remember going to the concert of Maria Mironova and Alexander Menaker.
Since 1962, in the southern part of the city, in the Ammendorf area, new microdistricts of 4, 5-storey buildings began to be erected. Subsequently, new buildings moved to the western part of the city, to the Nitleben area. There, a modern city was designed, mainly for chemists working in the chemical plants of Leuna and Boone. The new city, called Neustadt, was designed for 100,000 inhabitants. Housing was also provided there for Soviet servicemen.
We left Halle on September 10, 1963. We drove to Magdeburg in a BMW car provided by the management of the Halle transport police (the VOSO service was in close contact with this organization), and then by train - to the Union - to Simferopol.
These are my memories of my stay in Galle. I apologize if I forgot or misrepresented something. I would be very glad to know that those people who lived with me in Halle at the same time will read these memories. After the GDR, all subsequent time he lived in Simferopol at the address: Republic of Crimea, Simferopol, st. Kievskaya, 92-A, apt. 25, home phone 22-02-43, Valery Pavlovich Sevastyanov. I am very grateful to those people who made films about our 55th (until 1960 - No. 5) school, about the military towns of Heide and Wörmlitz, about today's Halle.
Hello everyone and friendly wishes. There is an idea to tell about our school (1957-1963).
Best regards, V.P. Sevastyanov

Photo caption:
1963, August. The Sevastyanov family at Marktplatz. Monument to the composer G. Handel.

HALLE AM DER SAALE

About big glorious city I heard Halle from the first days of my stay in Germany. They talked a lot about him, went there quite often, mainly for shopping. It so happened that the first time in Halle I went in June 1987, accompanying my new acquaintance - a quiet schmecker, Lieutenant of the KP Alexander, whose last name was very similar to the name of the German city of Oshatz. Sasha "Oshats" was a legendary person at the command post of the regiment. A two-year lieutenant, a graduate of the Moscow Region Institute of Foreign Languages, he was a translator by position and military profession. In the GSVG, an In-language graduate with a German language, by definition, turned into an active schmecker, and he was usually forgotten in the units. There was something wrong with Oshac. Either, his second German language was lame, (as you know, second languages \u200b\u200bin foreign languages \u200b\u200bwere not taught as much as the first ones), or the phlegmatic intellectual did not pull at a clever, nosy, smart-minded schmucker, one way or another Oshatz, to the great joy of the head of the command post, was forever pushed to the front position of the regiment - Remhild, where he was a permanent translator, and sometimes just the only officer on the mountain. Sasha called from Remhild once every 1-2 months to Merseburg for a week to wash, relax and spend his unused weekend. During his next visit in June 1987, I met Oshac at the checkpoint, we got to know each other, and, to my joy, I found an interesting interlocutor, a completely intellectual person, almost a fellow countryman. We agreed, and in the morning after my shift of duty we moved to Halle.

The road was pleasant, the familiar Czech tram briskly drove us to Halle in half an hour, passing through the stronghold of the GDR petrochemical industry - the village of Skopau-Buna. Buna, in her German spelling, resembled "Buenos Aires" and, recalling the poisonous gases from a chemical plant, this association was quite ironic. The southern quarters of the city, through which our tram rolled with a few stops, were old and gray, the streets were narrow, completely paved with no signs of greenery. The houses were mostly of rather monotonous architecture, but undoubtedly old, probably from the last century. To my surprise, some of the houses were simply abandoned, many of the facades were unkemptly unrepaired, with broken stucco and torn doors. Later I read that there was no eternal Soviet housing crisis in the GDR. The housing stock, mostly old, was abundant. Empty city blocks in big cities were given out for use by those who wished, mainly to semi-hippie German youth, free of charge, and even financial and technical assistance was provided to restore this housing. It sounded beautiful, however, I had some doubts that the long-haired youth shown on GDR TV were eager to build something. Whatever it was, the situation was quite European - there were few people, there were many houses, and not vice versa.

Sculpture under the playful nickname "Worker and Collective Farm Woman", Halle, East Germany, 1988. Photo by the author.

The main walking trail in Halle runs from the rather large city train station to the historic central square. I didn’t bother myself with tourist knowledge, and the correct name of this street never remained in my head. When talking with colleagues, it was useless to use German place names, everyone knew places by descriptions and approaches, so German geographical names were not remembered, and those that were in use, desperately twisted in the Russian manner. So, in the conversation, "Remhild" was often sounded, although everyone meant the forward position of the regiment on Mount Gleichberg on the border with the FRG; “The trip to“ Mass ”in the colloquial language of the regiments meant a“ forceful seizure ”of a bookstore in the Soviet pavilion of the international fair in Leipzig, where Soviet citizens, who missed the shop brawl, took their souls once a year.

The pedestrian street in Halle was wide, clean, and unexpectedly busy. To my great joy, there were no Soviet citizens around at all, the lanky silhouettes of the Germans were nowhere diluted by the stocky male and broad-hipped female figures of our compatriots. It was especially pleasant to walk around the German city, accompanied by a real schmecker, without feeling like a deaf-mute disabled person. The street began with a modern cube-style building from the early 1970s with an aerial walkway, apparently as a slight tribute to modern design. The mysteriously blackened German concrete of the building was brightened by red decorative panels and a bright inscription "Mocca Stube". To my question to Oshatsu - what is Stube ?, Sasha answered with a long tirade, from which I never found out the meaning of this, obviously, popular German word, and for myself I realized that it was no longer worth asking such a question.

A sausage stand on a pedestrian street in Halle, East Germany, 1988. Photo by the author.

The noteworthy street had another pleasant attraction. There was a "window" with sausages. The street cafe did not bother with seating, people just bought sausages wrapped in a white bun and continued their movement along the shopping street, which was very convenient. In the good days of the GDR, the usual smoked sausage "bokwurst", known in other countries as "kranski", cost only 0.85 marks, and the traditional fried sausage - "bratwurst" - 0.95 marks of the GDR, which was quite consistent with the budget of the Soviet officer. Not surprisingly, street sausages became my main gastronomic delicacy for all subsequent years in the GSVG.

The rest of the shops along the beautiful cobbled street in Galle did not really attract our attention, since the shop of varnishes and paints, household utensils and dubious shops of home art were uninteresting. Attention was drawn to a bronze sculpture standing by a small lawn between the houses. The muscular figure of a naked man, turned by his back, lifted the figure of a woman, catching her by the thigh. For an inexperienced Soviet person, the relief-realistic nude figures looked strange on a busy street, however, we soon got used to it and jokingly nicknamed the sculpture "Worker and Collective Farm Woman".

Walking down the street towards the central square, obviously took a lot of our energy, and we turned into one of the many street cafes, where we spent much more time than expected for a pleasant conversation. Having traditionally tasted the products of local brewers, on Sasha's advice, we ordered a liqueur product called "Gelbe rose". Translated into Russian, it simply meant "tea rose", however, this cocktail exceeded my expectations. In its preparation, only two types of liqueur were used, cherry and egg, however, both had to be of high quality, thick and concentrated, otherwise the effect yellow flower in a red oily space, it cannot be reached, as I did not try. The taste was wonderful and appearance so unusual that I was not too lazy to go to the bar and see how it is done. The secret was quite simple - into a glass filled with red thick cherry liqueur, carefully, along a knife, pour in a yellow egg liqueur, which is so thick that it hangs in the middle of the red space like a fancy sculpture, absolutely not mixing. Outwardly, everything resembled a work of colored glass, and in taste - something very distant from the usual drinks of the Soviet "alcohol industry". After examining the bottles, it became clear that to implement this trick at home, I would have to fork out for a couple of bottles from the Delikat store, in which I had been with my finances only a couple of times in three years. In view of the excessive aristocracy and prices of cocktails, we continued our conversation in a cafe behind the usual 50 gram snipe with wonderful cherry liqueur of more affordable brands. We did not feel forgotten, Sasha called the waitress in German, and our duffs changed quickly. However, our service ended unexpectedly soon. The waitress, a middle-aged German woman of a sort of country-house type, approached the table and, referring more to Oshats, kindly recommended switching to a bottle so that we no longer carry our endless dupe. We gladly agreed, and a whole bottle of wonderful German "kirsch" appeared on the table, which we convinced with pleasure. Needless to say, we continued our journey through Halle in high spirits, quickly reached the old tower with a tobacco shop at the corner of Cigarrenek, passed a German cinema, where I once watched a film-concert of the singer Prince “Sign the Times", And finally came to the square.

The central square and the monument to the composer Handel. Halle, East Germany, 1988. Photo by the author.

I liked the central square of Halle, the name of which was traditionally something there "markt". The rich old buildings, the vast paved square, the beautiful city cathedral and the free-standing massive Gothic tower have all been restored to look good. A couple of stupid semi-modern tasteless buildings on the square did not really spoil the overall picture, and even the tram crossing the square was organic and gave a lively movement to the stone ensemble. The monument to the famous city dweller, composer Handel, adorned the northern part of the square. Young people were sitting on the steps of the monument's pedestal, no one drove them, and in general, the police were not visible anywhere in Halle. For me then, accustomed to seeing on the pedestals in the cities of the Union the monuments of Comrade. To Lenin or, in extreme cases, Pushkin and Khabarov, free sitting on the pedestal of the monument seemed a luxury or an unattainable democracy. But, in Halle, under the monument to Handel, they sat and lay together, it is obvious that this was normal in the GDR and did not offend the composer's fond memory. Studying the monument in the light of European democracy gave us the idea of \u200b\u200ba natural continuation of the banquet, and we turned into a cafe behind Herr Handel's back, where we ended the hard day of the naturalist with good portions of different beers, much to our delight.

A painted house in Galle East Germany, 1988. Photo by the author.

In the following years, I have been to Halle many times, the largest city within a 20 km radius of Merseburg. The search for new shopping opportunities expanded my route somewhat, however, basically everyone moved along the main street, not deviating much to the side. One day I walked along the tram lines through the central square of Halle further north. There I found entire quarters of half-ruined houses, a complete lack of shops and any entertainment, however, there was something interesting in the direction to the west and east of the square. Anyone who has been to Halle will remember the cute fountain in the figure of a boy and a donkey, heroes of a fairy tale, exotic dragons on a fountain near a cathedral, or an artistically painted house that depicted Café Haase with a revolutionary carnival crowd in the late 1980s. Not far from the central square, I first met the quarters of new elegant houses, stylized as Gothic architecture with broken roofs, which were very popular in the Federal Republic of Germany and other Western countries. I remember Halle for a pleasant trip with Sasha Oshac, whom I later met at Remhild. Somehow, there were no more such pleasant conversations in Merseburg, and I did all my subsequent discoveries in Germany myself, using the experience and advice of others, preferring to keep my own impressions to myself, rightly believing that my thoughts may not coincide with generally accepted opinions in closed country - GSVG.

Old and new quarters in Halle, GDR, 1988. Photo by the author.

Delicate - (German) - GDR stores selling expensive, imported and local food and alcohol products. In big cities Delicates had sections of alcohol, sweets, coffee, canned food, cheese, meat and fish products. Among the officers of the GSVG, the most popular were alcoholic beverages from Delicacy.

Excursion - (German) - GDR stores selling expensive and imported industrial goods. They had departments of clothing, footwear, cosmetics, bijouterie. Excursions occasionally there was a sale, especially popular among women in the GSVG.

Two-year-old - (Russian)Officer, lieutenant, called up to serve in the SA after graduating from a civilian institute with a military department. After graduating from a civilian institute that did not have a military department, the conscripts served a full term urgent service soldiers / sailors. In the army, career officers disliked non-combatants two-year-olds for their attitude to the service, sometimes sarcastically calling them "two-year olds."

ARMOR FASTENERS, AND OUR TANKS FAST ...

Whatever it was, but, as a good friend of mine used to say, “Why did we come here for 10,000 km !?”, we came to serve in the GDR. More precisely, to defend the Soviet homeland. In their country, the defense of the fatherland always looks noble, the idea is clear, the means are more or less available. The oath was taken by everyone with a clear conscience, everyone was ready to defend the USSR without a doubt. The recent history of the Soviet Union has shown that the inhabitants of the land of the Soviets had to interpret the sacred defense of their borders somewhat more broadly. The sad experience of Afghanistan since 1979, numerous conflicts in “fraternal” and “friendly” Afro-Asian regions made the concept of service to the homeland more general. Officers and soldiers fought and risked their lives in many countries, where even with all the efforts of imagination it was difficult to tie the interest in defending the USSR. Considering that my numerous colleagues from the Military Institute received a mythical currency for this even in the early 1970s, then all the activities of the SA in international assistance to all kinds of nations turned into suspicious commerce, which at that time smelled very bad.

Let's leave the international assistance for now, and return to the GSVG. Every sane officer of the Group of Forces understood what would happen to us in the event of a military conflict. There was no turning back, there was no belarusian forests, high caucasus mountains and even the famous Russian frost, with which we have always been strong. We lived in the center of an obscure country with a not very open population, lived with our families, carts and problems. It was clear to anyone that the real combat potential of the GSVG was at a low, "peaceful" level. But everyone honestly and convincingly declared that, "if, what, then we - as it should!" Forty years of living in readiness for war simply does not exist in nature. The highest degree - full combat readiness actually works for about three days, increased - three months, and about 40 years you can not even talk about. By the end of the 1980s, the GSVG turned into a criminal service with a double salary for officers, and not a bad service for soldiers. Naturally, no one wanted to fight, and did not seriously prepare, despite all the strategic power of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces.

The military threat in Europe from the Warsaw Pact countries according to the Western press, 1980s. Based on materials from the Internet.

But, let's turn to the cards. Divided in a 1: 3 ratio, the territory of Germany made the task of the GSVG to resist the NATO grouping in Western Europe quite difficult. The strategic game of the two military systems was on an equal footing, and in response to the step of one, the other responded with the adequate placement of similar combat assets. Anyone who has ever seen a map of the 1980s showing the deployment of troops in Europe, was surprised to notice that the most "international aid" went to two Germany. The FRG and the GDR were packed with units and formations of the armies of the USA and the USSR in approximately the same proportion. The difference was that the SA deployed its troops in a narrower section of the center and south of the GDR, and the United States scattered its formations and units more evenly, yes, and the territory of the FRG was three times larger. One got the impression that neither Moscow nor Washington rely heavily on their direct allies in case of war, although I would not compare 500 thousand excellent German soldiers of the Bundeswehr with the valiant People's Army of the GDR, although, who knows! Before the war, there was an opinion that a progressive, Marxist-minded German proletarian would not raise arms against the land of the Soviets, but he would, and how! This vile thought was always in my head when I thought about the proletarian internationalism of the inhabitants of the GDR in the event of a conflict.

Parade crew of the People's Army of the GDR, 1989. Based on materials from the Internet.

The northern part of the GDR, accessible for the deployment of troops, was little used, but the same part was empty in the FRG. Later I learned that the first nuclear strike destroys the system of canals on the coast of all the Western European Baltic countries, and the territory is safely flooded. Therefore, all the troops accumulated along the southern border with Czechoslovakia and Bavaria and in the direction of Berlin. The first strategic echelon of defense of the GSVG in the south passed, roughly, at the level of Halle-Magdeburg, the second - Berlin-Dresden. Merseburg, for some ancient sins, was transferred to the Soviet zone in Potsdam, although it was liberated, or, more precisely, captured by the Americans in 1945. In terms of its location, the city was perfectly suited to accommodate the rear units of the first echelon army deployed further to the western border of the GDR. The valiant RTR regiment of the First Guards Tank Army, located in the second echelon of strategic defense, was specially moved forward to place the first echelon of defense for more effective reconnaissance and observation in the interests of its army. Separate battalions of the regiment were located at a considerable distance from each other along the southern and western borders of the GDR, which created a good base for the direction finding of objects. Outwardly, everything was organized quite logically, and, not forgetting that the abbreviation of the regiment does not include the second letter "R", which means radio reconnaissance, there were means and forces for conducting radio-technical surveillance of objects in the regiment. Without going into the multi-layered intelligence-observation of objects, I want to say that radio intelligence, i.e. interception of materials in the language of the enemy, in the regiment was not a priority task, which made my work almost amateur. To my delight, interesting and useful radio reconnaissance was not part of the regimental combat missions, and all my translated materials sounded like good, additional information.

Plauen, East Germany, 1989. Based on materials from the Internet.

Once in 1988, I was sent with a group of officers of the KP regiment to a separate RT battalion of the regiment, in Plauen. The reason for the business trip was kind of stupid, but I did not mind visiting a new city in Germany, which I would hardly have ended up in. I don't remember this trip very well anymore, I still remember an ancient cozy city, standing on high hills, a forest and steep ascents of streets. Plauen, located to the east, turned out to be the location of the tank units of our First Tank Army, and from afar behind the fence of the military unit I was able to see for the first time the achievement of world tank building, the pride of the Soviet military industry, the newest T-80 tank. Formally serving in the tank army, I even felt proud involvement in the historical moment when such a machine was being prepared to be used in hostilities. I learned a lot of interesting things about the new Soviet tank from local officers.

Tank T-80 - really unique car... With the development of science and technology, all weapons-producing countries unwittingly fell under the influence of the race for perfection. Each new generation of weapons has been more sophisticated, accurate, and expensive. However, it is very difficult to simply create a combat vehicle, a super versatile person, then scientific thought chooses one direction and brings it to perfection. A good example with airplanes. Combat fighters of the USSR, good and very different, all have a military-historical order, all were developed exclusively for a certain theater of military operations, with their own characteristics, however, as usual, the idea was sometimes driven to stupidity.

Let's go back to the T-80. The Soviet Union was preparing for a war in Europe, which was famous for its beautiful roads, which no one would be able to destroy immediately. The retaliatory strike during the conflict according to the combat plans of the General Staff consisted of a massive operational-tactical nuclear strike, stunning, in other words, enemy defense, and a lightning-fast tank breakthrough deep into Western Europe. Within one day, according to the plans of the command, the advanced tank units were to reach the line of Paris. One can argue about the reality of such plans, but in order to approve the strategy, the military leaders needed weapons of war... And, specifically, a new tank was needed. It is clear to anyone even without a map that getting from Merseburg to Paris even by car through peaceful Europe is not a short way. Add stress, deadly radiation, unfriendly behavior of locals, still living residents, weak opposition to the suppressed enemy forces, then the journey may seem difficult. But, as you know, the magic 100 grams, in conditions radiation - all 1000 grams, can simplify matters. However, you need a tank. A normal serviceable tank has a historically calculated life of 600 km and one shot. This truth upset me very much when, as a cadet, I passed armored vehicles at the Military Institute, and combat colonels-teachers told us such terrible secrets. It was a hell of a pity for the money and effort spent on making a wonderful tank, although the colonels reassured that not all tanks would last that long. But, most importantly, the tank must be fast, otherwise, the entire offensive campaign will get bogged down in the area, at best, of Dusseldorf. Soviet minds strained and gave out a fantastic idea, approved in all instances. Nothing propels a 40-ton tank like an aircraft engine. Invented - done! A helicopter turbine was installed on the tank, which made it, simply, a Ferrari! The T-80 on tests reached an incomprehensible speed of over 100 km / h, when the fastest tanks of that time barely reached a speed of 80 km / h. At the same time, they stuffed modern electronics there, lowered the silhouette, and the tank turned out to be even graceful in appearance. The rest is a Formula 1 car. As it turned out, like Schumacher's car, the T-80 cannot be idled, you cannot stand in a traffic jam and move slowly. Simply, the turbine burns out, and that's it ...

T-80. Based on materials from the Internet.

In the mid-1980s, the first deliveries of a new vehicle to intimidate Europe to the First, naturally, tank army were simply a disaster - the engines were damaged by valiant tank soldiers during the journeys. The repairs turned out to be prohibitively expensive, and the new tanks were put on hold until the personnel issue was resolved. But, there was no turning back, the Western press trumpeted about the new Soviet threat and super-weapons. The decision was made, as always in the army, they waved a saber! All tank crew commanders must be staffed with ... ensigns !! And over the next few years, with half a sin, the demobilized tankers turned into early warrant officers, however, no one really drove the new tanks to avoid problems, and long lists of young warrant officers, "Anzors" and "Akhmets" appeared in the personnel departments. ..

People's Army of the GDR, 1980s. Based on materials from the Internet.

... No, I never thought to give up or cross to the other side. I was proud of my army and honestly continued to serve, sincerely hoping that no conflicts would occur in East Germany, busy with its own affairs and thoughts. Only sometimes, standing on Mount Gleichberg on Remhild, I gazed thoughtfully at the green hills in the Federal Republic of Germany, and with my whole body felt the unpleasant vulnerability of my life in the face of big politics, where the cost of people's lives does not mean, as you know, just anything.

"HAUPT-BANOF"

For an ordinary Soviet person who had never traveled to Germany, several German cities were heard. Berlin, which was regularly taken, bombed and fed in numerous Soviet films and books; there was Dresden, where wonderful old paintings were kept, which, with the advent of perestroika, some Russian jingoistic patriots even wanted to return; and there was Leipzig. There was no world gallery in Leipzig, the city was captured in 1945 by an American division without the noise of Soviet propaganda, however, Leipzig was very familiar to many Moscow inhabitants. Along with "Wanda" and "Yadran" in Moscow there was a wonderful store with goods from the GDR - the Leipzig department store. Since childhood, I remember shelves with joyfully bright packages, some pleasant, probably European smell in the sales area and arrogant, brightly colored, pretty saleswomen. There were also the best Christmas tree decorations in Moscow and the famous, unattainable children's railway. Goods from the GDR were not cheap, and the most affordable German luxury was the wonderful, scented Baduzan bath foam. Recalling that in the 1970s, Soviet citizens were not spoiled by such bourgeois excesses as toilet papermaking extensive use of the central press of the USSR, the bubble bath looked very cool.

Unobtrusively asking others about the road to Leipzig, in July 1987 I was ready to travel. To be honest, there was no need to make a special secret about a trip to this settlement of the GDR, since Leipzig was quite a habitable place for the Merseburg families. In addition to the ubiquitous officers' wives, who were probably not only in Bonn in their shop hunting, Russian family trips were popular in the Soviet exhibition pavilion for Russian books during the international Leipzig fair. The fair was held once a year, however, the route was known to everyone. Ignoring the bewilderment of their colleagues - why am I interested in Leipzig in July ?, I found out that you can get there in different ways: by train through Galle, by a rare direct train and by bus. The regimental doctor, with whom we communicated freely and without misunderstandings, generally offered to drop me on the occasion to Leipzig in his passing ambulance on the way to the military hospital. I thanked for the tempting "budget" offer of official transport, preferring my own free schedule. After another shift, having changed my uniform for a field-Eastern European outfit, I went to the Merseburg train station. At the ticket office of the bus station, I had to buy a ticket to Leipzig and back.

At the beginning of my German life, any contact with the Germans caused me great embarrassment. I was sincerely ashamed of my ignorance of the German language, I was afraid to make a mistake and buy a ticket somewhere not there, to be fined and ashamed. However, over time I felt completely free, moreover, I flaunted a couple of overheard German phrases, often buying a ticket to my beloved Leipzig. I no longer looked ashamedly into the face of the cashier behind the glass, but, half-turned into the distance, casually stretched: “Ain on La-ya-yayptsish-sh-shh! Yaa! Aba Tse-e-yeshen-n-n! " I don't know how it sounded from the outside, but I was very proud of myself until I was corrected. Once in Dresden I was buying a return ticket to Merseburg via Leipzig, and out of habit I dropped the phrase I had learned. An elderly German cashier, standing on his bedside table at the cash register, looked sternly at me over his glasses, stamped a ticket and, handing it to me, said in an edifying voice: "Ain nah Leipzikh-x-x !!"... I don't know what touched the elderly German most of all, who, for sure, like all the old staff, spoke Russian well, either, my German, or my language antics, or simply, he could not stand our West Saxon accent. However, from that time until 1990, I tried to speak more clearly at the box office, not imitating the German colloquial pronunciation.

The road on the familiar Moscow Ikarus was fast and pleasant. The route ran through fields and farms, crossed a water canal, the form of reservoirs in Germany, with the only stop in the village of Tseschen. There were no people, as always, in the transport and nothing prevented me from looking in all directions of the half-empty bus. The Leipzig suburbs were reasonably well-groomed, the houses looked renewed, and many of the streets were fairly green. An hour later, the bus turned into the city center and stopped near the famous Leipzig railway station. Disembarking from the bus, I found myself at the foot of a gray mountain, a gloomy, almost black, spreading monster bunker that stretched along the train station square for three European blocks. Compared to nearby buildings, Lepzig's main station is “ haupt Banoff " looked like a grim prison, not much like a train station. The front walls had windows of three high floors, which, with the store's lower floor, made the station more like a gloomy residential complex.

The largest railway station in Europe "Haupt-Banoff", Leipzig, East Germany, 1989. Based on materials from the Internet.

The station, untouched in the 1980s, was so huge that it would take five minutes to walk through the main hall. Having listened to the dubious advice of the Merseburg experts, I specially studied the structure of the station and train tracks, disagreeing with people that it is easy to get lost at this largest station in Europe. Everything, as I expected, looked simple and logical, the track numbers were in place, everything was clear and clear in German. Having written off everything on the usual laziness and stubbornness of my fellow citizens to read the German announcements about the transfer of shipments from one path to another, I happily continued on my way. On my first visit, I had not yet imagined that the station really had its own tricks and was sweating desperately when I once went through it in transit. The first trick was that it was simply impossible to announce the transfer of the departure platform at the huge train station. At a great distance they were inaudible, and the powerful echo made them completely illegible. According to the German tradition, changes in departure platforms were announced there only once, and there was zero chance of understanding them. In addition, there was another trick at the station. The track number in the departure timetable sometimes had a small letter, especially with regard to nearby trains, such as Merseburg. Thus, three trains departed from one platform, and not two, as usual, providing the fantastic capacity of the huge station.

In the area of \u200b\u200bthe Haupt-Banof station, Leipzig, East Germany, 1988. Photo by the author.

Once, with a ticket to Merseburg, I almost missed my short train, which stood on the track that started at the end of the platform. In order to load, one had to reach the end of the usual platform, go down and walk along the low track along the train and climb the high stairs into the carriage. Not knowing this trick, I rushed between two distant trains on my platform, feeling that none of them would go to Merseburg. In short, I was already getting into a moving carriage, which was highly discouraged. In the GSVG, everyone was officially warned by order of the commander about the peculiarities of German trains. The fact is that Soviet trains usually departed slowly, giving the opportunity for those who were late and saying goodbye to jump on the bandwagon. German trains traditionally do not wait for anyone and start quickly and abruptly, and in the GDR there were many cases of severe injuries of Russians, who, by habit, caught the last carriage.

Information booth at the Haupt-Banoff railway station for those who understand German. Leipzig, East Germany, 1989. Based on materials from the Internet.

But, while I left an amazing work of railway station architecture in the style of Hitler's "Deutschland Uber Alles!" and went out to the square of the unfamiliar city of Leipzig, which soon became almost Las Vegas for me.

View of the Haupt-Banof railway station, Leipzig, East Germany, 1988. Photo by the author.

The Saale River and Gibichenstein Castle are the main attractions of Halle. It's nice that they can be examined at the same time. It is surprising that the river, which has always flowed here, and the castle, which began to be built under Charlemagne, look so modern. Photo: Stadt Halle (Saale)

I owe a dream to this city. Halle on the Saale River in East Germany fascinated me so much that I thought, "It's probably good to live in a small town in Europe." At that moment, to me, who had lived all her life in St. Petersburg and Moscow, this thought seemed funny, but accidental. However, this thought has imperceptibly grown into a dream, and dreams come true - sooner or later, one way or another ...

Unexpected Germany

In the spring of 1998, I first came to Germany, saw and recognized some of its cities. At that time Berlin, like a Phoenix bird, was shaking the ashes of the past from its huge wings and reinventing itself. While eastern Berlin frightened with empty abandoned quarters and endless construction sites, the western one was losing its outlines, merging with its abandoned half ... Aristocratic frozen Hamburg, which seemed to have no idea that its port is one of the largest in the world, and therefore fate the working city should be closer to him, he was elegant and restrained - and thus magnificent! Munich, the banking capital of Germany, is the most relaxed of all German cities, where the most expensive and luxurious cars seemed ordinary - there were so many of them. Hilariously funny Bavarians in shorts and white knee-highs with tassels - their national (but everyday!) Costumes - drinking beer with a serious look in the morning, made an unimaginable contrast with the signs of fashionable shops in Italian - for added chic - language.

This active living in the present Germany had nothing in common with the one that I imagined; besides, from city to city the country varied enormously. But the connecting thread was the famous German order: the rationality of the organization of city life, convenience in big and small for each of its citizens.

Crossing the country from end to end on trains, I stared out of the window in fascination almost all the time. The nature of Germany turned out to be not only beautiful, but also very dear: everywhere birches flashed across them put the last fat point on the myths of Soviet propaganda, which made birch for me a national symbol, which (of course!) Does not grow abroad.

Salt town

2006 is held in Halle under the sign of "1200" - the history of this city counts for so many years. In Russia there are few cities of the same age, and for a European city the age is very respectable.

The first settlements arose here thanks to salt deposits. The word "Halle" itself is believed to be of Celtic origin, and means "places rich in salt." Salt determined the fate of the city: on the one hand, it always managed to remain prosperous and rich thanks to this vital spice; on the other hand, the development of the salt industry over time received a logical continuation - chemical plants were concentrated here during the GDR years, and this had a very detrimental effect on the entire region.

The city traces its history back to the 9th century, when Charlemagne founded a fortress here - one of the chain of defensive structures on the eastern borders of the Frankish Empire. City status was granted to the new settlement in 981 by Emperor Otto II. From the middle of the 10th century, Halle was part of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg for almost seven centuries.

Interestingly, Magdeburg is currently the capital of the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, although Halle was and remains the most big city of this land - history, as it were, made a circle and again brought Halle under the authority of Magdeburg. However, since Germany, like the entire territory of Europe, was redrawn more than once, the city's belonging to the next "capital" also changed. So, in 1638 the city was included in the elector of Brandenburg, and with the transformation of the latter into the Prussian Kingdom, it became a Prussian city.

Prussia eventually disappeared from the map of Europe, and Halle, fortunately, remained. He is generally lucky: they say that when the Americans meticulously treated German cities with carpet bombing in April 1945, the flights to Halle did not occur due to bad weather that happened on the day appointed for the bombing of this city. Thus, Halle fully preserved its historical center, while in Leipzig, just 40 kilometers from Halle, only a few buildings survived. For the first time, cities, which had been competing with each other with salt and fairground wealth, for the first time found themselves in an unequal position.

Re-discovering the city

Modern Halle inherited from the GDR a neglected ecological situation, ugly new buildings on the outskirts of the city and a developed chemical industry. As in many countries participating in socialist integration, the development of one industry entailed the absence of a normal urban infrastructure, and any city does not need a mass of skilled chemical workers as much as the same number of bartenders, salesmen, hairdressers and other service workers. After the reunification of Germany, the privatization of large national enterprises was followed by the closure of many of them, unemployment reached 20%, and still the situation has not completely improved. At the same time, migration processes began: some East Germans preferred to go to the west to seek their fortune, others, in search of cheaper housing, moved out of town. So Galle lost up to 70 thousand inhabitants, and whole blocks of empty houses appeared in the city. It is a well-known fact that it is always more expensive to renovate an old one than to build a new one, and almost a fifth of the residential buildings, both historical and modern, were abandoned. In addition, if there was still some sense to fight for housing in the old center, the development of the 1960s and 1970s did not attract an investor in any way.

The market square is traditionally turned into a concert hall. Germans love to listen to classics. The music of their fellow countryman Handel, who became famous in England and glorified his homeland there, seems to them as beautiful today as it was three hundred years ago. Photo: Stadt Halle (Saale)

When city-forming enterprises die, the city also begins to die - this truth works anywhere in the world. A popular technology that allows a city to survive is a reorientation from an industrial center to a sociocultural one. The historical and cultural heritage of Halle was enough to enable the city and townspeople to live in a new way. The city has five theaters (the opera and puppet theaters are especially famous) and five concert halls, where art festivals are held, the most famous of which is the Handel International Music Festival. Among the several museums, at least two are worthy of mention: the house-museum of Handel, the great composer who was born and lived in Halle until the age of 18, and the Museum of the Francke Foundation, presumably the last surviving Kunstkamera from the Baroque era.

Science, perhaps, means even more for the city than art, of which living evidence is the university, whose history deserves a separate story, and numerous research institutes. Halle is the headquarters of the oldest German scientific society - the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldin. The members of this academy, founded in 1652, were Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), Albert Einstein (Albert Einstein, 1879-1955) and Max Planck (Max Karl Ernst Luedwig Planck, 1858-1947).

The oldest university

For the thousand two hundred years of its history, the city, thanks to different rulers, of course, lived in different ways, but Martin Luther University has always been and remains its constant since the beginning of the 16th century.

The university is named after Martin Luther. Photo: Stadt Halle (Saale)

It is the oldest university in Germany and the largest in Saxony-Anhalt. The fact that there are 18 thousand students per 247 thousand inhabitants of Halle, the city is primarily indebted to the university, sixteen thousand students of which are educated in almost a hundred specialties.

The university is famous not only for educational, but also scientific activities, constant international exchanges allow his scientists to always be at the very peak of modern science.

The full name of the university - Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg - received the university in 1933. From the name it follows that the university belongs to two cities at the same time - Halle and Wittenberg. Indeed, the merger of the universities of these cities took place in the 19th century. In 1813, the educational process in Wittenberg was completely stopped and moved to Halle - this is how the Napoleonic wars affected university life.

The history of the university is intertwined with the history of the development of German science and society. The university was founded in 1502 by the Saxon Elector Friedrich the Wise (Friedrich der Weise, 1486-1525) in Wittenberg. Through the activities of Martin Luether (1485-1546) and Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560), the university became the center of the Reformation. In 1694, the opening ceremony of the University of Halle was held by the Brandenburg Elector Frederick III. Thanks to the work of such famous scholars as the lawyer Christian Thomasius (1655-1728) and the theologian August Hermann Francke (1663-1727), the university became the center of early Enlightenment and pietism.

Franke did a lot for the city: as an assistant professor at the university, he founded an educational foundation for the poor and orphans. Education for this segment of the population was a revolutionary idea by the standards of that time! For this, he built a whole "training city" in Halle. It still stands today: it is a school, a kindergarten, the Foundation building, and some university buildings. At the suggestion of the government of Saxony-Anhalt, this architectural ensemble in 1999 became a candidate for inclusion in the UNESCO list of protected cultural heritage.

Currently, one third of university professors are women, and this tradition also has its historical roots. In the middle of the 18th century, Dorothea Erksleben (1715-1762) became the first woman to graduate from the University of Halle and receive the title of doctor.

Among other educational institutions of Halle, the Academy of Arts and the Handel Conservatory deserve mention. An impressive asset for a city of a quarter of a million inhabitants!

At a gallop into the future

In 1998, when I saw Halle for the first time, the city was in the midst of transformation. The old center has already acquired a pedestrian street Leipziger Strasse with countless shops and cafes, with a leisurely crowd; but at its beginning, and in the streets around, serious perestroika passions seethed, so that it was not even clear how it was possible to keep the shop windows and pavements of the city's main street clean.

The combination of the already perfectly finished, unfinished, and the things that had not yet reached my hands, followed me throughout the city. The ancient buildings of the university, its quiet old courtyards, luxurious blossoming flower beds in front of the magnificent building of the opera house were in perfect order, and therefore pleasing to the eye and pleasantly warming the heart, instantly erasing from the memory the inconvenience of the surrounding construction projects. The city was in a hurry - the Germans are somehow more accustomed to living in order. Moreover, the volume of work was enormous, they did without Potemkin villages, they did not build in haste, but quickly and according to plan.

On my next visit in 2001, the city was unrecognizable - the chaos of restructuring rolled back from the center, leaving modern buildings of whimsical design sparkling with glass, however, perfectly friendly with the surrounding landscape.

In 2004 the city presented itself in a new incarnation, being alive, young and active. The five ancient towers on Marktplatz, a symbol of the city for centuries, seemed to me to be a fantastic installation in the right place - this city has become so modern. Numerous newly opened cafes, where students argued about something over trendy tea cups against the background of lounge music, peacefully coexisted with classic old cafes, where elderly Frau dropped in for a cup of coffee, repeating the ritual of their mothers and grandmothers.

This ability to inscribe the new into the old, without coercion or violence to adapt the old to modern needs is a very nice quality of Galle. Now that I live in a small town in northern Italy (yes, the dream has come true - sooner or later, one way or another!), I can understand and appreciate what it is like for a small town to stay on the rapids of a river called Time. In addition to love, the reasons for which, as you know, cannot be explained, I now have a sincere respect for Halle. The city, which managed to change its fate, inadvertently changed mine too - for which, by the way, we are very grateful to him.

I hope to go there again next spring - I want to see how the three-level junction has turned out, which should connect the center, the station and the motorways, and not only solve transport difficulties, but also give the residents of Halle new shopping opportunities. An ambitious project worth 18 million euros on an area of \u200b\u200b26 hectares was created in Italy, so everything should be more than in order with the design. And there is no doubt that it will be reasonable and functional - let's not forget that this is happening in Germany, where everyone knows about order.

Partners news

Halle-Neustadt ("New Town") - originally an independent city in the vicinity of Halle, but now an urban area.

Locals have come up with a playful nickname "HaNeu" for Neustadt, formed from the merger of the first syllables of the name of the city and district (Halle + Neustadt).

Neustadt was founded in 1963 by the decision of the SED Politburo as a city of workers in the chemical industry. Moreover, it was built at a considerable distance from chemical enterprises, in the floodplain of the Zale River. Richard Paulik became the chief architect of the new city. From 1984 to 1990, Neustadt had its own coat of arms in the form of a golden key on a red background and three white doves underneath, taking off from an expanding green bud.

According to the initial concept, the city consisted of five quarters, each of which was supposed to have its own center with a department store, clinic, restaurant complex, which were adjacent to schools, kindergartens and gyms. However, in practice, this concept was not implemented - during the GDR times, there was a great lack of shops and cultural institutions in the city - for shopping or for leisure, local residents had to go to Halle. Public transport in Neustadt was also poorly developed.

It was planned to build a 100-meter "House of Chemistry" on the main square of the New Town. However, for economic reasons, this architectural dominant was never built, and the gigantic foundation pit dug for its construction served for many years as a visible "achievement" of socialism.

A typical example of the architecture of Neustadt during the GDR period is also "Block 10" - an 11-storey building with a length of 380 m, the largest residential building in the republic. It is designed for approximately 2,500 people. The so-called "Glasses" (1970-1975), five 18-storey high-rise buildings with a corridor system, which housed student dormitories of Martin Luther University and workers' dormitories of chemical plants, have survived since the time of socialism. They are empty these days.

Neustadt Town Hall was built only in 1989 and was never used for its intended purpose due to the rapid loss of the city's independence. The streets of Neustadt did not have names - instead of them there was a single continuous numbering principle, which was abolished after 1990. Before the unification of Germany, the 27th motorized rifle division of the Soviet troops was based in the barracks in the south of the city.

In 1990, following a popular vote, Neustadt became part of Halle. IN last years the district's housing stock is being rehabilitated, the tram network is expanding and new supermarkets and shopping centers are being built, the largest of which, Neustadt-Centrum, was opened in 2000.

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