The Marktkirche in Halle was decided on May 17, 1529. Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, Archbishop of Magdeburg, needed a prestigious church in the city, and Roman Catholic town councilors backed it to counter the Reformation. Caspar Krafft, the town's master builder, designed it. After his death in 1540, Nickel Hoffmann took over the western end. It was built in two phases, 1530 to 1539 and 1542 to 1554.
The church replaced St. Gertrude and St. Mary's but kept their towers. The four towers and the Red Tower make up the city's landmark, nicknamed the City of the Five Towers. The article calls it the last great hall church of the Upper Saxon Gothic style.
Martin Luther preached here in 1545 and 1546, and his body lay in repose in 1546. Handel was baptized here in 1685.
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