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History of the Leopoldina Building
The building was erected on an embankment that was constructed as a fortification for Moritzburg castle in the 16th century. The name Jägerberg (“hunters’ hill”) goes back to a hunting lodge Duke Augustus of Saxony built there in the 17th century.
The Masonic lodge “Zu den Drei Degen” bought the property in 1792 and turned it into a cultural venue, hosting concerts, balls and festivals. Under the Nazi regime, the lodge was pressured into transferring ownership of the property to the city of Halle. After World War II, the Soviet military administration used the building as a cultural centre. It was named after the Russian philosopher and writer N. G. Chernyshevsky and served as an auditorium of Martin-Luther-Universität Halle Wittenberg from 1952. In 1998 the property was returned to the Weltkugelstiftung, a non-profit organisation and the legal successor to the Masonic lodge. The Leopoldina bought the building, which had been vacant since 2001, from the Weltkugelstiftung in 2009.
Lodge building in the 19th century. Image: Stadtarchiv Halle (Saale)
