Klausberge - (The Klaus Bluffs)

were named after the Klause or Klus, a hermitage which once housed monks atop these bluffs.

A hermit lived here as early as 1116. Around 100 years later the next one settled here, a monk of the mendicant order of the Marienknechte or Serviten, and was followed by many of his fellow brethren. They built a chapel at the foot of the bluff and in Trotha they ran two farms with land that was given to them by Archbishop Albrecht II. By 1306, so many had joined the hermitage that they moved into the city. Originally, the Klausberge extended to the Trotha Church. Since they long served as a porphyry quarry, they have changed over time. For centuries they were barren, until in 1871 the Halle Beautification Association assumed the task of laying paths and planting the bluffs with vegetation, mostly lilac. In 1879 the Honorary Joseph von Eichendorff Association placed a memorial stone bearing his poem “Bei Halle” (Near Halle) at a location where one has an especially beautiful view of the castle and the Saale. 20 years later, the Eichendorff Bench was added right next to the stone.