The economic power of the city was characterised first and foremost by the cultural and architectural trumps after the turn of the century. The museum of arts and crafts, the Moritzburg, added numerous high-profile acquisitions to its collection at this time. Amongst these were 24 paintings, which were purchased from the collection of Rosy Fischer (Frankfurt) in December 1924; this had been made possible through the former director of the museum and the lord mayor’s dedication to the cause. Max Sauerlandt and the mayor Dr. Richard Robert Rive had appealed to the magistrate and the city council. Thus, “the Museum in Halle has all at once moved into the front line of those galleries whose understanding of contemporary art means dealing with time and self-examination”, wrote the art historian and critic Will Großmann in 1925. The works from the Fischer collection included paintings by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Emil Nolde, Otto Mueller, Oskar Kokoschka, Franz Marc, Pablo Picasso and others. “In this way, Halle will secure a considerable share of the intellectual and artistic development in Germany.” Other important works also came to Halle, including a series of urban views by Bauhaus master Lyonel Feininger, who was commissioned to execute the drawings by the museum’s director, Alois Schardt, between 1929 and 1931. Feininger was given a studio in the gate tower of the Moritzburg during this time. With a contract dated June 20th 1931, the city magistrate acquired eleven paintings and 28 drawings by the artist for the sum of 31,200 Reichsmark, made possible through a donation by the Lord Mayor Rive. After the National Socialists came to power, the works of Lyonel Feiniger and many others were unfortunately defamed as “degenerate” and were dispersed into various other collections. Today, the museum in Halle once again owns three paintings as well as numerous drawings and photographs.