Leipzig ( , ;
Upper Saxon
Upper Saxon (german: Obersächsisch, ; ) is an East Central German language spoken in much of the modern German state of Saxony and in adjacent parts of southeastern Saxony-Anhalt and eastern Thuringia. As of the early 21st century, it's mostl ...
: ) is the most populous city in the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
state of
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the
larger urban zone)
as of 2021 places the city as Germany's
eighth most populous, as well as the second most populous city in the area of the former
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
after (
East)
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
. Together with
Halle (Saale)
Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: ''Hall in Sachsen''; until the beginning of the 20th century: ''Halle an der Saale'' ; from 1965 to 1995: ''Halle/Saale'') is the largest city of the Germany, German States of ...
, the city forms the polycentric Leipzig-Halle Conurbation. Between the two cities (in
Schkeuditz
Schkeuditz () is a Große Kreisstadt in the district of Nordsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the White Elster river, 12 km northwest of Leipzig. Leipzig/Halle Airport is located in Schkeuditz. The letter processing center for ...
) lies
Leipzig/Halle Airport
Leipzig/Halle Airport (German: ''Flughafen Leipzig/Halle'') is an international airport located in Schkeuditz, Saxony, Germany and serves both Leipzig, Saxony, and Halle, Saxony-Anhalt.
It is Germany's 14th largest airport by passengers and ...
.
Leipzig is located about southwest of Berlin, in the southernmost part of the
North German Plain (known as
Leipzig Bay), at the confluence of the
White Elster River (progression: ) and two of its tributaries: the
Pleiße
The Pleiße is a river of Saxony and Thuringia, Germany.
The Pleiße has its source southwest of Zwickau at Ebersbrunn, then flows through Werdau, Crimmitschau, Altenburg, and other towns and villages in Saxony and Thuringia, before flowing fr ...
and the
Parthe. The name of the city and those of many of its boroughs are of
Slavic origin.
Leipzig has been a trade city since at least the time of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
.
The city sits at the intersection of the
Via Regia and the
Via Imperii, two important medieval trade routes. Leipzig's trade fair dates back to 1190. Between 1764 and 1945, the city was a center of
publishing
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
.
After the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and during the period of the German Democratic Republic (
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
) Leipzig remained a major urban centre in East Germany, but its cultural and economic importance declined.
Events in Leipzig in 1989 played a significant role in precipitating the
fall of communism in
Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
, mainly through
demonstrations
Demonstration may refer to:
* Demonstration (acting), part of the Brechtian approach to acting
* Demonstration (military), an attack or show of force on a front where a decision is not sought
* Demonstration (political), a political rally or prote ...
starting from
St. Nicholas Church. The immediate effects of the
reunification of Germany
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
included the collapse of the local economy (which had come to depend on highly polluting
heavy industry), severe unemployment, and urban blight. Starting around 2000, however, the decline was first arrested, then reversed, and since then Leipzig has seen many significant changes, including the restoration of major historical buildings, the demolition of derelict properties, and the development of new industries and a modern transport infrastructure.
Leipzig is home to one of the
oldest universities in Europe (
Leipzig University). It is also one of two seats of the
German National Library
The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...
, as well as the seat of the German
Federal Administrative Court. Leipzig was rated as the most
livable
Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...
city in Germany in 2013 by the
GfK
GfK (originally german: GfK-Nürnberg Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung e.V., lit=Nuremberg Society for Consumer Research, label=none) is a provider of data and intelligence to the consumer goods industry. It is headquartered in Nuremberg, German ...
marketing research institution.
Leipzig Zoo
Leipzig Zoological Garden, or Leipzig Zoo (german: link=no, Zoologischer Garten Leipzig) is a zoo in Leipzig`s district Mitte, Germany. It was first opened on June 9, 1878. It was taken over by the city of Leipzig in 1920 after World War I and now ...
is one of the most modern zoos in Europe and ranks first in Germany (2013) and second in Europe (2015). Since
Leipzig City Tunnel came into operation in 2013, Leipzig forms the centrepiece of the
S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland public transit system. Leipzig was in 2020 listed as a "Sufficiency" level
global city by the
Globalization and World Cities Research Network
The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) is a think tank that studies the relationships between world cities in the context of globalization. It is based in the geography department of Loughborough University in Leicestershi ...
, Germany's "Boomtown"
and was the 2019 Academy of Urbanism European City of the Year.
Leipzig has long been a major centre for music, including classical and modern
dark wave. The
Thomanerchor (English: St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig), a boys' choir, was founded in 1212. The
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, established in 1743, is one of the oldest symphony orchestras in the world.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
and
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...
are two of several well-known composers who lived and worked in Leipzig. The
University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" was founded in 1843. The
Oper Leipzig, one of the most prominent opera houses in Germany, was founded in 1868. During a stay in
Gohlis
Gohlis is an area in the north of the city of Leipzig, Germany. Once a village outside the city, it is known as the place where Friedrich Schiller wrote the first version of his ''Ode to Joy'' in 1785.
It urbanised during the ''Gründerzeit'' per ...
, which is now part of the city,
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...
wrote his poem "
Ode to Joy".
Etymology
Name
![Leipzig 1632](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Leipzig_1632.jpg)
The name Leipzig is derived from the
Slavic word ', which means "settlement where the
linden trees
''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Britain and Ireland they ...
(British English: lime trees; U.S. English: basswood trees) stand". An older spelling of the name in English is . The
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
name was also used. The name is cognate with () in Russia and in
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
.
![Leipzig, Old Town Hall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Leipzig%2C_Old_Town_Hall.jpg)
In 1937 the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
government officially renamed the city ' (Reich Trade Fair City Leipzig).
Since 1989 Leipzig has been informally dubbed "Hero City" (), in recognition of the role that the
Monday demonstrations there played in the fall of the East German regime – the name alludes to the honorary title awarded in the former Soviet Union to certain cities that played a key role in the victory of the Allies during the Second World War. The common usage of this nickname for Leipzig up until the present is reflected, for example, in the name of a blog for local arts and culture, ''Heldenstadt.de''.
More recently, the city has sometimes been nicknamed the "Boomtown of eastern Germany", "Hypezig" or "The better
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
" and is celebrated by the media as a hip urban centre for its vibrant lifestyle and creative scene with many
startups.
History
Origins
Leipzig was first documented in 1015 in the chronicles of Bishop
Thietmar of Merseburg as ' (, VII, 25) and endowed with city and market privileges in 1165 by
Otto the Rich.
Leipzig Trade Fair
The Leipzig Trade Fair (german: Leipziger Messe) is a major trade fair, which traces its roots back for nearly a millennium. After the Second World War, Leipzig fell within the territory of East Germany, whereupon the Leipzig Trade Fair became o ...
, started in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, has become an event of international importance and is the oldest surviving trade fair in the world.
There are records of commercial fishing operations on the river
Pleiße
The Pleiße is a river of Saxony and Thuringia, Germany.
The Pleiße has its source southwest of Zwickau at Ebersbrunn, then flows through Werdau, Crimmitschau, Altenburg, and other towns and villages in Saxony and Thuringia, before flowing fr ...
that, most likely, refer to Leipzig dating back to 1305, when the
Margrave
Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Emp ...
Dietrich the Younger granted the fishing rights to the church and convent of St Thomas.
There were a number of
monasteries in and around the city, including a
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
monastery after which the (Barefoot Alley) is named and a monastery of Irish monks (, destroyed in 1544) near the present day (the old ').
The
University of Leipzig
Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...
was founded in 1409 and Leipzig developed into an important centre of German law and of the publishing industry in Germany, resulting, in the 19th and 20th centuries, with the
Reichsgericht
The Reichsgericht (, ''Reich Court'') was the supreme criminal and civil court in the German Reich from 1879 to 1945. It was based in Leipzig, Germany. The Supreme Court was established when the Reichsjustizgesetze (Imperial Justice Laws) came in ...
(Imperial Court of Justice) and the
German National Library
The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...
being located here.
During the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
, two battles took place in , about outside Leipzig city walls. The
first Battle of Breitenfeld took place in 1631 and
the second
''The Second'' is the second studio album by Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf, released in October 1968 on ABC Dunhill Records. The album contains one of Steppenwolf's most famous songs, " Magic Carpet Ride". The background of the origin ...
in 1642. Both battles resulted in victories for the Swedish-led side.
On 24 December 1701, an oil-fueled
street light
A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution ...
ing system was introduced. The city employed light guards who had to follow a specific schedule to ensure the punctual lighting of the 700 lanterns.
19th century
![Battle of Leipzig by Zauerweid](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Battle_of_Leipzig_by_Zauerweid.jpg)
The Leipzig region was the arena of the 1813
Battle of Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig (french: Bataille de Leipsick; german: Völkerschlacht bei Leipzig, ); sv, Slaget vid Leipzig), also known as the Battle of the Nations (french: Bataille des Nations; russian: Битва народов, translit=Bitva ...
between
Napoleonic France
The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Eur ...
and an allied coalition of
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
, Russia, Austria and Sweden. It was the largest battle in Europe before the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and the coalition victory ended
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
's presence in Germany and would ultimately lead to his first exile on
Elba. The
Monument to the Battle of the Nations
The Monument to the Battle of the Nations (german: Völkerschlachtdenkmal, sometimes shortened to ''Völki'' or ''Schlachti'') is a monument in Leipzig, Germany, to the 1813 Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations. Paid for mo ...
celebrating the centenary of this event was completed in 1913. In addition to stimulating German nationalism, the war had a major impact in mobilizing a civic spirit in numerous volunteer activities. Many volunteer militias and civic associations were formed, and collaborated with churches and the press to support local and state militias, patriotic wartime mobilization, humanitarian relief and postwar commemorative practices and rituals.
When it was made a terminus of the first German long-distance
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
to
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
(the capital of Saxony) in 1839, Leipzig became a hub of
Central Europe
Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...
an railway traffic, with
Leipzig Hauptbahnhof the largest
terminal station
A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...
by area in Europe. The railway station has two grand entrance halls, the eastern one for the
Royal Saxon State Railways
The Royal Saxon State Railways (german: Königlich Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen) were the state-owned railways operating in the Kingdom of Saxony from 1869 to 1918. From 1918 until their merger into the Deutsche Reichsbahn the title 'Royal' was d ...
and the western one for the
Prussian state railways.
In the 19th century, Leipzig was a centre of the German and Saxon liberal movements. The first German
labor party, the
General German Workers' Association
The General German Workers' Association (german: Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiter-Verein, ADAV) was a German political party founded on 23 May 1863 in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony by Ferdinand Lassalle. It was the first organized mass working-class ...
(''Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiterverein'', ADAV) was founded in Leipzig on 23 May 1863 by
Ferdinand Lassalle
Ferdinand Lassalle (; 11 April 1825 – 31 August 1864) was a Prussian-German jurist, philosopher, socialist and political activist best remembered as the initiator of the social democratic movement in Germany. "Lassalle was the first man in Ger ...
; about 600 workers from across Germany travelled to the foundation on the new railway. Leipzig expanded rapidly to more than 700,000 inhabitants. Huge ''
Gründerzeit'' areas were built, which mostly survived both war and post-war demolition.
20th century
![Neues Rathaus Leipzig nach1905](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Neues_Rathaus_Leipzig_nach1905.jpg)
With the opening of a fifth production hall in 1907, the
Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei
The Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei (''Leipzig Cotton Mill'') is an industrial site in Leipzig, Germany. Parts of this 10-hectare site in the district of Lindenau are used today by art galleries, studios and restaurants.
Founded in 1884, the busine ...
became the largest
cotton mill company on the continent, housing over 240,000 spindles. Yearly production surpassed 5 million kilograms of yarn.
During the 1930s and 1940s, music was prominent throughout Leipzig. Many students attended
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy College of Music and Theatre
The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn ...
(then named Landeskonservatorium.) However, in 1944, it was closed due to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. It re-opened soon after the war ended in 1945.
On 22 May 1930,
Carl Friedrich Goerdeler was elected mayor of Leipzig. He later became an opponent of the
Nazi regime. He resigned in 1937 when, in his absence, his Nazi deputy ordered the destruction of the city's statue of
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...
. On
Kristallnacht in 1938, the 1855
Moorish Revival
Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centur ...
Leipzig synagogue, one of the city's most architecturally significant buildings, was deliberately destroyed.
Goerdeler was later executed by the Nazis on 2 February 1945.
Several thousand forced labourers were stationed in Leipzig during the Second World War.
Beginning in 1933, many Jewish citizens of Leipzig were members of the
Gemeinde
Gemeinde (; plural: Gemeinden) is a German word translating to "community", "town", "parish", or "municipality".
Gemeinde may refer to:
* An administrative division encompassing a single village, town, or city:
** Gemeinde (Austria)
** Gemeinde (G ...
, a large Jewish religious community spread throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In October 1935, the
Gemeinde
Gemeinde (; plural: Gemeinden) is a German word translating to "community", "town", "parish", or "municipality".
Gemeinde may refer to:
* An administrative division encompassing a single village, town, or city:
** Gemeinde (Austria)
** Gemeinde (G ...
helped found the Lehrhaus (English: a house of study) in Leipzig to provide different forms of studies to Jewish students who were prohibited from attending any institutions in Germany. Jewish studies were emphasized and much of the Jewish community of Leipzig became involved.
[Willingham, Robert, and Crew, David F. ''Jews in Leipzig: Nationality and Community in the 20th Century'', 2005, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. Pgs. 1-148]
Like all other cities claimed by the Nazis, Leipzig was subject to
aryanisation
Aryanization (german: Arisierung) was the Nazi term for the seizure of property from Jews and its transfer to non-Jews, and the forced expulsion of Jews from economic life in Nazi Germany, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. I ...
. Beginning in 1933 and increasing in 1939, Jewish business owners were forced to give up their possessions and stores. This eventually intensified to the point where Nazi officials were strong enough to evict the Jews from their own homes. They also had the power to force many of the
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
living in the city to sell their houses. Many people who sold their homes emigrated elsewhere, outside of Leipzig. Others moved to Judenhäuser, which were smaller houses that acted as ghettos, housing large groups of people.
As with other cities in Europe during
the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
, the Jews of Leipzig were greatly affected by the
Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws (german: link=no, Nürnberger Gesetze, ) were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of th ...
. However, due to the
Leipzig Trade Fair
The Leipzig Trade Fair (german: Leipziger Messe) is a major trade fair, which traces its roots back for nearly a millennium. After the Second World War, Leipzig fell within the territory of East Germany, whereupon the Leipzig Trade Fair became o ...
and the international attention it garnered, Leipzig was especially cautious about its public image. Despite this, the Leipzig authorities were not afraid to strictly apply and enforce anti-semitic measures.
Shortly before
Kristallnacht,
Polish Jews
The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lo ...
living in the city were expelled.
On 20 December 1937, after the Nazis took control of the city, they renamed it Reichsmessestadt Leipzig, meaning the "Imperial Trade Fair City Leipzig".
[ In early 1938, Leipzig saw an increase in ]Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...
through Jewish citizens. Many of these Zionists
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Jew ...
attempted to flee before deportations began. On 28 October 1938, Heinrich Himmler ordered the deportation of Polish Jews from Leipzig to Poland.
On 9 November 1938, as part of Kristallnacht, in Gottschedstrasse, synagogues and businesses were set on fire. Only a couple of days later, on 11 November 1938, many Jews in the Leipzig area were deported to the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. As World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
came to an end, much of Leipzig was destroyed. Following the war, the Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...
(German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
: ''Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands'', ''KPD'') provided aid for the reconstruction of the city.
In 1933, a census recorded that over 11,000 Jews were living in Leipzig. In the 1939 census, the number had fallen to roughly 4,500, and by January 1942 only 2,000 remained. In that month, these 2,000 Jews began to be deported. On 13 July 1942, 170 Jews were deported from Leipzig to Auschwitz Concentration Camp
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
. On 19 September 1942, 440 Jews were deported from Leipzig to Theresienstadt Concentration Camp
Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Schutzstaffel, SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstad ...
. On 18 June 1943, the remaining 18 Jews still in Leipzig were deported from Leipzig to Auschwitz Concentration Camp
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
. According to records of the two waves of deportations to Auschwitz there were no survivors. According to records of the Theresienstadt deportation, only 53 Jews survived.
During World War II, Leipzig was repeatedly struck by Allied bombing raids, beginning in 1943 and lasting until 1945. The first raid occurred on the morning of 4 December 1943, when 442 bombers of the Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
(RAF) dropped a total amount of almost 1,400 tons of explosives and incendiaries on the city, destroying large parts of the city centre. This bombing was the largest up to that time. Due to the close proximity of many of the buildings hit, a firestorm occurred. This prompted firefighters to rush to the city; however, they were unable to control the fires. Unlike the firebombing of the neighbouring city of Dresden, this was a largely conventional bombing with high explosives rather than incendiaries. The resultant pattern of loss was a patchwork, rather than wholesale loss of its centre, but was nevertheless extensive.
The Allied ground advance into Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
reached Leipzig in late April 1945. The U.S. 2nd Infantry Division and U.S. 69th Infantry Division fought their way into the city on 18 April and completed its capture after fierce urban action, in which fighting was often house-to-house and block-to-block, on 19 April 1945. In April 1945 the SS Gruppenführer/Mayor of Leipzig Bruno Erich Alfred Freyberg, his wife and daughter; the Deputy Mayor/Treasurer of Leipzig, Ernest Kurt Lisso, his wife, daughter, and a Volkssturm
The (; "people's storm") was a levée en masse national militia established by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. It was not set up by the German Army, the ground component of the combined German ''Wehrmacht'' armed forces, ...
Major Walter Dönicke committed suicide in Leipzig City Hall.
The United States turned the city over to the Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
as it pulled back from the line of contact
The Line of Contact marked the farthest advance of American, British, French, and Soviet armies into German controlled territory at the end of World War II in Europe. In general a "line of contact" refers to the demarcation between two or m ...
with Soviet forces in July 1945 to the designated occupation zone boundaries. Leipzig became one of the major cities of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
).
Following the end of World War II End of World War II can refer to:
* End of World War II in Europe
* End of World War II in Asia
World War II officially ended in Asia on September 2, 1945, with the surrender of Japan on the . Before that, the United States dropped two atomic ...
in 1945, Leipzig saw a slow return of Jews to the city. They were joined by large numbers of German refugees who had been expelled from Central and Eastern Europe.
In the mid-20th century, the city's trade fair assumed renewed importance as a point of contact with the Comecon Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
economic bloc, of which East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
was a member. At this time, trade fairs were held at a site in the south of the city, near the Monument to the Battle of the Nations
The Monument to the Battle of the Nations (german: Völkerschlachtdenkmal, sometimes shortened to ''Völki'' or ''Schlachti'') is a monument in Leipzig, Germany, to the 1813 Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations. Paid for mo ...
.
The planned economy of the German Democratic Republic, however, was not kind to Leipzig. Before the Second World War, Leipzig had developed a mixture of industry, creative business (notably publishing), and services (including legal services). During the period of the German Democratic Republic, services became the concern of the state, concentrated in East Berlin
East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...
; creative business moved to West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
; and Leipzig was left only with heavy industry. To make matters worse, this industry was extremely polluting, making Leipzig an even less attractive city to live in. Between 1950 and the end of the German Democratic Republic, the population of Leipzig fell from 600,000 to 500,000.
In October 1989, after prayer
Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...
s for peace at St. Nicholas Church, established in 1983 as part of the peace movement, the Monday demonstrations started as the most prominent mass protest against the East German government. The reunification of Germany
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
, however, was at first not good for Leipzig. The centrally planned heavy industry that had become the city's speciality was, in terms of the advanced economy of reunited Germany, almost completely unviable, and closed. Within only six years, 90% of jobs in industry had vanished. As unemployment rocketed, the population fell dramatically; some 100,000 people left Leipzig in the ten years after reunification, and vacant and derelict housing became an urgent problem.
Starting in 2000, an ambitious (and subsequently much-praised ) urban-renewal plan first stopped Leipzig's decline and then reversed it. The plan focused on saving and improving as much as possible of the city's urban structure, especially its attractive historic downtown area and various architectural gems, and attracting new industries, partly through infrastructure improvement.
21st century
Nowadays, Leipzig is an important economic centre in Germany. Since the 2010s, the city has been celebrated by the media as a hip urban centre with a very high quality of living. It is often called "The new Berlin". Leipzig is also Germany's fastest growing city. Leipzig was the German candidate for the 2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, but was unsuccessful. After ten years of construction, the Leipzig City Tunnel opened on 14 December 2013. Leipzig forms the centrepiece of the S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland public transit system, which operates in the four German states of Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
, Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of
and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...
, Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
and Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...
.
Geography
Location
Leipzig lies at the confluence of the rivers White Elster, Pleiße
The Pleiße is a river of Saxony and Thuringia, Germany.
The Pleiße has its source southwest of Zwickau at Ebersbrunn, then flows through Werdau, Crimmitschau, Altenburg, and other towns and villages in Saxony and Thuringia, before flowing fr ...
and Parthe, in the Leipzig Bay, on the most southerly part of the North German Plain, which is the part of the North European Plain in Germany. The site is characterized by swampy areas such as the Leipzig Riverside Forest, though there are also some limestone areas to the north of the city. The landscape is mostly flat though there is also some evidence of moraine
A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice shee ...
and drumlins.
Although there are some forest parks within the city limits, the area surrounding Leipzig is relatively unforested. During the 20th century, there were several open-cast mines in the region, many of which are being converted to use as lakes. Also see: Neuseenland
Neuseenland is an area south of Leipzig, Germany, where old open-cast mines are being converted into a huge lake district. The region's name is a marketing concept and it means "New Lakeland" in German. It should not be confused with the German ...
Leipzig is also situated at the intersection of the ancient road
Historic roads (historic trails in USA and Canada) are paths or routes that have historical importance due to their use over a period of time. Examples exist from prehistoric times until the early 20th century. They include ancient trackways ...
s known as the Via Regia (King's highway), which traversed Germany in an east–west direction, and the Via Imperii (Imperial Highway), a north–south road.
Leipzig was a walled city in the Middle Ages and the current "ring" road around the historic centre of the city follows the line of the old city walls.
Subdivision
Since 1992 Leipzig has been divided administratively into ten ''Stadtbezirke'' (boroughs), which in turn contain a total of 63 ''Ortsteile'' (localities). Some of these correspond to outlying villages which have been annexed by Leipzig.
Neighbouring communities
Climate
Like many cities in Eastern Germany, Leipzig has an oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
( Köppen: ''Cfb'' close to a ''Dfb'' US isotherm">United_States.html" ;"title=" °C United States">US isotherm, with significant continental climate">continental influences due to its inland location. Winters are cold, with an average temperature of around . Summers are generally warm, averaging at with daytime temperatures of . Precipitation in winter is about half that of the summer. The amount of sunshine differs significantly between winter and summer, with an average of around 51 hours of sunshine in December (1.7 hours a day) compared with 229 hours of sunshine in July (7.4 hours a day).
Politics
Mayor
The first freely elected mayor after German reunification was Hinrich Lehmann-Grube of the Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
(SPD), who served from 1990 to 1998. The mayor was originally chosen by the city council, but since 1994 has been directly elected. Wolfgang Tiefensee, also of the SPD, served from 1998 until his resignation in 2005 to become federal Minister of Transport. He was succeeded by fellow SPD politician Burkhard Jung
Burkhard Jung (born 7 March 1958 in Siegen) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been the 21st lord mayor (''Oberbürgermeister'') of Leipzig (Saxony) since March 29, 2006. In addition, he has been president of th ...
, who was elected in January 2006 and re-elected in 2013 and 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 2 February 2020, with a runoff held on 1 March, and the results were as follows:
! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Candidate
! rowspan=2, Party
! colspan=2, First round
! colspan=2, Second round
, -
! Votes
! %
! Votes
! %
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Sebastian Gemkow
Sebastian Gemkow (born 27 July 1978) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as State Minister of Science (since 2019) and as State Minister of Justice (2014–2019) in the governments of ...
, align=left, Christian Democratic Union
, 72,427
, 31.6
, 107,611
, 47.6
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Burkhard Jung
Burkhard Jung (born 7 March 1958 in Siegen) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been the 21st lord mayor (''Oberbürgermeister'') of Leipzig (Saxony) since March 29, 2006. In addition, he has been president of th ...
, align=left, Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
, 68,286
, 29.8
, 110,965
, 49.1
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Franziska Riekewald
, align=left, The Left
, 31,036
, 13.5
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Katharina Krefft
, align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens
Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...
, 27,481
, 12.0
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Christoph Neumann
, align=left, Alternative for Germany
Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist
*
*
*
*
*
*
* political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...
, 19,854
, 8.7
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Katharina Subat
, align=left, Die PARTEI
, 5,467
, 2.4
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Marcus Viefeld
, align=left, Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism.
Current parties with that name include:
*Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...
, 2,739
, 1.2
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Ute Elisabeth Gabelmann
, align=left, Pirate Party Germany
The Pirate Party Germany (german: Piratenpartei Deutschland), commonly known as Pirates (), is a political party in Germany founded in September 2006 at c-base. It states general agreement with the Swedish Piratpartiet as a party of the informat ...
, 2,089
, 0.9
, 7,542
, 3.3
, -
! colspan=3, Valid votes
! 229,379
! 99.6
! 226,118
! 99.5
, -
! colspan=3, Invalid votes
! 822
! 0.4
! 1,235
! 0.5
, -
! colspan=3, Total
! 230,201
! 100.0
! 227,353
! 100.0
, -
! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout
! 469,225
! 49.1
! 469,269
! 48.4
, -
, colspan=7, Source
Wahlen in Sachsen
City council
The most recent city council election was held on 26 May 2019, and the results were as follows:
! colspan=2, Party
! Votes
! %
! +/-
! Seats
! +/-
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, The Left (Die Linke)
, 171,423
, 21.4
, 2.8
, 15
, 3
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens
Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...
(Grüne)
, 165,683
, 20.7
, 5.7
, 15
, 4
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
, 140,585
, 17.5
, 7.5
, 13
, 6
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Alternative for Germany
Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist
*
*
*
*
*
*
* political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...
(AfD)
, 119,616
, 14.9
, 8.5
, 11
, 7
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
(SPD)
, 99,022
, 12.4
, 5.9
, 9
, 4
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism.
Current parties with that name include:
*Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...
(FDP)
, 38,481
, 4.8
, 1.9
, 3
, 1
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Die PARTEI (PARTEI)
, 30,764
, 3.8
, 2.7
, 2
, 2
, -
,
, align=left, Voters Association Leipzig (WVL)
, 20,369
, 2.5
, 0.7
, 1
, ±0
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Pirate Party Germany
The Pirate Party Germany (german: Piratenpartei Deutschland), commonly known as Pirates (), is a political party in Germany founded in September 2006 at c-base. It states general agreement with the Swedish Piratpartiet as a party of the informat ...
(Piraten)
, 11,512
, 1.4
, 0.5
, 1
, ±0
, -
,
, align=left, Leipzigers for Basic Income
, 4,297
, 0.5
, New
, 0
, New
, -
! colspan=2, Valid votes
! 274,916
! 98.7
!
!
!
, -
! colspan=2, Invalid votes
! 3,751
! 1.3
!
!
!
, -
! colspan=2, Total
! 278,667
! 100.0
!
! 70
! ±0
, -
! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout
! 466,442
! 59.7
! 17.9
!
!
, -
, colspan=7, Source
Wahlen in Sachsen
Bundestag
Leipzig is represented in the Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...
by three constituencies; Leipzig I
Leipzig I is an electoral constituency (German: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 152. It is located ...
, Leipzig II
Leipzig II is an electoral constituency (German language, German: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 15 ...
and Leipzig-Land
Leipzig-Land is an electoral constituency (German: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 154. It is locate ...
.
Demographics
Leipzig has a population of about 600,000. In 1930, the population reached its historical peak of over 700,000. It decreased steadily from 1950 to about 530,000 in 1989. In the 1990s, the population decreased rather rapidly to 437,000 in 1998. This reduction was mostly due to outward migration and suburbanisation
Suburbanization is a population shift from central urban areas into suburbs, resulting in the formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence of the movement of households and businesses out of the city centers, low-density, peripheral urb ...
. After almost doubling the city area by incorporation of surrounding towns in 1999, the number stabilised and started to rise again, with an increase of 1,000 in 2000. , Leipzig is the fastest-growing city in Germany with over 500,000 inhabitants.
The growth of the past 10–15 years has mostly been due to inward migration. In recent years, inward migration accelerated, reaching an increase of 12,917 in 2014.
In the years following German reunification, many people of working age took the opportunity to move to the states of the former West Germany to seek employment opportunities. This was a contributory factor to falling birth rates. Births dropped from 7,000 in 1988 to less than 3,000 in 1994. However, the number of children born in Leipzig has risen since the late 1990s. In 2011, it reached 5,490 births resulting in a RNI of −17.7 (−393.7 in 1995).
The unemployment rate decreased from 18.2% in 2003 to 9.8% in 2014 and 7.6% in June 2017.
The percentage of the population from an immigrant background is low compared with other German cities. , only 5.6% of the population were foreigners, compared to the German national average of 7.7%.
The number of people with an immigrant background (immigrants and their children) grew from 49,323 in 2012 to 77,559 in 2016, making them 13.3% of the city's population (Leipzig's population 579,530 in 2016).
The largest minorities (first and second generation) in Leipzig by country of origin as of 31.12.2018 are:
Culture, sights and cityscape
In the last decade, Leipzig has become known for its numerous cultural and nightlife institutions, earning the nickname ''Hypezig'', earning the city comparisons to 1990s and early 2000s Berlin. The affordability, diversity and openness of the city have attracted many young people from across Europe, leading to a trendsetting alternative atmosphere, resulting in an innovative music, dance and art scene that has developed in the 2010s.
Young people, musicians, artists, designers and entrepreneurs continued to settle in the city and made Leipzig a growing cultural center in Germany and Europe recalling the larger Berlin.
The growing cultural performance of the city was underscored by the city's population has grown by more than 50,000 people over the last five years alone, many of whom are young people in the creative class.
Architecture
The historic central area of Leipzig features a Renaissance-style ensemble of buildings from the sixteenth century, including the old city hall in the marketplace. There are also several baroque period
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
trading houses and former residences of rich merchants. As Leipzig grew considerably during the economic boom of the late-nineteenth century, the town has many buildings in the historicist style representative of the '' Gründerzeit'' era. Approximately 35% of Leipzig's flats are in buildings of this type. The new city hall, completed in 1905, is built in the same style.
Some 64,000 apartments in Leipzig were built in Plattenbau buildings during Communist rule in East Germany. and although some of these have been demolished and the numbers living in this type of accommodation have declined in recent years, at least 10% of Leipzig's population (50,000 people) are still living in Plattenbau accommodation. Grünau, for example, has approximately 40,000 people living in this sort of accommodation.
The St. Paul's Church was destroyed by the Communist government in 1968 to make room for a new main building for the university. After some debate, the city decided to establish a new, mainly secular building at the same location, called Paulinum, which was completed in 2012. Its architecture alludes to the look of the former church and it includes space for religious use by the faculty of theology, including the original altar from the old church and two newly built organs.
Many commercial buildings were built in the 1990s as a result of tax breaks after German reunification.
Tallest buildings and structures
The tallest structure in Leipzig is the chimney of the Stahl- und Hartgusswerk Bösdorf GmbH with a height of . With . The tallest building in Leipzig is the City-Hochhaus Leipzig. From 1972 to 1973 it was Germany's tallest building.
Museums and the arts
One of the highlights of the city's contemporary arts was the Neo Rauch
Neo Rauch (born 18 April 1960, in Leipzig, East Germany; ) is a German artist whose paintings mine the intersection of his personal history with the politics of industrial alienation. His work reflects the influence of socialist realism, and owes ...
retrospective opening in April 2010 at the Leipzig Museum of Fine Arts. This is a show devoted to the father of the New Leipzig School of artists. According to ''The New York Times'', this scene "has been the toast of the contemporary art world" for the past decade. In addition, there are eleven galleries in the so-called Spinnerei.
The Grassi Museum
The Grassi Museum is a building complex in Leipzig, home to three museums: the Ethnography Museum, Musical Instruments Museum, and Applied Arts Museum.
It is sometimes known as the "Museums in the Grassi", or as the "New" Grassi Museum (to di ...
complex contains three more of Leipzig's major collections: the Ethnography Museum, Applied Arts Museum and Musical Instrument Museum (the last of which is run by the University of Leipzig). The university also runs the Museum of Antiquities
The Museum of Antiquities was an archaeological museum at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It opened in 1960 and in 2009 its collections were merged into the Great North Museum: Hancock.
History
The museum was originally open ...
.
Founded in March 2015, the G2 Kunsthalle
G, or g, is the seventh letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''gee'' (pronounced ), plural ''gees''.
History
The ...
houses the Hildebrand Collection. This private collection focuses on the so-called New Leipzig School. Leipzig's first private museum dedicated to contemporary art in Leipzig after the turn of the millennium is located in the city centre close to the famous St. Thomas Church on the third floor of the former GDR processing centre.
Other museums in Leipzig include the following:
*The German Museum of Books and Writing
The German Museum of Books and Writing (german: Deutsches Buch- und Schriftmuseum (DBSM)) in Leipzig, Germany, founded in 1884 as ''Deutsches Buchgewerbe-Museum'', is the world's oldest museum of its kind, dedicated to collecting and preserving o ...
is the world's oldest museum of its kind, founded in 1884.
*The Egyptian Museum of the University of Leipzig comprises a collection of about 7,000 artefacts from several millennia.
*The Schillerhaus is the house where Schiller lived in summer 1785.
*The Zeitgeschichtliches Forum Leipzig
The Zeitgeschichtliches Forum Leipzig (English: ''Forum of Contemporary History'') is a museum of contemporary German history. The museum was opened in 1999 and focuses on the history of the German division, everyday life in the communist dictator ...
(Forum of Contemporary History) shows the history of the German division and the everyday life in the socialist German Democratic Republic.
*Naturkundemuseum Leipzig
The Natural History Museum in Leipzig (german: Naturkundemuseum Leipzig) is a natural history museum in the city of Leipzig, Germany, located at the northwest corner of the Inner City Ring Road. The museum contains the insect collection of Alex ...
is the city's natural history museum.
*The Leipzig Panometer is a visual panorama displayed inside a former gasometer, accompanied by a thematic exhibition.
*The "Museum in der Runden Ecke" is the best known museum in the city. It deals with the operation of the Stasi
The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990.
The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...
State Security of former East Germany.
*Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
lived from 1723 until his death in Leipzig. The Bach Archive is an institution for the documentation and research of his life and work.
* Mendelssohn House, home of Felix Mendelssohn from 1845 until his death in 1847.
* Schumann House, home of Robert and Clara Schumann from 1840 to 1844.
File:DNB2012.JPG, German Museum of Books and Writing
File:Ägyptisches Museum Leipzig 099.jpg, Exhibits of the Egyptian Museum
File:Leipzig-Grassi-Museen.jpg, Grassi Museum
File:LE-Connewitz Gasometer I Arena-02.jpg, Inside Gasometer, next to the Panometer
File:Runde Ecke Leipzig.jpg, Museum in der Runden Ecke
File:Museum der bildenden Künste.JPG, Museum of Fine Arts
File:Baumwollspinnerei.jpg, Baumwollspinnerei
Main sights
*Leipzig Zoological Garden
Leipzig Zoological Garden, or Leipzig Zoo (german: link=no, Zoologischer Garten Leipzig) is a zoo in Leipzig`s district Mitte, Germany. It was first opened on June 9, 1878. It was taken over by the city of Leipzig in 1920 after World War I and no ...
is one of the most modern zoos in Europe, with approximately 850 different animal species. It houses the world's largest zoological facilities for primate
Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...
s (Pongoland). Gondwanaland is the world's largest indoor rainforest hall.
*Monument to the Battle of the Nations
The Monument to the Battle of the Nations (german: Völkerschlachtdenkmal, sometimes shortened to ''Völki'' or ''Schlachti'') is a monument in Leipzig, Germany, to the 1813 Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations. Paid for mo ...
(''Völkerschlachtdenkmal'') (Battle of the Nations
The Battle of Leipzig (french: Bataille de Leipsick; german: Völkerschlacht bei Leipzig, ); sv, Slaget vid Leipzig), also known as the Battle of the Nations (french: Bataille des Nations; russian: Битва народов, translit=Bitva ...
Monument): one of the largest monuments in Europe, built to commemorate the victorious battle against Napoleonic troops.
* Bundesverwaltungsgericht: Germany's federal administrative court was the site of the Reichsgericht
The Reichsgericht (, ''Reich Court'') was the supreme criminal and civil court in the German Reich from 1879 to 1945. It was based in Leipzig, Germany. The Supreme Court was established when the Reichsjustizgesetze (Imperial Justice Laws) came in ...
, the highest state court between 1888 and 1945.
* New City Hall: the city's administrative building was built upon the remains of the ''Pleissenburg'', a castle that was the site of the 1519 debate between Johann Eck
Johann Maier von Eck (13 November 1486 – 13 February 1543), often anglicized as John Eck, was a German Catholic theologian, scholastic, prelate, and a pioneer of the counter-reformation who was among Martin Luther's most important inter ...
and Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...
. It is also Germany's tallest town hall.
*''Old City Hall'' on Marktplatz: the old city hall was built in 1556 and houses a museum of the city's history.
* City-Hochhaus Leipzig: built in 1972, the city's tallest building is one of the top 25 tallest buildings in Germany.
*The Augusteum
An Augusteum (plural ''Augustea'') was originally a site of imperial cult in ancient Roman religion, named after the imperial title of Augustus. It was known as a Sebasteion in the Greek East of the Roman Empire. Examples have been excavated in ...
and Paulinum at Augustusplatz
The Augustusplatz is a square located at the east end of the city centre of Leipzig, borough Leipzig-Mitte. It is the city's largest square and one of the largest (and, prior to almost all its buildings being destroyed in bombing in the Second Wor ...
form the new main campus of the University of Leipzig
Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...
.
*Leipzig Trade Fair
The Leipzig Trade Fair (german: Leipziger Messe) is a major trade fair, which traces its roots back for nearly a millennium. After the Second World War, Leipzig fell within the territory of East Germany, whereupon the Leipzig Trade Fair became o ...
centre in the north of the city is home to the world's largest levitated glass hall.
* Leipzig Hauptbahnhof is the world's largest railway station by floor area and a shopping destination.
*Auerbach's Cellar
Auerbachs Keller (, Auerbach's Cellar in English) is the second oldest restaurant in Leipzig, Germany. Already one of the city's most important wine bars by the 16th century, it owes its worldwide reputation to Goethe's play ''Faust'' as the firs ...
: a young Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
ate and drank in this basement-level restaurant while studying in Leipzig; it is the venue of a scene from his play '' Faust''.
*The Old Leipzig bourse at Naschmarkt with a monument of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...
.
* South Cemetery (Südfriedhof) is, with an area of 82 hectares, the largest cemetery in Leipzig.
*The German National Library
The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...
has two locations, one of them in Leipzig.
* Leipzig Bayerischer Bahnhof is Germany's oldest preserved railway station.
*Gohliser Schlösschen
* Leipzig Synagogue was destroyed in 1938. Now a memorial stands on the same spot. Where the pews once were, 140 bronze chairs now take their place.
File:Panoràmma de Leipzig.jpg, Augustusplatz
The Augustusplatz is a square located at the east end of the city centre of Leipzig, borough Leipzig-Mitte. It is the city's largest square and one of the largest (and, prior to almost all its buildings being destroyed in bombing in the Second Wor ...
File:Leipzig - Zoo - Gondwanaland in 14 ies.jpg, Inside Gondwanaland at Leipzig Zoological Garden
File:VölkerschlachtdenkmalLeipzig1.jpg, Monument to the Battle of the Nations
File:Leipzig (Rathausturm, Neues Rathaus) 18 ies.jpg, Federal Administrative Court of Germany
The Federal Administrative Court (german: Bundesverwaltungsgericht, ) is one of the five federal supreme courts of Germany. It is the court of the last resort for generally all cases of administrative law, mainly disputes between citizens and t ...
File:Neues Rathaus Leipzig jpg8.jpg, New city hall
File:Old city hall of Leipzig (5).jpg, Old city hall at market square
File:Rainbowflash 2013 Leipzig (4).jpg, City-Hochhaus
File:Uni Leipzig Paulinum Universitätskirche St. Pauli 216-cvh.jpg, New Augusteum of the University of Leipzig
File:Messe Pano DRI.jpg, Leipzig Trade Fair
File:Bahnhof Leipzig von Panorama Tower 2013.jpg, Leipzig main station
File:Schilder an Auerbachs Keller 2013.jpg, ''Auerbachs Keller'' in the Mädlerpassage
File:Ehemaliges Messehaus.jpg, Riquethaus (former Tradehouse)
File:Goethe Statue Naschmarkt Leipzig.jpg, Old Leipzig bourse
File:Suedfriedhof Leipzig.jpg, Südfriedhof
File:BibLeipzigaussen.JPG, German National Library
File:City-Tunnel Leipzig - Station Bayerischer Bahnhof 01 (Zugang 1).JPG, Leipzig Bayerischer Bahnhof
File:Leipzig Gohliser Schloesschen.jpg, Gohliser Schlösschen
File:Synagogue Memorial (Leipzig) (3).jpg, Leipzig Synagogue Memorial
File:Yadegar Asisi Panorama EVEREST.jpg, 'Everest' at Leipzig Panometer
Churches
* St. Thomas's Church (Thomaskirche): Most famous as the place where Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
worked as a cantor and home to the renowned boys choir '' Thomanerchor''. A monument to Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...
stands in front of this church. Destroyed by the Nazis in 1936, the statue was re-erected on 18 October 2008.
* St. Nicholas's Church (Nikolaikirche), for which Bach was also responsible. The weekly ''Montagsgebet'' (Monday prayer) held here became the starting point of peaceful Monday demonstrations against the DDR
DDR or ddr may refer to:
*ddr, ISO 639-3 code for the Dhudhuroa language
*DDr., title for a double doctorate in Germany
*DDR, station code for Dadar railway station, Mumbai, India
*' (German Democratic Republic), official name of the former Eas ...
regime in the 1980s.
* St. Peter's has the highest tower of any church in Leipzig, at .
*The new Propsteikirche, opened in 2015.
*The Continental Reformed Church of Leipzig (''Evangelisch-reformierte Kirche'') is one of the most prominent buildings on the Leipzig Innercity ring.
*The Russian Church of Leipzig is the Russian Orthodox church of Leipzig.
*St. Michael's Church is one of the landmarks of Gohlis district.
File:Nicolaikirche Leipzig.jpg, St. Nicholas Church.
File:Saint Thomas church in Leipzig (18).jpg, St. Thomas Church.
File:Peterskirche Leipzig easyHDR.jpg, St. Peter's Church.
File:Neue Propsteikirche St. Trinitatis Leipzig.jpg, Propsteikirche in May 2015, New Town Hall in the background
File:Evangel.-Reform. Kirche (3668182160).jpg, Continental Reformed church of Leipzig.
File:Leipzig Russische Gedaechtniskirche.jpg, Russian Church of Leipzig.
File:Michaelis-SWL.jpg, St. Michael's Church with the headquarters of ''Stadtwerke Leipzig'' to the right.
Parks and lakes
Leipzig is well known for its large parks. The ''Leipziger Auwald'' ( riparian forest) lies mostly within the city limits. Neuseenland
Neuseenland is an area south of Leipzig, Germany, where old open-cast mines are being converted into a huge lake district. The region's name is a marketing concept and it means "New Lakeland" in German. It should not be confused with the German ...
is an area south of Leipzig where old open-cast mines are being converted into a huge lake district. It is planned to be finished in 2060.
* Leipzig Botanical Garden is the oldest of its kind in Germany. It contains a total of some 7,000 plant species, of which nearly 3,000 species comprise ten special collections.
*Johannapark and Clara-Zetkin-Park are the most prominent parks in the Leipzig city centre ( Leipzig-Mitte).
*'' Leipziger Auwald'' covers a total area of approx. 2,500 hectares. The Rosental is a park in the north of the forest and borders Leipzig Zoo.
*Wildpark in Connewitz, showing 25 species.
File:SDC11449 - Epipedobates anthonyi.JPG, Inside Leipzig Botanical Garden
File:Johannapark Leipzig.JPG, Johannapark
File:Leipziger Auenwald April 2014 005.JPG, ''Leipziger Auwald''
File:Sonnenaufgang Rosental Leipzig.jpg, Rosental in the morning
File:Leipzig Friedenspark.jpg, Friedenspark
File:Markkleeberger See Strand.jpg, Markkleeberger See
Markkleeberger See is a lake in Saxony, Germany, next to Markkleeberg, a suburb on the south side of Leipzig. At an elevation of 112.5 m, its surface area is 2.52 km². It is a former open-pit coal mine, flooded in 1999 with groundwater and ...
File:Cospudener See (1) 2005-09-09.JPG, Cospudener See
The Cospudener See (sometimes translated as'' Lake Cospuden'') is an artificially constructed lake situated south of Leipzig, Germany. It is on the site of a former open cast mine. The lake has become highly popular with the local population, wit ...
Music
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
spent the longest phase of his career in Leipzig, from 1723 until his death in 1750, conducting the Thomanerchor (St. Thomas Church Choir), at the St. Thomas Church, the St. Nicholas Church and the Paulinerkirche, the university church of Leipzig (destroyed in 1968). The composer Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
was born in Leipzig in 1813, in the Brühl. Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...
was also active in Leipzig music, having been invited by Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...
when the latter established Germany's first musical conservatoire in the city in 1843. Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...
was second conductor (working under Artur Nikisch
Arthur Nikisch (12 October 185523 January 1922) was a Hungarian conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter of the music of Br ...
) at the Leipzig Opera
The Leipzig Opera (in German: ) is an opera house and opera company located at the Augustusplatz and the Inner City Ring Road at its east side in Leipzig's district Mitte, Germany.
History
Performances of opera in Leipzig trace back to Singspi ...
from June 1886 until May 1888, and achieved his first significant recognition while there by completing and publishing Carl Maria von Weber's opera Die Drei Pintos. Mahler also completed his own 1st Symphony while living in Leipzig.
Today the conservatory is the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig. A broad range of subjects are taught, including artistic and teacher training in all orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
l instruments, voice, interpretation, coaching, piano chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...
, orchestral conducting, choir conducting and musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called ...
in various musical styles. The drama departments teach acting and scriptwriting
Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession.
Screenwriters are responsible for researching the story, devel ...
.
The Bach-Archiv Leipzig
The Bach-Archiv Leipzig or Bach-Archiv is an institution for the documentation and research of the life and work of Johann Sebastian Bach. The Bach-Archiv also researches the Bach family, especially their music.
Based in Leipzig, the city where ...
, an institution for the documentation and research of the life and work of Bach (and also of the Bach family), was founded in Leipzig in 1950 by Werner Neumann
Werner Neumann (21 January 1905, Königstein, Saxony, Königstein – 24 April 1991, Leipzig) was a German musicologist. He founded the Bach-Archiv Leipzig on 20 November 1950 and was a principal editor of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, the second editio ...
. The Bach-Archiv organizes the prestigious International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition, initiated in 1950 as part of a music festival marking the bicentennial of Bach's death. The competition is now held every two years in three changing categories. The Bach-Archiv also organizes performances, especially the international festival Bachfest Leipzig ( de) and runs the Bach-Museum.
The city's musical tradition is also reflected in the worldwide fame of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, under its chief conductor Andris Nelsons, and the Thomanerchor.
The MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra is Leipzig's second largest symphony orchestra. Its current chief conductor is Kristjan Järvi. Both the Gewandhausorchester and the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra make use of in the Gewandhaus concert hall.
For over sixty years Leipzig has been offering a "school concert" programme for children in Germany, with over 140 concerts every year in venues such as the Gewandhaus and over 40,000 children attending.
As for contemporary music, Leipzig is known for its independent music scene and subcultural events. Leipzig has for twenty years been home to the world's largest Gothic festival, the annual Wave-Gotik-Treffen
The Wave-Gotik-Treffen (WGT; ) is an annual world festival for "dark" music and "dark culture" in Leipzig, Germany. 150+ bands and artists from various backgrounds (gothic rock, gothic metal, EBM, industrial, noise, darkwave, neo-folk, neo-cl ...
(WGT), where thousands of fans of gothic and dark styled music from across Europe and the world gather in the early summer. The first Wave Gotik Treffen was held at the Eiskeller club, today known as Conne Island
Conne Island is a music venue and self-managed social centre in the Connewitz district of Leipzig, Germany. Conne Island is a stronghold and well-known meeting point for the radical left. Outside, there is a large skate park.
History
The buil ...
, in the Connewitz district. Mayhem
Mayhem most commonly refers to:
* Mayhem (crime), a type of crime
Mayhem may also refer to:
People
* Monica Mayhem (born 1978), Australian pornographic actress
* Jason "Mayhem" Miller, American mixed martial arts fighter
* Mayhem Miller (dra ...
's notorious album Live in Leipzig
''Live in Leipzig'' is a live album by the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. It was recorded at the Eiskeller club in Leipzig, Germany on 26 November 1990 but not released until 1993. The songs performed during the concert were from the ''Pure ...
was also recorded at the Eiskeller club. Leipzig Pop Up is an annual music trade fair for the independent music scene as well as a music festival taking place on Pentecost
Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in the Ne ...
weekend. Its most famous indie-labels are Moon Harbour Recordings (House) and Kann Records (House/Techno/Psychedelic). Several venues offer live music on a daily basis, including the Moritzbastei
The Moritzbastei is the only remaining part of the ancient town fortifications of Leipzig. Today it is widely known as a cultural centre.
History of the building
The Moritzbastei was built as a bastion in between 1551 and 1554 under the super ...
which was once part of the city's fortifications, and is one of the oldest student club
A student society, student association, university society, student club, university club, or student organization is a society or an organization, operated by students at a university or a college institution, whose membership typically consists ...
s in Europe with concerts in various styles. For over 15 years "Tonelli's" has been offering free weekly concerts every day of the week, though door charges may apply Saturdays.
''Die Prinzen
Die Prinzen ("The Princes") is a German band, that is made up of former members of the Thomanerchor (the choir of the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, Germany, where Johann Sebastian Bach was music director for many years) and a former member of the Dr ...
'' ("The Princes") is a German band founded in Leipzig. With almost 6 million records sold, they are one of the most successful German bands.
The cover photo for the Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
band's 2005 album Gulag Orkestar
''Gulag Orkestar'' is the debut album of Beirut. It was recorded in 2005 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Gulag was a Soviet government agency administering criminal justice, while ''orkestar'' is the Croatian word for "orchestra".
It is written ...
, according to the sleeve notes, was stolen from a Leipzig library by Zach Condon.
The city of Leipzig is also the birthplace of Till Lindemann
Till Lindemann (; born 4 January 1963) is a German singer, songwriter and poet. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein and solo project Lindemann. Rammstein has sold over 25 million records w ...
, best known as the lead vocalist of Rammstein, a band formed in 1994.
File:Opernhaus Leipzig Abend Nacht.jpg, Leipzig Opera
The Leipzig Opera (in German: ) is an opera house and opera company located at the Augustusplatz and the Inner City Ring Road at its east side in Leipzig's district Mitte, Germany.
History
Performances of opera in Leipzig trace back to Singspi ...
File:AUGUSTUSPLATZ-014.jpg, View over Augustusplatz
The Augustusplatz is a square located at the east end of the city centre of Leipzig, borough Leipzig-Mitte. It is the city's largest square and one of the largest (and, prior to almost all its buildings being destroyed in bombing in the Second Wor ...
with the Gewandhaus.
File:Leipzig - Universitätsstraße - Moritzbastei 05 ies.jpg, Moritzbastei
The Moritzbastei is the only remaining part of the ancient town fortifications of Leipzig. Today it is widely known as a cultural centre.
History of the building
The Moritzbastei was built as a bastion in between 1551 and 1554 under the super ...
is the largest student club in Germany and is famous for its atmosphere and large number of cultural and music events.
File:Johann Sebastian Bach Denkmal Leipzig.jpg, Monument of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
File:Wahren3.jpg, Haus Auensee
Haus Auensee is a concert hall located in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Leipzig Auensee is a frequently used concert venue for national and international artists in Leipzig. The capacity is about 3,600 people. The house is named after the nearby l ...
, a concert hall
Annual events
*Auto Mobil International (AMI) motor show
*AMITEC, trade fair for vehicle maintenance, care, servicing and repairs in Germany and Central Europe
*A cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
: vocal music festival, organized by the Ensemble amarcord
amarcord is a German male classical vocal ensemble based in Leipzig, founded in 1992 by five former members of the Thomanerchor. They primarily perform Medieval music, Renaissance music as well as collaborating with contemporary composers. Unt ...
*'' Bach-Fest'': Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
festival
*Christmas market (since 1767)
*''Dok Leipzig
DOK Leipzig is a documentary film festival that takes place every year in Leipzig, Germany. It is an international film festival for documentary and animated film founded in 1955 under the name "1st All-German Leipzig Festival of Cultural and Doc ...
'': international festival for documentary and animated film
*Jazztage, contemporary jazz festival
*Ladyfest Leipzig (August) Emancipatoric, feminist punk and electro festival
* Leipzig Book Fair: the second largest German book fair after Frankfurt
*, festival celebrating the demonstrations leading up to the collapse of the East German
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
regime
*OPER unplugged with Music Dance Theatre by Heike Hennig
Heike Hennig (born 8 November 1966) is a German dancer, choreographer and director of the opera and dance ensemble "Heike Hennig & Co".
Life
Heike Hennig had her first dance lessons at the age of 5 years in Leipzig of East Germany, studied moder ...
& Co
*''Stadtfest'': city festival
*''Wave-Gotik-Treffen
The Wave-Gotik-Treffen (WGT; ) is an annual world festival for "dark" music and "dark culture" in Leipzig, Germany. 150+ bands and artists from various backgrounds (gothic rock, gothic metal, EBM, industrial, noise, darkwave, neo-folk, neo-cl ...
'' at Pentecost
Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in the Ne ...
: world's largest goth or "dark culture" festival
*Leipzig Pop Up
* Chaos Communication Congress
File:Leipzig Messe Kongresszentrum Glashalle.jpg, Leipzig Trade Fair
File:Leipziger Buchmesse 2015.jpg, Leipzig Book Fair 2015
File:2016 WGT 002 Belantis.jpg, Wave-Gotik-Treffen 2016, Belantis
Belantis is an amusement park next to Leipzig, Germany. Covering 27 hectares, the park offers over 60 attractions, including four roller coasters.
History
The park was bought by Parques Reunidos
Parques Reunidos (meaning "Reunited Parks") i ...
park in the background
File:Leipziger Weihnachtsmarkt Eingang.jpg, Leipzig Christmas market entrance
File:Dokwoche.jpg, DOK Leipzig
Food and drink
*An all-season local dish is Leipziger Allerlei, a stew consisting of seasonal vegetables and crayfish
Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, mu ...
.
*Leipziger Lerche
The Leipziger Lerche is a pastry of Leipzig. The name originates from the coveted delicacy popular in the Leipzig area until the 1870s. The dish used the actual songbird lark
Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmo ...
is a shortcrust pastry dish filled with crushed almonds, nuts and strawberry jam; the name ("Leipzig lark") comes from a lark pâté which was a Leipzig speciality until the banning of songbird hunting in Saxony in 1876.
* Gose is a locally brewed top-fermenting sour beer that originated in the Goslar
Goslar (; Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mines ...
region and in the 18th century became popular in Leipzig.
File:Leipziger Lerchen.jpg, Leipziger Lerche
The Leipziger Lerche is a pastry of Leipzig. The name originates from the coveted delicacy popular in the Leipzig area until the 1870s. The dish used the actual songbird lark
Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmo ...
n
File:Goseflasche Pressglas.jpg, Historical Gose bottle (c. 1900)
Sports
More than 300 sport clubs in the city represent 78 different disciplines. Over 400 athletic facilities are available to citizens and club members.
Football
The German Football Association
The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of t ...
(DFB) was founded in Leipzig in 1900. The city was the venue for the 2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
draw, and hosted four first-round matches and one match in the round of 16 in the central stadium.
VfB Leipzig won the first national Association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
championship in 1903. The club was dissolved in 1946 and the remains reformed as SG Probstheida. The club was eventually reorganized as football club 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig in 1966. 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig has had a glorious past in international competition as well, having been champions of the 1965–66 Intertoto Cup
The 1965–66 UEFA Intertoto Cup, Intertoto Cup was won by 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig, who had lost the previous season's final (under their previous name of Lokomotive Leipzig, SC Leipzig). They defeated IFK Norrköping. After experimenting with twe ...
, semi-finalists in the 1973–74 UEFA Cup
The 1973–74 UEFA Cup was the third season of the UEFA Cup since its inception in 1971. It was won by Dutch side Feyenoord who defeated English side Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham ( ...
, and runners-up in the 1986–87 European Cup Winners' Cup
The 1986–87 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup was won by Ajax in the final against Lokomotive Leipzig. The young Ajax side, which included the likes of Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Dennis Bergkamp, was guided to victory by its coac ...
.
Red Bull
Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austria, Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwid ...
entered the local football in May 2009, after having previously been denied the right to buy into FC Sachsen Leipzig
FC Sachsen Leipzig was a German football club from the Leutzsch district of Leipzig, Saxony. The club continued the traditions of BSG Chemie Leipzig. The club officially dissolved in 2011. Although several successor sides were established, onl ...
in 2006. The newly founded RB Leipzig declared the intention to come up through the ranks of German football and to bring Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...
football back to the region. RB Leipzig was finally promoted to the top level of the Bundesliga after finishing the 2015–16 2. Bundesliga
The 2015–16 2. Bundesliga was the 42nd season of the 2. Bundesliga.
Teams
A total of 18 teams participated in the 2015–16 2. Bundesliga. These include 14 teams from the 2014–15 2. Bundesliga, together with SC Freiburg and SC Paderborn, w ...
season as runners-up. The club finished runners-up in its first ever Bundesliga season and made its debut in the UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
in 2017 and the Semi-Final in 2020.
List of Leipzig men and women's football clubs playing at state level and above:
Note 1: The RB Leipzig women's football team was formed in 2016 and began play in the 2016–17 season.
Note 2: The club began play in the 2008–09 season.
Ice hockey
Since the beginning of the 20th century, ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
has gained popularity, and several local clubs established departments dedicated to that sport.
Handball
SC DHfK Leipzig
SC DHfK Leipzig e. V. ''(Sportclub Deutsche Hochschule für Körperkultur Leipzig e. V.)'' is a sports club in Leipzig, Germany. Until the closure of the sports university DHfK, the club was part of the DHfK. Established was the club in 1954 as ...
is the men's handball club in Leipzig and were six times (1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965 and 1966) the champion of East Germany handball league and was winner of EHF Champions League in 1966. They finally promoted to Handball-Bundesliga as champions of 2. Bundesliga
The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...
in 2014–15 season. They play in the Arena Leipzig
The Arena Leipzig is a multipurpose indoor arena located in Leipzig, Germany. The capacity of the arena is 8,000 people for sporting events and up to 12,200 for shows and concerts. It is part of the Sportforum Leipzig, which also contains Red Bu ...
which has a capacity of 6,327 spectators in HBL games but can take up to 7,532 spectators for handball in maximum capacity.
Handball-Club Leipzig is one of the most successful women's handball clubs in Germany, winning 21 domestic championships since 1953 and 2 Champions League titles. The team was however relegated to the third tier league in 2017 due to failing to achieve the economic standard demanded by the league licence.
American football
Leipzig Kings
The Leipzig Kings are an American football team in Leipzig, Germany, that plays in the European League of Football (ELF).
History
The Leipzig franchise was announced along with Berlin Thunder and Cologne Centurions in March 2021, as part of t ...
is an American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
team playing in the European League of Football (ELF), which is a planned professional league, that is set to become the first fully professional league in Europe since the demise of NFL Europe
NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...
. The Kings will start playing games against teams from Germany, Spain and Poland in June 2021. They play their home games at Alfred-Kunze-Sportpark
Alfred-Kunze-Sportpark is a multi-use stadium in Leipzig, Germany. It is used as the stadium of BSG Chemie Leipzig matches. The capacity of the stadium is 4,999 spectators.
For the inaugural season of the new European League of Football the Leip ...
.
Other sports
From 1950 to 1990 Leipzig was host of the Deutsche Hochschule für Körperkultur (DHfK, German College of Physical Culture), the national sports college of the GDR.
Leipzig also hosted the Fencing
Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...
World Cup in 2005 and hosts a number of international competitions in a variety of sports each year.
Leipzig made a bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. The bid did not make the shortlist after the International Olympic Committee pared the bids down to 5.
Markkleeberger See
Markkleeberger See is a lake in Saxony, Germany, next to Markkleeberg, a suburb on the south side of Leipzig. At an elevation of 112.5 m, its surface area is 2.52 km². It is a former open-pit coal mine, flooded in 1999 with groundwater and ...
is a new lake next to Markkleeberg, a suburb on the south side of Leipzig. A former open-pit coal mine, it was flooded in 1999 with groundwater and developed in 2006 as a tourist area. On its southeastern shore is Germany's only pump-powered artificial whitewater
An artificial whitewater course (AWWC) is a site for whitewater canoeing, whitewater kayaking, whitewater racing, whitewater rafting, playboating and slalom canoeing with artificially generated rapids.
Course types
Main types of course:
Fl ...
slalom course, Markkleeberg Canoe Park (Kanupark Markkleeberg), a venue which rivals the Eiskanal
The ''Augsburg Eiskanal'' is an artificial whitewater river in Augsburg, Germany, constructed as the canoe slalom venue for the 1972 Summer Olympics in nearby Munich.
The first artificial whitewater course of its kind, it introduced the sport of ...
in Augsburg
Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...
for training and international canoe/kayak competition.
Leipzig Rugby Club competes in the German Rugby Bundesliga but finished at the bottom of their group in 2013.
Leipzig hosted the Indoor Hockey World Cup Indoor Hockey World Cup may refer to:
*Men's Indoor Hockey World Cup
*Women's Indoor Hockey World Cup
The Women's Indoor Hockey World Cup is an international indoor field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation, Interna ...
in 2015. All matches were played in Leipzig Arena
The Arena Leipzig is a multipurpose indoor arena located in Leipzig, Germany. The capacity of the arena is 8,000 people for sporting events and up to 12,200 for shows and concerts. It is part of the Sportforum Leipzig, which also contains Red Bu ...
, with the Netherlands coming out victorious in both the men's and women's tournaments.
Education
University
Leipzig University, founded 1409, is one of Europe's oldest universities. Karl Bücher
Karl Wilhelm Bücher (16 February 1847, Kirberg, Hesse – 12 November 1930, Leipzig, Saxony) was a German economist, one of the founders of non-market economics, and the founder of journalism as an academic discipline.
Biography
Early life ...
, a German economist, founded the ''Institut für Zeitungswissenschaften'' (Institute for Newspaper Science) at the University of Leipzig in 1916. It was the first institute of its kind to be established in Europe, and it marks the commencement of academic study of media communication in Germany.
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathema ...
, a philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
and mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
, was born in Leipzig in 1646, and attended the university from 1661 to 1666. Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
laureate Werner Heisenberg
Werner Karl Heisenberg () (5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist and one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics. He published his work in 1925 in a breakthrough paper. In the subsequent series ...
worked at the university as a physics professor (from 1927 to 1942), as did Nobel Prize laureates Gustav Ludwig Hertz
Gustav Ludwig Hertz (; 22 July 1887 – 30 October 1975) was a German experimental physicist and Nobel Prize winner for his work on inelastic electron collisions in gases, and a nephew of Heinrich Rudolf Hertz.
Biography
Hertz was born in Hamb ...
(physics), Wilhelm Ostwald (chemistry) and Theodor Mommsen
Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th cent ...
(Nobel Prize in literature
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, caption =
, awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature
, presenter = Swedish Academy
, holder = Annie Ernaux (2022)
, location = Stockholm, Sweden
, year = 1901
, ...
). The 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine went to Svante Pääbo
Svante Pääbo (; born 20 April 1955) is a Swedish geneticist who specialises in the field of evolutionary genetics. As one of the founders of paleogenetics, he has worked extensively on the Neanderthal genome. In 1997, he became founding dire ...
, an honorary professor at the university. Other former university staff include mineralogist Georg Agricola
Georgius Agricola (; born Georg Pawer or Georg Bauer; 24 March 1494 – 21 November 1555) was a German Humanist scholar, mineralogist and metallurgist. Born in the small town of Glauchau, in the Electorate of Saxony of the Holy Roman Empire ...
, writer Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (, ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the developmen ...
, philosopher Ernst Bloch, founder of psychophysics
Psychophysics quantitatively investigates the relationship between physical stimuli and the sensations and perceptions they produce. Psychophysics has been described as "the scientific study of the relation between stimulus and sensation" or, m ...
Gustav Theodor Fechner, and founder of modern psychology, Wilhelm Wundt
Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (; ; 16 August 1832 – 31 August 1920) was a German physiologist, philosopher, and professor, known today as one of the fathers of modern psychology. Wundt, who distinguished psychology as a science from philosophy and ...
. The university's notable former students include writers Johann Wolfgang Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treatis ...
and Erich Kästner
Emil Erich Kästner (; 23 February 1899 – 29 July 1974) was a German writer, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known primarily for his humorous, socially astute poems and for children's books including '' Emil and the Detectives''. He received ...
, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...
, political activist Karl Liebknecht, and composer Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
. Angela Merkel, former German chancellor, studied physics at Leipzig University. The university has about 30,000 students.
A part of Leipzig University is the German Institute for Literature
The German Institute for Literature (German: ''Deutsches Literaturinstitut Leipzig'', DLL) is a part of Leipzig University. It was founded in 1955 under the name Johannes R. Becher-Institut. Among the noted writers who graduated from the school a ...
which was founded in 1955 under the name "Johannes R. Becher-Institut". Many noted writers have graduated from this school, including Heinz Czechowski
Heinz Czechowski (7 February 1935 – 21 October 2009) was a German poet and dramatist.
At the age of ten, Czechowski survived the highly destructive bombing of his birthplace of Dresden. After training in surveying and graphic design, he studied ...
, Kurt Drawert, Adolf Endler
Adolf Endler (20 September 1930 – 2 August 2009) was a lyric poet, essayist and prose author who played a central role in subcultural activities that attacked and challenged an outdated model of socialist realism in the German Democratic Repu ...
, Ralph Giordano
Ralph Giordano (23 March 1923 – 10 December 2014) was a German writer and publicist.
Life and career
Giordano was born to a Sicilian father and a German Jewish mother in Hamburg. He attended the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums from 1933 to 1 ...
, Kerstin Hensel, Sarah
Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a piou ...
and Rainer Kirsch, Angela Krauß, Erich Loest
Erich Loest (; 24 February 1926 – 12 September 2013) was a German writer born in Mittweida, Saxony. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Hans Walldorf, Bernd Diksen and Waldemar Naß.
Life and career
He was a conscript soldier in World War II a ...
, and Fred Wander. After its closure in 1990 the institute was refounded in 1995 with new teachers.
Visual arts and theatre
The Academy of Visual Arts (''Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst
' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...
'') was established in 1764. Its 600 students () are enrolled in courses in painting and graphics, book design/graphic design, photography and media art. The school also houses an Institute for Theory.
The University of Music and Theatre offers a broad range of subjects ranging from training in orchestral instruments, voice, interpretation, coaching, piano chamber music, orchestral conducting, choir conducting and musical composition to acting and scriptwriting.
University of Applied Science
The Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (HTWK) has approximately 6,200 students () and is () the second biggest institution of higher education in Leipzig. It was founded in 1992, merging several older schools. As a university of applied sciences (German: ''Fachhochschule'') its status is slightly below that of a university, with more emphasis on the practical parts of education. The HTWK offers many engineering courses, as well as courses in computer science, mathematics, business administration, librarianship, museum studies, and social work. It is mainly located in the south of the city.
Leipzig Graduate School
The private Leipzig Graduate School of Management
HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, formerly known as Handelshochschule Leipzig, is a private business school based in Saxony, Germany. Established in 1898, it is one of the world's oldest business schools. The school is accredited intern ...
, (in German ''Handelshochschule Leipzig (HHL)''), is the oldest business school in Germany. According to The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
, HHL is one of the best schools in the world, ranked at number six overall.
Research institutes
Leipzig is currently the home of twelve research institutes and the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities
The Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig (german: Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig) is an institute which was founded in 1846 under the name ''Royal Saxon Society for the Sciences'' (german: Königlich Sächsische G ...
.
Max Planck Society
The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (german: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften e. V.; abbreviated MPG) is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes. ...
: Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
The Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences is located in Leipzig, Germany. The institute was founded in 2004 by a merger between the former Max Planck Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience in Leipzig and the Max Planck Institute ...
, and Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (german: Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie, shortened to MPI EVA) is a research institute based in Leipzig, Germany, that was founded in 1997. It is part of the Max Plan ...
.
Fraunhofer Society
The Fraunhofer Society (german: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., lit=Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research) is a German research organization with 76institutes spread throughout Germany ...
institutes: Fraunhofer IZI and Fraunhofer IMW.
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
The work of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ (prior to 28 November 2006 UFZ-Umweltforschungszentrum Leipzig-Halle GmbH) covers both basic research and applied research.
The UFZ was established on 12 December 1991. The Cent ...
Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum – DBFZ
Leibniz Association: Leibniz-Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leibniz-Institute IOM, Leibniz-Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe, Leibniz-Institute IfL, Leibniz-Institute Jewish history.
Others
Leipzig is home to one of the world's oldest schools, '' Thomasschule zu Leipzig'' (St. Thomas' School, Leipzig), which gained fame for its long association with the Bach family of musicians and composers.
The Lutheran Theological Seminary is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church in Leipzig. The seminary trains students to become pastors for the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church or for member church bodies of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference.
Economy
The city is a location for automobile manufacturing by BMW and Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
in large plants north of the city. In 2011 and 2012 DHL
DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, which is a division of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post. The company group delivers over 1.8 billion parcels per year. DHL ...
transferred the bulk of its European air operations from Brussels Airport
Brussels Airport, nl, Luchthaven Brussel, vls, Vliegpling Brussel, german: Flughafen Brüssel is an international airport northeast of Brussels, the capital of Belgium. In 2019, more than 26 million passengers arrived or departed at Bruss ...
to Leipzig/Halle Airport
Leipzig/Halle Airport (German: ''Flughafen Leipzig/Halle'') is an international airport located in Schkeuditz, Saxony, Germany and serves both Leipzig, Saxony, and Halle, Saxony-Anhalt.
It is Germany's 14th largest airport by passengers and ...
. Kirow Ardelt AG, the world market leader in breakdown cranes, is based in Leipzig. The city also houses the European Energy Exchange, the leading energy exchange in Central Europe. VNG – Verbundnetz Gas
VNG – Verbundnetz Gas Agbo (VNGn) is a natural gas company headquartered in Leipzig, Germany. It is the third largest natural gas importer and the seventh largest energy company in Germany, and the second largest energy company in Eastern German ...
AG, one of Germany's large natural gas suppliers, is headquartered at Leipzig. In addition, inside its larger metropolitan area, Leipzig has developed an important petrochemical center.
Some of the largest employers in the area (outside of manufacturing) include software companies such as Spreadshirt
Spread Group (legally sprd.net AG) is the umbrella brand of five internationally active e-commerce platforms with headquarters in Leipzig, Germany and Greensburg, Pennsylvania, United States. It operates production sites in Legnica, Poland, ...
and the various schools and universities in and around the Leipzig/Halle Halle may refer to:
Places Germany
* Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt
** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt
** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany
** Hall ...
region. The University of Leipzig attracts millions of euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
s of investment yearly and celebrated its 600th birthday in 2009.
Leipzig also benefits from world-leading medical research (Leipzig Heart Centre) and a growing biotechnology industry.
Many bars, restaurants and stores in the downtown area are patronized by German and foreign tourists. Leipzig Main Train Station is the location of a shopping mall
A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...
. Leipzig is one of Germany's most visited cities with over 3 million overnight stays in 2017.
In 2010, Leipzig was included in the top 10 cities to visit by ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', and ranked 39th globally out of 289 cities for innovation in the 4th Innovation Cities Index published by Australian agency 2thinknow. In 2015, Leipzig have among the 30 largest German cities the third best prospects for the future. In recent years Leipzig has often been nicknamed the "Boomtown of eastern Germany" or "Hypezig". it had the highest rate of population growth of any German city.
Companies with operations in or around Leipzig include:
*Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
* Blüthner: piano-manufacturing
* BMW
*DHL
DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, which is a division of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post. The company group delivers over 1.8 billion parcels per year. DHL ...
*Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
*Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
*Future Electronics
Future Electronics Inc. is a distributor of electronic and electro-mechanical components headquartered in Pointe-Claire, Quebec. It was founded in 1968 by Canadian billionaire Robert Miller. By 1976, Miller became the sole owner of the company a ...
File:Porsche Diamond.jpg, Porsche Diamond, the customer center building of Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
Leipzig
File:BMW Leipzig MEDIA Download Luftaufnahme 3 max.jpg, BMW production facility in Leipzig
File:Amazon.de Versandhaus Leipzig.jpg, Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
in Leipzig
File:EAT LEJ Hangar.jpg, Leipzig is the hub of DHL
DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, which is a division of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post. The company group delivers over 1.8 billion parcels per year. DHL ...
.
File:Lzg. Löhrs Carré 1.jpg, Headquarters of the Sparkasse Leipzig bank
File:Markkleeberger See Bootsanlegestelle.jpg, Markkleeberger See
Markkleeberger See is a lake in Saxony, Germany, next to Markkleeberg, a suburb on the south side of Leipzig. At an elevation of 112.5 m, its surface area is 2.52 km². It is a former open-pit coal mine, flooded in 1999 with groundwater and ...
.
File:Höfe am Brühl 20120928-3.jpg, Höfe am Brühl shopping mall, situated on the former route of Via Regia, an ancient trade road.
Socio-ecological infrastructure
Leipzig has a dense network of socio-ecological infrastructures. Worth mentioning in the food sector are the ''Fairteiler'' of foodsharing and the numerous Community-supported agricultures, in the textile sector the ''Umsonstladen'' in Plagwitz, in the bicycle self-help workshops the ''Radsfatz'', in the computer sector the Hackerspace
A hackerspace (also referred to as a hacklab, hackspace, or makerspace) is a community-operated, often "not for profit" (501(c)(3) in the United States), workspace where people with common interests, such as computers, machining, technology, sc ...
''Die Dezentrale'' and in the repair sector the ''Café kaputt''.
Media
*MDR MDR may refer to:
Biology
* MDR1, an ATP-dependent cellular efflux pump affording multiple drug resistance
* Mammalian Diving reflex
* Medical device reporting
* Multiple drug resistance, when a microorganism has become resistant to multiple drugs ...
, one of Germany's public broadcasters, has its headquarters and main television studios in the city. It provides programmes to various TV and radio networks and has its own symphony orchestra, choir and a ballet.
*''Leipziger Volkszeitung'' (''LVZ'') is the city's only daily newspaper. Founded in 1894, it has published under several different forms of government. The monthly magazine ''Kreuzer'' specializes in culture, festivities and the arts in Leipzig. Leipzig was also home to the world's first daily newspaper in modern times. The "Einkommende Zeitungen" were first published in 1650.
*Leipzig has one daily or semi-daily English-language publication, ''The Leipzig Glocal''. It is an online-based magazine and blog that caters to an international as well as local audience. Besides publishing pages on jobs, doctors and movies available in English and other languages, the site's team of authors writes articles about lifestyle, arts & culture, politics, entertainment, Leipzig events, etc.
*Once known for its large number of publishing houses, Leipzig had been called ''Buch-Stadt'' (book city), the most notable of them being branches of Brockhaus and Insel Verlag. Few are left after the years of economic decline during the German Democratic Republic
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
, during which time Frankfurt developed as a much more important publishing center. Reclam, founded in 1828, was one of the large publishing houses to move away. Leipzig still has a book fair, but Frankfurt's is far bigger.
*The German Library (Deutsche Bücherei) in Leipzig is part of Germany's National Library. Its task is to collect a copy of every book published in German.
Quality of life
In December 2013, according to a study by GfK
GfK (originally german: GfK-Nürnberg Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung e.V., lit=Nuremberg Society for Consumer Research, label=none) is a provider of data and intelligence to the consumer goods industry. It is headquartered in Nuremberg, German ...
, Leipzig was ranked as the most livable city in Germany.
In 2015/2016, Leipzig was named by the consumer portal verbraucherzentrale.de as the second-best city for students in Germany (after Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
).
In a 2017 study from the Institut für Handelsforschung Köln, the Leipzig inner city ranked first among all large cities in Germany due to its urban aesthetics, gastronomy, and shopping opportunities.
According to HWWI/Berenberg-Städteranking, since 2018 it also has the second-best future prospects of all cities in Germany, second to Munich in 2018 and Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
in 2019.
According to a 2017 Global Least & Most Stressful Cities Ranking by Zipjet, a London-based online laundry service, Leipzig was one of the least stressful cities in the World. It was ranked 25th out of 150 cities worldwide and above Dortmund
Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...
, Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
, Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
, and Berlin.
Leipzig was named European City of the Year at the 2019 Urbanism Awards.
According to the 2019 study by Forschungsinstitut Prognos, Leipzig is the most dynamic region in Germany. Within 15 years, the city climbed 230 places and occupied in 2019 rank 104 of all 401 German regions.
Leipzig was one of 52 places to go in 2020 by ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' and the highest-ranking German destination.
Leipzig Hauptbahnhof has been ranked the best railway station in Germany and the third-best in Europe in a consumer organisation poll, surpassed only by St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It is ...
and Zürich Hauptbahnhof.
Transport
Founded at the crossing of Via Regia and Via Imperii, Leipzig has been a major interchange of inter-European traffic and commerce since medieval times. After the Reunification of Germany
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
, immense efforts to restore and expand the traffic network have been undertaken and left the city area with an excellent infrastructure.
Railways
Opened in 1915, Leipzig Hauptbahnhof (lit. ''main station'') is the largest overhead railway station in Europe in terms of its built-up area. At the same time, it is an important supra-regional junction in the Intercity-Express
The Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE ()) is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany. It also serves some destinations in Austria, Denmark (ceased in 2017 but planned to resume in 2022), France, Belgium, Switzerla ...
(ICE) and Intercity
InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...
network of the Deutsche Bahn
The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder.
describes itself as the se ...
as well as a connection point for S-Bahn
The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban- suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble co ...
and regional traffic in the Halle/Leipzig area.
In Leipzig, the Intercity Express routes (Hamburg-)Berlin-Leipzig-Nuremberg-Munich and Dresden-Leipzig-Erfurt-Frankfurt am Main-(Wiesbaden/Saarbrücken) intersect. Leipzig is also the starting point for the intercity lines Leipzig-Halle (Saale)-Magdeburg-Braunschweig-Hannover-Dortmund-Köln and -Bremen-Oldenburg(-Norddeich Mole). Both lines complement each other at hourly intervals and also stop at Leipzig/Halle Airport. The only international connection is the daily EuroCity Leipzig-Prague.
Most major and medium-sized towns in Saxony and southern Saxony-Anhalt can be reached without changing trains. There are also direct connections via regional express lines to Falkenberg/Elster-Cottbus, Hoyerswerda and Dessau-Magdeburg as well as Chemnitz. Neighbouring Halle (Saale) can be reached via three S-Bahn lines, two of which run via Leipzig/Halle Airport. The surrounding area of Leipzig is served by numerous regional and S-Bahn lines.
The city's railway connections are currently being greatly improved by major construction projects, particularly within the framework of the German Unity transport projects. The line to Berlin has been extended and has been passable at 200 km/h since 2006. On 13 December 2015, the high-speed line from Leipzig to Erfurt, designed for 300 km/h, was put into operation. Its continuation to Nuremberg followed in December 2017. This integration into the high-speed network considerably reduced the journey times of the ICE from Leipzig to Nuremberg, Munich and Frankfurt am Main. The Leipzig-Dresden railway line, which was the first German long-distance railway to go into operation in 1839, is also undergoing expansion for 200 km/h. The most important construction project in regional transport was the four-kilometer-long City Tunnel, which went into operation in December 2013 as the main line of the S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland.
There are freight stations in the districts of Wahren and Engelsdorf. In addition, a freight traffic centre has been set up near the Schkeuditzer Kreuz junction for goods handling between road and rail, as well as a freight station on the site of the DHL hub at Leipzig/Halle Airport.
Suburban trains
Leipzig is the core of the S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland line network. Together with the tram, six of the ten lines form the backbone of local public transport and an important link to the region and the neighbouring Halle. The main line of the S-Bahn consists of the underground S-Bahn stations Hauptbahnhof, Markt, Wilhelm-Leuschner-Platz and Bayerischer Bahnhof
Leipzig Bayerischer Bahnhof (''Leipzig Bavarian station'') is Germany's oldest preserved railway station, located in Leipzig, Germany, in the southeastern part of the district Mitte. The station was first opened in 1842 for the Leipzig–Hof ra ...
leading through the City Tunnel as well as the above-ground station Leipzig MDR. There are a total of 30 S-Bahn stations in the Leipzig city area. Endpoints of the S-Bahn lines include Wurzen, Zwickau, Dessau and Lutherstadt Wittenberg. Two lines run to Halle, one of them via Leipzig/Halle Airport.
With the timetable change in December 2004, the networks of Leipzig and Halle were combined to form the Leipzig-Halle S-Bahn. However, this network only served as a transitional solution and was replaced by the S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland on 15 December 2013. At the same time, the main line tunnel, marketed as the Leipzig City Tunnel, went into operation. The tunnel, which is almost four kilometres long, crosses the entire city centre from the main railway station to the Bavarian railway station. The S-Bahn stations are up to 22 metres underground. This construction was the first to create a continuous north–south axis, which had not existed until now due to the north-facing terminus station. The connection to the south of the city and the federal state will thus be greatly improved.
Tramway and buses
The Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe
:''This article is a translation of the German article Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe. Images are those that appear in the German-language article. See also: Trams in Leipzig''
The Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe (LVB), literally translated into English ...
, existing since 1 January 1917, operate a total of 15 tram lines and 47 bus lines in the city.
The total length of the tram network is , making it the largest in Saxony ahead of Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
() and the second largest in Germany after Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
().
The longest line in the Leipzig network is line 11, which connects Schkeuditz with Markkleeberg over 22 kilometres and is the only tram line in Leipzig to run in three tariff zones of the Central German Transport Association.
Night bus lines N1 to N9 and the night tram N17 operate in the night traffic. On Saturdays, Sundays and holidays the tram line N10 and the bus line N60 also operate. The central transfer point between the bus and tram lines as well as to the S-Bahn is Leipzig Central Station.
Bicycle
Like most German cities, Leipzig has a traffic layout designed to be bicycle-friendly. There is an extensive cycle network. In most of the one-way central streets, cyclists are explicitly allowed to cycle both ways. A few cycle paths have been built or declared since 1990.
Since 2004 there is a bicycle-sharing system
A bicycle-sharing system, bike share program, public bicycle scheme, or public bike share (PBS) scheme, is a shared transport service where bicycles are available for shared use by individuals at low cost.
The programmes themselves include bot ...
. Bikes can be borrowed and returned via smartphone app or by telephone. Since 2018, the system has enabled flexible borrowing and returning of bicycles in the inner city; in this zone, bicycles can be handed in and borrowed from almost any street corner. Outside these zones, there are stations where the bikes are waiting. The current locations of the bikes can be seen via the app. There are cooperation offers with the Leipzig public transport companies and car sharing in order to offer as complete a mobility chain as possible.
Road
Several federal motorways pass by Leipzig: the A 14 in the north, the A 9 in the west and the A 38 in the south. The three motorways form a triangular partial ring of the double ring Mitteldeutsche Schleife around Halle and Leipzig. To the south towards Chemnitz, the A 72 is also partly under construction.
The federal roads B 2 B2, B02, B.II, B.2 or B-2 may refer to:
Transportation
Aircraft
* AEG B.II, a German aircraft during World War I
* Albatros B.II, a 1914 unarmed German two-seat reconnaissance biplane
* Aviatik B.II, a 1915 German reconnaissance aircraft
* Bla ...
, B 6, B 87, B 181 and B 184 lead through the city area.
The ring road (Innenstadtring), which corresponds to the course of the old city fortification, surrounds the city centre of Leipzig, which today is largely traffic-calmed.
Leipzig has a dense network of carsharing
Carsharing or car sharing (AU, NZ, CA, TH, & US) or car clubs (UK) is a model of car rental where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. It differs from traditional car rental in that the owners of the cars are often pri ...
stations. Additionally, since 2018 there is also a stationless car sharing system in Leipzig. Here the cars can be parked and booked anywhere in the inner city without having to define a specific car or period in advance. Finding and booking is done via a smartphone app.
Leipzig is one of the few cities in Germany with vehicle for hire services that can be booked via a mobile app
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...
. In contrast to taxicab services, the start and destination must be defined beforehand and other passengers can be taken along at the same time if they share a route.
Long-distance buses
Since March 2018 there has been a central bus station directly east of Leipzig Central Station.
In addition to a large number of national lines, several international lines also serve Leipzig. The cities of Bregenz, Budapest, Milan, Prague, Sofia and Zurich, among others, can be reached without having to change trains. Around 30,000 journeys and 1.5 million passengers a year are expected at the new bus station.
Some lines also use Leipzig/Halle Airport, located at the A 9/A 14 motorway junction, and Leipziger Messe
The Leipzig Trade Fair (german: Leipziger Messe) is a major trade fair, which traces its roots back for nearly a millennium. After the Second World War, Leipzig fell within the territory of East Germany, whereupon the Leipzig Trade Fair became o ...
for a stop. Passengers can take the S-Bahn from there to the city centre.
Air
Leipzig/Halle Airport
Leipzig/Halle Airport (German: ''Flughafen Leipzig/Halle'') is an international airport located in Schkeuditz, Saxony, Germany and serves both Leipzig, Saxony, and Halle, Saxony-Anhalt.
It is Germany's 14th largest airport by passengers and ...
is the international commercial airport of the region. It is located at the Schkeuditzer Kreuz junction northwest of Leipzig, halfway between the two major cities. The easternmost section of the new Erfurt-Leipzig/Halle line under construction gave the airport a long-distance railway station, which was also integrated into the ICE network when the railway line was completed in 2015.
Passenger flights are operated to the major German hub airports, European metropolises and holiday destinations, especially in the Mediterranean region and North Africa. The airport is of international importance in the cargo sector. In Germany, it ranks second behind Frankfurt am Main, fifth in Europe and 26th worldwide (as of 2011). DHL
DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, which is a division of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post. The company group delivers over 1.8 billion parcels per year. DHL ...
uses the airport as its central European hub. It is also the home base of the freight airlines Aerologic and European Air Transport Leipzig
European Air Transport Leipzig GmbH, often shortened to EAT Leipzig or EAT-LEJ, is a German cargo airline with its head office and main hub on the grounds of Leipzig/Halle Airport in Schkeuditz. It is wholly owned by Deutsche Post and operates ...
.
The former military airport near Altenburg
Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...
, Thuringia
Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million.
Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
called Leipzig-Altenburg Airport about a half-hour drive from Leipzig was served by Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...
until 2010.
Water
In the first half of the 20th century, the construction of the Elster-Saale canal, White Elster and Saale
The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale (german: Sächsische Saale) and Thuringian Saale (german: Thüringische Saale), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Fränkische Saale, ...
was started in Leipzig in order to connect to the network of waterways. The outbreak of the Second World War stopped most of the work, though some may have continued through the use of forced labor. The Lindenauer port was almost completed but not yet connected to the Elster-Saale and Karl-Heine canal respectively. The Leipzig rivers ( White Elster, New Luppe, Pleiße
The Pleiße is a river of Saxony and Thuringia, Germany.
The Pleiße has its source southwest of Zwickau at Ebersbrunn, then flows through Werdau, Crimmitschau, Altenburg, and other towns and villages in Saxony and Thuringia, before flowing fr ...
, and Parthe) in the city have largely artificial river beds and are supplemented by some channels. These waterways are suitable only for small leisure boat traffic.
Through the renovation and reconstruction of existing mill race
A mill race, millrace or millrun, mill lade (Scotland) or mill leat (Southwest England) is the current of water that turns a water wheel, or the channel ( sluice) conducting water to or from a water wheel. Compared with the broad waters of a mi ...
s and watercourses in the south of the city and flooded disused open cast mines
Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow.
This form of mining ...
, the city's navigable water network is being expanded. A link between Karl Heine Canal and the disused Lindenauer port was opened in 2015. Still more work was scheduled to complete the Elster-Saale canal. Such a move would allow small boats to reach the Elbe
The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...
from Leipzig. The intended completion date has been postponed because of an unacceptable cost-benefit ratio.
File:Leipzig NGT12-LEI Waldplatz defekt.jpg, Tram of Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe
:''This article is a translation of the German article Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe. Images are those that appear in the German-language article. See also: Trams in Leipzig''
The Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe (LVB), literally translated into English ...
File:Leipzig Georg-Schumann-Strasse.jpg, Tramsystem at the Georg-Schumann-Straße
File:S-Bahnhof Leipzig Markt.jpg, Leipzig City Tunnel, part of Leipzig's new S-Bahn
The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban- suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble co ...
network
File:S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland. Talent 2,027, Innenansicht Sitze.jpg, Inside the S-Bahn train
Quotations
''Mein Leipzig lob' ich mir! Es ist ein klein Paris und bildet seine Leute.'' (I praise my Leipzig! It is a small Paris and educates its people.) – Frosch, a university student in Goethe's ''Faust, Part One
''Faust: A Tragedy'' (german: Faust. Eine Tragödie, links=no, , or aust. The tragedy's first part is the first part of the tragic play ''Faust'' by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and is considered by many as the greatest work of German literature ...
''
''Ich komme nach Leipzig, an den Ort, wo man die ganze Welt im Kleinen sehen kann.'' (I'm coming to Leipzig, to the place where one can see the whole world in miniature.) – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (, ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the developmen ...
''Extra Lipsiam vivere est miserrime vivere.'' (To live outside Leipzig is to live miserably.) – Benedikt Carpzov the Younger
Benedikt Carpzov the Younger (27 May 1595, Wittenberg - 30 August 1666, Leipzig) was a German criminal lawyer and a witchcraft theoretician who wrote extensively on witch processes. His 1635 work ''Practica Rerum Criminalium'' dealt with the tri ...
''Das angenehme Pleis-Athen, Behält den Ruhm vor allen, Auch allen zu gefallen, Denn es ist wunderschön.'' (The pleasurable Pleiss-Athens, earns its fame above all, appealing to every one, too, for it is mightily beauteous.) – Johann Sigismund Scholze
Johann Sigismund Scholze alias Sperontes (20 March 1705 in Lobendau bei Liegnitz (today Lubiatów near Złotoryja) 28 September 1750 in Leipzig) was a Silesian music anthologist and poet.
Life
Little is known about the life of Scholze. He was th ...
Twin towns – sister cities
Leipzig is twinned with:
* Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...
, Ethiopia (2004)
* Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, United Kingdom (1992)
* Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
, Italy (1962, renewed in 1997)
* Brno
Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
, Czech Republic (1973, renewed in 1999)
* Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
, Germany (1990)
* Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
, Germany (1987)
* Herzliya
Herzliya ( ; he, הֶרְצְלִיָּה ; ar, هرتسليا, Hirtsiliyā) is an affluent city in the central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it h ...
, Israel (2010)
* Ho Chi Minh City
, population_density_km2 = 4,292
, population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2
, population_demonym = Saigonese
, blank_name = GRP (Nominal)
, blank_info = 2019
, blank1_name = – Total
, blank1_ ...
, Vietnam (2021)
* Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
, United States (1993)
* Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
, Poland (1973, renewed in 1995)
* Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
, Ukraine (1961, renewed in 1992)
* Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
, France (1981)
* Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
, China (1988)
* Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
, Greece (1984)
* Travnik
Travnik is a town and a municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the administrative center of Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, west of Sarajevo. As of 201 ...
, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2003)
Notable people
Politicians
*Nikolaus Krell
Nikolaus Krell (c. 1551 – 9 October 1601), chancellor of the elector of Saxony, was born at Leipzig, and educated at the university of Leipzig, university of his native town.
About 1580 he entered the service of Christian I, Elector of Saxony, ...
(1551–1601), chancellor of the elector of Saxony.
*Friedrich Karl Biedermann
Friedrich Karl Biedermann (25 September 1812 in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony – 5 March 1901) was a German professor, politician, and publisher who greatly aided the Liberalism, Liberal movement in Germany during the process of German Unification.
...
(1812–1901), a professor, politician, and publisher.
*Louise Otto-Peters
Louise Otto-Peters (26 March 1819, Meissen – 13 March 1895, Leipzig) was a German suffragist and women's rights movement activist who wrote novels, poetry, essays, and libretti. She wrote for ''Der Wandelstern'' he Wandering Starand ''Sächsisc ...
(1819–1895), suffragette, founded the German Women's Association
*August Bebel
Ferdinand August Bebel (22 February 1840 – 13 August 1913) was a German socialist politician, writer, and orator. He is best remembered as one of the founders of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany (SDAP) in 1869, which in 1875 mer ...
(1840–1913), socialist politician, co-founder of Germany's SDP.
* Karl Liebknecht (1871–1919), socialist, co-founded the Communist Party of Germany
* Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (1884–1945), mayor, a lead conservative resistance against Hitler
*Paul Frölich
Paul Frölich (7 August 1884 – 16 March 1953) was a German journalist and left-wing political activist and author, a founding member of the Communist Party of Germany and founder of the party's paper, ''Die Rote Fahne.'' A Communist Party deputy ...
(1884–1953), politician, KPD co-founder, biographer of Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg (; ; pl, Róża Luksemburg or ; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary socialist, Marxist philosopher and anti-war activist. Successively, she was a member of the Proletariat party, ...
*Walter Ulbricht
Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (; 30 June 18931 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later (after spending the years of Nazi rule in ...
(1893–1973), Communist politician, GDR Chairman of the Council of State, 1960–1973
* Ruth Fischer (1895–1961), communist politician and journalist, co-founder of the CPA
*Annemarie Renger
Annemarie Renger (née Wildung), (7 October 1919 in Leipzig – 3 March 2008 in Remagen-Oberwinter), was a German politician for the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
From 1972 until 1976 she served as the 5th President of the Bundestag ...
(1919–2008), politician, President of the Bundestag, 1972 to 1976
Philosophers and Theologians
*Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathema ...
(1646–1716), philosopher and scientist, mathematician, diplomat.
* Johann Friedrich Mayer (1650–1712), Lutheran theologian
*Christian Thomasius
Christian Thomasius (1 January 1655 – 23 September 1728) was a German jurist and philosopher.
Biography
He was born in Leipzig and was educated by his father, Jakob Thomasius (1622–1684), at that time a junior lecturer in Leipzig Universi ...
(1655–1728), a jurist and philosopher.
*Wilhelm Abraham Teller
Wilhelm Abraham Teller (9 January 17349 December 1804) was a German Protestant theologian who championed a rational approach to Christianity.
Life and career
Teller was born in Leipzig. His father, Romanus Teller (1703–1750), was a pastor at Lei ...
(1734–1804), a Protestant theologian with a rational approach.
*Franz Delitzsch
Franz Delitzsch (23 February 1813, in Leipzig – 4 March 1890, in Leipzig) was a German Lutheran theologian and Hebraist. Delitzsch wrote many commentaries on books of the Bible, Jewish antiquities, Biblical psychology, as well as a history of J ...
(1813–1890), a Lutheran theologian and Hebraist
A Hebraist is a specialist in Jewish, Hebrew and Hebraic studies. Specifically, British and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of Hebrew language and literature were commonly known by this designation, a ...
.
*Christian Daniel Beck
Christian Daniel Beck (22 January 1757 – 13 December 1832) was a German philologist, historian, theologian and antiquarian, one of the most learned men of his time.
Biography
Beck was born at Leipzig and studied at Leipzig University, where in ...
(1757–1832), a philologist, historian, theologian and antiquarian.
*Georg Benedikt Winer Georg Benedikt Winer (13 April 1789, Leipzig – 12 May 1858, Leipzig), Germany, German Protestant theology, theologian, known for his linguistics, linguistic studies of the New Testament.
Life
He studied theology at Leipzig, where in 1819 he began ...
(1789–1858), a Protestant theologian, known for linguistic studies of the New Testament.
*Christian Hermann Weisse
Christian Hermann Weisse (; ; Weiße in modern German; 10 August 1801 – 19 September 1866) was a German Protestant religious philosopher and professor of philosophy at the University of Leipzig. He was the son of theologian (1766–1832).
Bi ...
(1801–1866), Protestant theologian and philosopher.
Writing & Arts
* Johann Albert Fabricius (1668–1736), a classical scholar and bibliographer.
*Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
(1685–1750), composer.
*Johann Gottfried Donati
Johann Gottfried Donati (Leipzig, 1706Greiz, 1782) was a German Baroque composer. Donati's father and grandfather were organ-builders in Saxony. He was organist in Greiz for 50 years and a friend of organ-builder Gottfried Silbermann.Uta Wald, essa ...
(1706–1782), composer
*Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and sec ...
(1714–1788) a Classical period musician and composer.
*Johann Christian Bach
Johann Christian Bach (September 5, 1735 – January 1, 1782) was a German composer of the Classical period (music), Classical era, the eighteenth child of Johann Sebastian Bach, and the youngest of his eleven sons. After living in Italy for ...
(1735–1782), composer, youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach
* Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus (1772–1823), publisher, originated the Brockhaus encyclopedia.
*Johann Gottfried Jakob Hermann
Johann Gottfried Jakob Hermann (28 November 1772 – 31 December 1848) was a German classical scholar and philologist. He published his works under the name Gottfried Hermann or its Latin equivalent .
Biography
He was born in Leipzig. Entering ...
(1772–1848), a classical scholar and philologist.
*Karl Wilhelm Dindorf
Karl Wilhelm Dindorf ( la, Guilielmus Dindorfius; 2 January 1802 – 1 August 1883) was a German classical scholar. He was born and died at Leipzig.
From his earliest years he showed a strong taste for classical studies, and after completing F. ...
(1802–1883), a classical scholar.
*Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...
(1809–1847), composer, pianist, organist and conductor.
*Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...
(1810–1856), composer and music critic.
*Roderich Benedix
Julius Roderich Benedix (21 January 1811 – 26 September 1873) was a German dramatist and librettist, born in Leipzig, where he was educated there at Thomasschule.
He joined the stage in 1831, his first engagement being with the travelling compan ...
(1811–1873), a dramatist and librettist.
* Theodor Bergk (1812–1881), a philologist, an authority on classical Greek poetry.
*Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
(1813–1883), composer, theatre director and conductor.
* Clara Schumann (1819–1896), pianist and composer.
*Carl Johann Lasch
Carl Johann Lasch (July 1, 1822 in Leipzig – August 28, 1888 in Moscow) was a German artist of historical paintings. He was born in Leipzig. He attended the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. One of his teachers was Eduard Bendemann. He later attende ...
(1822–1888), painter
*Carl Reinecke
Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke (23 June 182410 March 1910) was a German composer, conductor, and pianist in the mid-Romantic era.
Biography
Reinecke was born in what is today the Hamburg district of Altona; technically he was born a Dane, as ...
(1824–1910), composer, conductor, and pianist.
* Max Beckmann (1884–1950), expressionist painter, professor at art academies and schools
*Wilhelm Backhaus
Wilhelm Backhaus ('Bachaus' on some record labels) (26 March 1884 – 5 July 1969) was a German pianist and pedagogue. He was particularly well known for his interpretations of Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin and Brahms. He was also much ...
(1884–1969), pianist
*Karl Alfred Pabst
Karl Alfred Pabst (2 December 1884, Leipzig – 6 May 1971, Bremen) was a German painter, graphic artist and lithographer.
Pabst was a painter of atmospheric landscapes and cityscapes, and an illustrator for documents, maps and advertising.
Pa ...
(1884–1971), painter, graphic artist and lithographer
* Hanns Eisler (1898–1962), composer of the national anthem of the GDR
*Bruno Apitz
Bruno Apitz (28 April 1900 – 7 April 1979) was a German writer and a survivor of the Buchenwald concentration camp.
Life and career
Apitz was born in Leipzig, as the twelfth child of a washer woman. He attended school until he was fourteen, th ...
(1900–1979), writer
* Wolfgang Weber (1902–1985), photojournalist
*Hans Mayer
Hans Mayer (19 March 1907 in Cologne – 19 May 2001 in Tübingen; pseudonym: ''Martin Seiler'') was a German literary scholar. Mayer was also a jurist and social researcher and was internationally recognized as a critic, author and musicologist ...
(1907–2001), literary scholar
*Kurt Masur
Kurt Masur (18 July 1927 – 19 December 2015) was a German conductor. Called "one of the last old-style maestros", he directed many of the principal orchestras of his era. He had a long career as the Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Or ...
(1927–2015), conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
*Herbert Blomstedt
Herbert Thorson Blomstedt (; born 11 July 1927) is a Swedish conductor.
Herbert Blomstedt was born in Massachusetts. Two years after his birth, his Swedish parents moved the family back to their country of origin. He studied at the Stockholm Ro ...
(born 1927), conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
*Werner Tübke
Werner Tübke (30 July 1929 in Schönebeck, Germany – 27 May 2004 in Leipzig, Germany) was a German painter, best known for his monumental '' Peasants' War Panorama'' located in Bad Frankenhausen
Bad Frankenhausen (officially: Bad Frankenhaus ...
(1929–2004), painter
* Hans-Joachim Schulze (born 1934), Bach scholar
*Riccardo Chailly
Riccardo Chailly (, ; born 20 February 1953) is an Italian conductor. He is currently music director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, since 2016, and music director of La Scala, since 2017. Prior to this, he held chief conducting positions ...
(born 1953), conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
*Neo Rauch
Neo Rauch (born 18 April 1960, in Leipzig, East Germany; ) is a German artist whose paintings mine the intersection of his personal history with the politics of industrial alienation. His work reflects the influence of socialist realism, and owes ...
(born 1960), painter
*Till Lindemann
Till Lindemann (; born 4 January 1963) is a German singer, songwriter and poet. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein and solo project Lindemann. Rammstein has sold over 25 million records w ...
(born 1963), vocalist
*Simone Thomalla
Simone Thomalla (born 11 April 1965) is a German actress.
Career
As a child, Thomalla wanted to be a musician, but instead attended the Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch acting school in Berlin. She began her career in 1982 in Ea ...
(born 1965), actress
*Matthias Weischer
Matthias Weischer (born 1973 in Elte, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany) is a painter living in Leipzig. Weischer is considered to be part of the New Leipzig School.
Life
Matthias Weischer studied painting from 1995 to 2001 and received h ...
(born 1973), painter
*Oskar Lenz
Oskar Lenz (13 April 1848 in Leipzig – 1 March 1925 in Sooß) was a German-Austrian geologist and mineralogist born in Leipzig.
In 1870, he earned his doctorate in mineralogy and geology at the University of Leipzig. In 1872, he joined as a v ...
(1848–1925), explorer and travel writer
* Hans Meyer (1858–1929), geographer, Africanist and mountaineer
* Martin Broszat (1926–1989), historian, head of Institut für Zeitgeschichte The Institute of Contemporary History (''Institut für Zeitgeschichte'') in Munich was conceived in 1947 under the name ''Deutsches Institut für Geschichte der nationalsozialistischen Zeit'' ("German Institute of the History of the National Sociali ...
in Munich
*Ruth Pfau
Ruth Katherina Martha Pfau, FCM (9 September 1929 – 10 August 2017) was a Germans, German–Pakistanis, Pakistani Catholic Church, Catholic Christian religious sister and physician who was a member of the "Society of the Daughters of the Heart ...
(1929–2017), nun, physician and writer
* Christian Gottfried Körner (1756–1831), jurist and writer
*Sebastian Krumbiegel
Sebastian Krumbiegel (born 5 June 1966) is a German singer and musician. He is a member of the band Die Prinzen.
Born in Leipzig, from 1976 to 1985 Krumbiegel attended the Thomasschule zu Leipzig where he took the Abitur examination in 1985. ...
(1966-), singer and musician
* Tobias Künzel (1964-), singer and musician
Science & Business
* Michael Ettmüller (1644–1683), a physician.
* Augustus Quirinus Rivinus (1652–1723), physician and botanist
* Carl Gustav Carus (1789–1869), doctor, painter and natural philosopher.
*Wilhelm Hofmeister
Wilhelm Friedrich Benedikt Hofmeister (18 May 1824 – 12 January 1877) was a German biologist and botanist. He "stands as one of the true giants in the history of biology and belongs in the same pantheon as Darwin and Mendel." He was lar ...
(1824–1877), a biologist and botanist.
* Paul Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1841–1880), chemist
*Karl Wittgenstein
Karl Otto Clemens Wittgenstein (8 April 1847 – 20 January 1913) was a German-born Austrian steel tycoon. A friend of Andrew Carnegie, with whom he was often compared, at the end of the 19th century he controlled an effective monopoly on steel and ...
(1847–1913), entrepreneur
*Sibylle Kemmler-Sack
Sibylle Kemmler-Sack (18 November 1934 in Leipzig – 10 February 1999) was a German chemist. She was a professor for Chemistry at the University of Tübingen.
Life
Kemmler-Sack did her doctorate on "Untersuchungen an ternären Uran (V)oxiden" ...
(1934-1999), chemist
War figures
* Elfriede Rinkel (1922–2018), warden of a concentration camp during the Nazi dictatorship
*Karl Eberhard Schöngarth
Karl Eberhard Schöngarth (22 April 1903 – 16 May 1946) was a German SS officer during the Nazi era. He was a war criminal who perpetrated mass murder and genocide in German-occupied Poland during the Holocaust. After the war, Schöngarth and s ...
(1903–1946), SS officer and war criminal, executed in Hamelin
* Wilhelm Souchon (1864–1946), admiral in World War I
Sport
*Marvin Kirchhöfer
Marvin Kirchhöfer (born 19 March 1994) is a German racing driver.
Career
Karting
Born in Leipzig, Saxony, Kirchhöfer began karting in 1999 and mainly raced in Germany, working his way up from the junior ranks (Bambini-B) to the KF2 category ...
(born 1994), racing driver
*René Müller
René Müller (born 11 February 1959) is a German football coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper.
Career
Müller was first-choice goalkeeper of the East Germany national team for much of the 1980s, and was twice East German Foot ...
(born 1959), footballer
*Kristin Otto
Kristin Otto (; born 7 February 1966) is a German Olympic swimming champion. She is most famous for being the first woman to win six gold medals at a single Olympic Games, doing so at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. (born 1966), swimmer, six-time Olympic gold medalist, sports journalist
*Rita Wilden
Rita Wilden, née Jahn (born 9 October 1947 in Leipzig) is a German athlete, who competed mainly in the 400 metres.
She competed for West Germany in the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich in the 400 metres where she won the silver medal. Late ...
(born 1947), sprinter
See also
* Battle of Breitenfeld (1642)
*Hugo Schneider AG
HASAG (also known as Hugo Schneider AG, or by its original name in german: Hugo Schneider Aktiengesellschaft Metallwarenfabrik) was a German metal goods manufacturer founded in 1863. Based in Leipzig, it grew from a small business making lamps ...
* Leipzig Human Rights Award
*Leipzig Jewish community
Leipzig, a city in the German state of Saxony, has historically been a center for Jews. Jewish communities in Leipzig existed as early as the 13th century."Or Zarua" Isaac ben Moses of Vienna Discrimination against the Jews of Leipzig was recorded ...
*Leipzig University Library
Leipzig University Library (german: Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig), known also as ''Bibliotheca Albertina'', is the central library of the University of Leipzig. It is one of the oldest German university libraries.
History
The library was foun ...
* List of mayors of Leipzig
*Ubiquity Theatre Company
UBI Theatre Leipzig was a bilingual (English and German) theatre company based in Leipzig (Germany). Established in Birmingham (England) in 2002, it moved to Leipzig in 2005 along with its founder Gareth Knapman. In 2012, German theatre educator ...
– English speaking theatre projects in Leipzig
References
Further reading
''Leipzig: One Thousand Years of German History. Bach, Luther, Faust: The City of Books and Music''
. By Sebastian Ringel. Berlinica, 2015
External links
The city's official website
*
Leipzig as virtual city 408 Points of Interest – English
The Leipzig Glocal
English language webzine and blog publishing regularly
Ubiquity Theatre Company
– English language theatre projects in Leipzig
*
Leipzig Zeitgeist
', an English magazine about Leipzig
This is Leipzig
an English web site for Leipzig
LostInLeipzig
Get lost in Germany's best city
Events in Leipzig
Music festivals in Leipzig
*
{{Authority control
Cities in Saxony