Leipzig

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Leipzig

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Leipzig: Intersection of Ingenuity and Art

Leipzig is the biggest city in terms of area, located in Saxony, Germany. It has a population of about six lakh inhabitants. Population census marks Leipzig as the fourteenth most populated city in all of Germany. Leipzig is located one hundred sixty kilometers, in the southwestern direction of the city of Berlin. This city stands at the confluence of Parthe, Pleisse and White Elster rivers.

History

Lipsk the Slavic word is considered as the root word for the naming of Leipzig. Lipsk simply means ‘the settlement near the lime trees’. However in the year 1937, under the Nazi regime, the city was named as Reichsmessestadt Leipzig or the Imperial Trade Fair City of Leipzig.

The city also has other nicknames such as ‘Eastern Germany’s Boomtown’, New Berlin’ or ‘Hypezig’. This is done, keeping in view the vital lifestyle and the creative scene of this city.

The city of Leipzig was documented for the first time in the year 1015. This is found in the Bishop’s chronicles of Thietmar of Merseburg. He called the city with the name ‘urbs Libzi’. Otto the Rich then provided the market and city with privileges in the year 1165. Thus the famous Trade Fair of Leipzig began which later gained importance internationally. This is considered to be the oldest trade fair in the entire world.

The Leipzig University’s foundation was laid down in the year 1409. This spurred the city into becoming a centre of the publishing industry and German Law. This also led to the creation of the Imperial Court of Justice or the Reichsgericht and the National Library of Germany which was founded in the year 1912.

Breitenfeld which is located about five miles away from the city of Leipzig, saw two battles take place, during the war of Thirty Years. The first was the Battle of Breitenfeld in the year 1631 while the second took place in the year 1642.

In the year 1701, the oil-fueled lighting system was used to brighten the streets of Leipzig. Light guards were employed by the city in order to light the seven hundred lanterns during the evenings.

In the year 1813, Battle of Leipzig took place between the allied forces of Sweden, Austria, Prussia and Russia against the Napoleonic France. This was considered as one of the largest war before the First World War began.

In the year 1907, Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei was declared the largest mill producing cotton in the entire European continent with the opening of its fifth production house.

Carl F. Goerdeler was one of the most noted opponents who stood against the Nazi Germany. He also served as the mayor of the city of Leipzig from the year 1930 and 1937. During the Second World War, many forced labourers were position within the city.

The city of Leipzig suffered heavy damages during the bombings and air raids of Second World War. In the month of April in 1945, the allied forces reached the city. The second infantry division and the sixty-ninth infantry division of the United States took control of the city on 18th April 1945. During the same month, Ernest Lisso, the Deputy Mayor, along with his daughter and wife committed suicide at the City Hall of Leipzig.

It was during the mid-twentieth century that the city’s famous trade fair resumed its operations and gained importance. It served as a contact with the economic bloc of Eastern Europe. Monument to the Battle of Nations was the designated site for the fair at this point of time.

As a part of the peace movement, in the year 1983, Saint Nicholas Church was established in the city. This began as protests against the workings of the GDR or the German Democratic Republic.

Post the German reunification, the city underwent a massive reconstruction and restoration process. The city tunnel of Leipzig was thus opened in the year 2013.

Geography

The city of Leipzig lies at the convergence of Parthe, Pleisse and White Elster rivers. The site of this Leipzig Bay is typically characterized by swamp-like areas. This region includes the Riverside Forest of Leipzig. The landscape of Leipzig is generally flat but one can find evidence of drumlins and moraine.

At the fringes of Leipzig, one can find some forest cover, but relatively, Leipzig remains without significant forest cover. Mines which were open cast in nature were a prominent site in the city during the twentieth century. However, today the same are being used as lakes.

The city of Leipzig is located at the meeting point of two ancient roads located at the east-west and north-south direction. The King’s Highway or the Via Regia and the Imperial Highway or the Via Imperii are the two roads.

  • Neighboring regions

North: Delitzsch and Rackwitz

North East: Jesewitz and Taucha

East: Borsdorf and Brandis

South East: Naunhof and Grosspoesna

South: Markkleeberg and Zwenkau

South West: Markranstad and Kitzen

North West: Schkeuditz

Climate

Oceanic climate is typical of the city of Leipzig. Winters are generally cold to mildly cold. The average temperature during the winter is around one degree Celsius.

Summers are usually warm with the median temperature being twenty-four degree Celsius.

During the month of December, Leipzig only receives fifty-one hours of sunshine as compared to two hundred twenty-nine hours during the summers in the month of July.

Music

Bach, Johann Sebastian worked in the city of Leipzig from the year 1723 till 1750. He used to conduct at the choir at Saint Thomas Church, Saint Pauline’s Church and at the Saint Nicholas Church. Paulinerkirche, however, was completely destroyed in the year 1968.

The famous composer Wagner was born here in the city of Leipzig in the year 1813. Other famous personalities to have had a significance here include Robert Schumann and Gustav Mahler.

The then music conservatory is turned as the University of Music and Theatre of Leipzig today. A varied range of professions is taught here which include teacher and artistic training in musical composition, choir conducting, orchestral conducting, piano and chamber music, coaching, interpretation, voice and, orchestral instruments. The department of drama at the University of Music and Theatre of Leipzig teaches scriptwriting and acting.

Werner Neumann in the year 1950 founded the Bach archive to study the life of Johann Sebastian Bach and his family. This place also organizes an international event in three categories. This place also organizes several performances throughout the year and is known significantly for the Leipzig Bach Festival, which was first held in the year 1908.

The Gewandhaus Orchestra under the command of Riccardo Chailly along with the Church Choir of St. Thomas’ Church which is known worldwide is conducted here in the city of Leipzig.

Art

The complex of Grassi Museum holds key significance, as it is which has three major art collections: Musical Instruments, Applied Arts and Ethnography Museum. The first is directly run by the Leipzig University.

Drinks and Food

  • Leipziger Allerlei

It is a German dish made from vegetables and consisting of ingredients such as crayfish, morels, asparagus, carrots and peas. Although you can find many variations to this dish.

Legends has it that this dish was invented here in the city of Leipzig after the Napoleonic wars in order to guard the city against tax collectors and beggars. The city officials thought if they would serve vegetables instead of expensive meat, tax collectors and beggars would be encouraged to leave the city.

  • Gose

This is a beer which is top fermented, originating from the Goslar region of Germany. Half of the ingredient in this beer is malted wheat. Dominant flavor of this beer includes strong saltiness, herbal characteristics and lemon tartness. This just has about four to five percent of ABV (alcohol by volume).

  • Leipziger Lerche

This is a pastry dish originating from the city of Leipzig. The dish originally constituted of the songbird lark in actual. In 1720 alone, four lakh larks were sold in order to produce this pastry.

However, in the year 1876, King Albert the first put a ban to killing this bird. Soon after the ban was imposed, chefs of Leipzig preserved the heritage by creating a sweeter version of this pastry.

Today this pastry consists of crushed almonds, cherry and nuts filled inside a short crust. It is believed that the cherry stands for the heart of the lark bird. The bakery guild of Saxony has protected the term ‘Leipziger Lerche’.

 

Transport

  • Road

During the middle ages, the city of Leipzig saw a major flow of traffic passing through, due to its location being at the crossing of Via Imperii and Via Regia. Post the reunification, major changes has been brought about in the city to compensate the ever expanding traffic. This led to the building of a world class infrastructure in the city.

Like almost all the other German cities, Leipzig streets too are Bicycle Friendly.

  • Rail

Leipzig Hauptbahnhof, which was inaugurated in the year 1915, is located at an important junction of the west-east and north-south railway lines. The Inter City Express that runs between Munich and Berlin, has halts here in Leipzig. It takes almost an hour to reach Leipzig from the Berlin Hauptbahnhof, whereas it takes about five hours to reach here from the Munich Hauptbahnhof.

  • Air

Leipzig or the Halle Airport is the central airport located in the vicinity of Leipzig. The former airport for the military located near Altenburg in Thuringia is known as the Leipzig-Altenburg Airport. This is located at a distance of an hour long drive from the main city.

  • Public Transport

The city of Leipzig has an elaborate network of local transport for the public. The bus and the tram located in the city are run by Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe. The total length of the tram network located in Leipzig runs for about ninety-two miles. This is the second largest tram network in the entire Germany.

  • Life Quality

According to a study conducted in the December of 2013 by the Marktforschungsistituts GfK, ranked Leipzig as the most habitable city in the entire Germany. The city of Leipzig is one of the tree cities in Europe with the maximum eminence of living.

Places to visit

  • Nikolaikirche

Nikolaikirche or Church of St. Nikolas has gothic and Romanesque roots. Although since the year 1797, the church has reflected neo-classical interiors like the palm-shaped pillars or the pews in cream colour. What makes the church famous is not just its beauty, but the fact that this church played an important role in the non-violent movement which ultimately led to the downfall of the government of East Germany.

A special feature of this church is the ‘peace prayer’ which began in the year 1982. This is held on Monday evening at five. This, in turn, has inspired the localities nearby to stand against injustices which have been destroying their country. If you are here then look carefully at a palm topped column located outside of the church. This is erected in commemoration of the capitulation of the GDR leadership, through a non-violent protest held on 9th October 1989.

  •  Museum der Bildenden Kunste

This striking glass cube designed in modernist architecture is the abode for the city’s art museums. The museum contains a world-renowned gathering of paintings dating from the fifteenth century till date. These paintings include the famous works of Monet, Munch, Cranach and, Caspar David Friedrich.

Highlights of the museum are the works by native sons Neo Rauch, Max Klinger and, Max Beckmann. The museum contains not only a good collection of paintings but also of sculptures and installation.

If you are here, then make sure to vacate at least two hours from your schedule in order to enjoy the museum.

  • Augustusplatz

Augustusplatz, a square is located on the eastern end of Leipzig’s city centre. Some of the famous buildings in this square include the opera house and the Gewandhaus. On the western side of the square lies the Kroch-Haus, which is an eleven storied building. This building was Leipzig’s first multistory building. The building is crowned by one clock and two sentries.

But the most attention-grabbing features of this square are the new campus buildings, university church and the Paulinum which is glass-fronted. The building of the new campus is being built at the very exact spot where once Paulinerkirche stood. This Church was destroyed by GDR authorities in the year 1968.

  • Stasi Museum

It is said that under the rule of the German Democratic republic, even walls could hear. This is documented in an exhibition in Runde Ecke, which was formerly used by the Stasi or the secret police of East Germany.

You can hire an audio guide in English to understand the scent storages, surveillance devices, recruitment procedures, disguises and propaganda of the German Democratic Republic’s repressing and controlling regime of its very own people.

  • Museen im Grassi

The Museen in Grassi is located at a mere distance of a five-minute walk from Augustusplatz. This place contains three beautiful collections which are often overlooked by travellers. At the Musikinstrumenten Museum, you can unravel the world of music from 5 centuries with the help of a sound laboratory and exhibits.

The second is the Museum für Völkerkunde which will take you on a breathtaking journey of the different cultures present in the world.

The third and final is the Museum für Kunst, which contains a collection of ceramics, glass, porcelain, furniture and, nouveau art.

  • Völkerschlachtdenkmal

In the battle of 1813, the allied forces of Russia, Austria and Prussia fought against the army of Napoleon. This led to the death of one in every five soldiers, out of the half million soldiers who fought in this war. About a century later, near the battlefield was built this Battle Monument. It is a ninety-one-meter high colossus. The view of the city from the top of this tower is breathtaking.

Inside this tower, you will come across an exhibition, which will inform you about all that is to know about this battle.

  • Alte Spinnerei

This place is located in Plagwitz district, which is on the southwestern side of Leipzig. The motto of Alte Spinnerei, which is also a nineteenth-century cotton factory is Cotton to Culture. This, however, today is turned into an artist colony. This place contains around eighty artists from New Leipzig School along with goldsmiths, architects and designers. Their creation is on display in the ten galleries located within or nearby the Alte Spinnerei.

  • Thomaskirche

Johann S. Bach was a cantor in this church from the year 1723 till his death in the year 1750. Look carefully in front of the altar, you will find a bronze place. It is here that Johann S. Back lies in peace.

If you wish to climb the tower of the church, you can! Although the prime reason to be at this place is to soak up the magnificence that the great Bach was.

  • Zeitgeschichtliches Forum

This is a well-curated exhibition which will inform you about the political history of German Democratic Republic’s regime. From the rise of the political power to the downfall of the party as a result of an opposition movement.

  • Mendelssohn-Haus

Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was a key figure in the Romantic era. He was the music director at the Gewandhausorchester located in Leipzig. He held this position until his death at the age of thirty-eight. At this place, you can gather knowledge about his life.

If you are here at the time of an evening, you could be a lucky one to hear Mendelssohn’s work.

  • Stadtgeschichtliches Museum

At this mesmerising Renaissance hall, you can trace the history Leipzig from its root to a trading town from the Medieval Ages to the present day. The exhibits also include information on the peaceful revolution of 1989.

  • Zoo Leipzig

The zoo in Leipzig is located in Gondwanaland and contains about seventeen thousand plants and about three hundred exotic animals. The Pigmy Hippos and the Komodo Dragon are a part of the collection of rare species of animals found in the zoo. The enclosures in the zoo are all climate controlled and have fragranced tropical plants.

You can either take a boat, treetop trail or a jungle path to explore the wonders of nature.

  • Museum Annexe of City History

This place is located in the northern part of Naschmarkt which is situated in Sachsenplatz. The Fine arts Museum contains a prestigious collection of artwork from the fifteenth century.

Close to this place, you can find a lot of temporary exhibitions which deal with themes and people of Leipzig.

  • Asisi Panometer

Panometer is a blend of two words: Panorama and Gasometer. The former is a giant three sixty degrees painting while the latter is a huge gas tank. This concept is conceived by Yadegar Asisi. He uses the simple pencil and paper along with the complex computer technology in order to create comprehensive monumental scenes which are inspired by history and nature. Each of this work is about thirty meters high and hundred meters long.

  • Neues Rathaus

This place designed in the Neo-Baroque style is among the largest town halls in the country. It contains about six hundred rooms and has a one hundred and eight meters high tower. The origin of this building is speculated to be in the sixteenth century, however, the building as it stands today was completed in the year 1905.

It is considered as one of the best municipality buildings in the whole of Germany.

  • Bach Museum

This museum with its interactive platform definitely does more than just provide you with plain information about the life and times of Johann Sebastian Bach. Here you can hear one of Bach’s composition, hear the baroque instruments or learn to date a manuscript created by Bach himself.

If you are here do not miss out on the opportunity to visit the ‘treasure room’ which is located downstairs. Bach’s rare and original manuscripts can be found in this room.

  • Schumann-Haus

This house stood witness to the ‘Spring Symphony’, one of the great work by Robert Schumann. He along with his wife, Clara Wieck, the famous pianist, had spent their initial years of marriage in this house.

If you are here then you can witness an exhibit that will inform you about the achievements and personal life of Clara Wieck and Robert Schumann.

  • Galerie Eigen plus Art

This place is famous internationally for supporting young talent in art. Artists of the New Leipzig School have their work displayed at this place. The Galerie Eigen plus Art has about ten galleries.

It is located in the south-west to Plagwitz and to reach here you can take the tram line fourteen.

  • Kroch Haus

The Kroch Haus is an eleven storey building and is considered to be the first skyscraper in the city of Leipzig. Today it contains the art collection of the Leipzig University.

The motto of this building written in Latin reads as ‘Work conquers all’.

  • Museum fur Musukinstrumente

This place is located within the Grassi Museum and is filled with rare exhibits relating to the field of music.

  • Richard Wagner Museum

This museum which has been recently opened will provide you with the details of Wagner’s early years. You can gather information about the musician’s early compositions, education and, upbringing.