Leipzig

Leipzig is the biggest city in the German state of Saxony. It has 633,592 people as of 2025. It is the eighth-largest city in Germany and is in the Central German Metropolitan Region. Leipzig is about 150 km southwest of Berlin. It is where the White Elster river meets the Pleiße and Parthe rivers.

Historically, Leipzig has been an important place for trade since the time of the Holy Roman Empire. Important trade routes like the Via Regia and the Via Imperii met here. The Leipzig Trade Fair began in 1190. The city was also a big publishing center from 1764 to 1945. After the Second World War, Leipzig stayed important in East Germany. In 1989, peaceful demonstrations at St. Nicholas Church helped change Europe.

Today, Leipzig is a lively cultural place. It has the Leipzig University, one of Europe’s oldest universities, and the German National Library. The city has modern places to visit like Leipzig Zoo, which is ranked the best in Germany. Leipzig has a rich musical history. It is linked to famous composers like Johann Sebastian Bach, Richard Wagner, and Friedrich Schiller, who wrote his poem "Ode to Joy" in the suburb of Gohlis.

Names

Leipzig has had many names throughout history. In English, it was once often spelled Leipsic, and in Latin, it was called Lipsia. The name Leipzig likely comes from a Slavic word for linden trees.

The city is poetically called Lindenstadt or Stadt der Linden, meaning "City of Linden Trees." It is also known as Pleiß-Athen, or "Athens on the Pleiße River," because of its rich history in learning and books. Some people call it "Little Paris". Today, Leipzig is sometimes called Hypezig, known for its lively culture and many new businesses.

Geography

Leipzig is in the Leipzig Bay, the southernmost part of the North German Plain. The city is on the White Elster river, which flows into the Saale. The land around Leipzig is mostly flat with some swampy areas and forest parks.

Leipzig has an oceanic climate with cold winters and warm summers. Winter temperatures average around 1 °C (34 °F), and summer temperatures average about 19 °C (66 °F). The city gets more sunshine in the summer than in the winter.

History

Main article: History of Leipzig

For a chronological guide, see Timeline of Leipzig.

Origins

See also: Margraviate of Meissen and Electorate of Saxony

Leipzig was first recorded in 1015 and became a city in 1165. The Leipzig Trade Fair, which started in the Middle Ages, is the oldest trade fair in the world. This helped the city grow.

The University of Leipzig was founded in 1409, making Leipzig an important place for learning. During the Thirty Years' War, there were battles nearby, and in 1701, the city began using oil lamps to light its streets.

19th century

The Leipzig area was where the big 1813 Battle of Leipzig happened between Napoleonic France and other armies. This battle ended Napoleon’s rule in Germany.

When the first German long-distance railway arrived in 1839, Leipzig became a major railway centre. In 1863, the first German labor party was started here.

20th century

See also: History of Leipzig from 1933 to 1939, Bombing of Leipzig in World War II, and University of Music and Theatre Leipzig

During World War I and World War II, Leipzig faced many difficulties. After the war, the city became part of East Germany. In 1989, peaceful protests in Leipzig helped lead to the reunification of Germany. The city has since grown and become a lively place to live and visit.

21st century

Leipzig is now an important economic centre in Germany. Since the 2010s, it has been praised as a modern and lively city. The city was a candidate for the 2012 Summer Olympics, and in 2013, a new city tunnel opened to improve public transport.

Politics

Leipzig's first mayor after German reunification was Hinrich Lehmann-Grube of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He served from 1990 to 1998. Since 1994, the mayor has been chosen by the people. Burkhard Jung of the SPD has been mayor since 2006.

The most recent city council election was on 9 June 2024. Leipzig is represented in the Landtag of Saxony and the Bundestag.

Demographics

Leipzig has about 620,000 people. The number of people in the city changed a lot over time. It was highest in 1930 with over 700,000 people, but it went down after that. By 1998, there were about 437,000 people, mainly because many moved away. However, after the city grew in 1999 by including nearby towns, the population started to grow again. Today, Leipzig is one of the fastest-growing cities in Germany, with growth coming from people moving in.

After Germany reunited, many people moved to other parts of the country for jobs. This helped lower birth rates. But since the late 1990s, the number of babies born each year has been going up. The unemployment rate has also gone down. Only a small part of Leipzig’s population comes from other countries, smaller than in many other German cities.

Culture, sights, and cityscape

In the 2010s, Leipzig was often called Hypezig, as people made big comparisons to Berlin from the 1990s and early 2000s. The city's affordability, diversity, and openness have attracted many young people from across Europe. This has created a creative atmosphere with innovative music, dance, and art scenes.

Architecture

See also: Architecture of Leipzig and List of arcade galleries in Leipzig

Palais Roßbach, one of the many Gründerzeit buildings in Leipzig

Mädler Passage, one of 24 covered passages in Leipzig city centre

The historic central area of Leipzig has a Renaissance-style group of buildings from the sixteenth century, including the old city hall in the marketplace. There are also several baroque period trading houses and former homes of rich merchants. As Leipzig grew a lot during the late-nineteenth century economic boom, the town has many buildings in the historicist style from the Gründerzeit era. About 35% of Leipzig's flats are in buildings of this type. The new city hall, finished in 1905, is built in the same style.

About 90,000 apartments in Leipzig were built in Plattenbau buildings during East Germany’s rule. Though some have been torn down and fewer people live in these buildings now, many still do. Grünau, for example, had about 43,600 people living in this type of housing in 2016.

The St. Paul's Church was torn down by the government in 1968 to make way for a new main building for the university. After some discussion, the city decided to build a new, mostly non-religious building at the same spot, called Paulinum, which was finished in 2012. Its design remembers the look of the old church and it includes space for religious use by the theology faculty, including the original altar from the old church and two new organs.

Many commercial buildings were built in the 1990s because of tax benefits after German reunification.

Tallest buildings and structures

Main article: List of tallest buildings in Leipzig

The tallest structure in Leipzig is the chimney of the Stahl- und Hartgusswerk Bösdorf GmbH, which is 205 m (673 ft) tall. The tallest building in Leipzig is the City-Hochhaus Leipzig, at 142 m (466 ft). From 1972 to 1973 it was Germany's tallest building.

Museums and the arts

One highlight of the city's modern arts was the Neo Rauch show that opened in April 2010 at the Leipzig Museum of Fine Arts. This was an exhibition about the father of the New Leipzig School of artists. There are also eleven galleries in the Spinnerei.

The Grassi Museum complex has three of Leipzig's big collections: the Ethnography Museum, Applied Arts Museum, and Musical Instrument Museum (run by the University of Leipzig). The university also runs the Museum of Antiquities.

Started in March 2015, the G2 Kunsthalle shows the Hildebrand Collection. This private collection focuses on the New Leipzig School. Leipzig’s first private museum for modern art after 2000 is in the city centre near St. Thomas Church, on the third floor of the old East German processing centre. The Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig is also devoted to modern art.

Other museums in Leipzig include:

• The German Museum of Books and Writing is the world’s oldest museum of its kind, started in 1884.
• The Bach Museum at the St. Thomas Church Square.
• The Egyptian Museum of the University of Leipzig in the Kroch High-rise has about 7,000 items from many years ago.
• The Schillerhaus is where Schiller lived in the summer of 1785.
• The Zeitgeschichtliches Forum Leipzig (Forum of Contemporary History) shows the history of Germany’s division and everyday life in the socialist German Democratic Republic.
• Naturkundemuseum Leipzig is the city's natural history museum.
• The Leipzig Panometer is a big picture show inside a former gas holder, with a special exhibition.
• The “Museum in der Runden Ecke” is a well-known museum in the city. It is about the Stasi State Security of old East Germany.
• Johann Sebastian Bach lived in Leipzig from 1723 until he passed away. The Bach Archive studies and keeps records about his life and work.
• Mendelssohn House, home of Felix Mendelssohn from 1845 to 1847.
• Schumann House, home of Robert and Clara Schumann from 1840 to 1844.
• The Museum of Antiquities of Leipzig University and a small museum about the youth of Richard Wagner in the Old St Nicholas School.
• The Saxon Psychiatric Museum is a small museum about the history of mental health hospitals and psychiatry.
• The Unikatum Children's Museum, Leipzig opened in 2010 in Plagwitz.

Main sights

• Leipzig Zoological Garden is one of the most modern zoos in Europe, with about 850 different kinds of animals. It has the world’s biggest area for primates (Pongoland). Gondwanaland is the world’s largest indoor rainforest hall.
• Monument to the Battle of the Nations (Völkerschlachtdenkmal): one of the biggest monuments in Europe, built to remember the battle against Napoleonic troops.
• Bundesverwaltungsgericht: Germany’s federal administrative court was the site of the Reichsgericht, the highest state court from 1888 to 1945.
• New Town Hall: the city's main building was built on the remains of the Pleissenburg, a castle that was where the 1519 debate between Johann Eck and Martin Luther happened. It is also Germany’s tallest town hall.
• Old Town Hall on the Market square: the old city hall was built in 1556 and has a museum about the city's history.
• City-Hochhaus Leipzig: built in 1972, the city's tallest building you can live in is one of the top 25 tallest buildings in Germany.
• The Augusteum and Paulinum at Augustusplatz are now the main campus of the University of Leipzig.
• Leipzig Trade Fair centre in the north of the city has the world’s biggest levitated glass hall.
• Leipzig Hauptbahnhof is the world’s biggest train station by floor area and a shopping place.
• Auerbach's Cellar: young Goethe visited this restaurant in the basement while studying in Leipzig; it is where a scene from his play Faust happens.
• The Old Leipzig bourse at Naschmarkt with the Goethe Monument.
• South Cemetery (Südfriedhof) is, at 82 hectares (200 acres), the biggest cemetery in Leipzig.
• The German National Library has two places, one of them in Leipzig.
• Leipzig Bayerischer Bahnhof is Germany’s oldest train station that is still kept.
• Gohlis Palace (Gohliser Schlösschen)
• Leipzig Synagogue was destroyed. Now a memory of bronze chairs stands where the seats used to be.

Churches

• St. Thomas's Church (Thomaskirche): best known as where Johann Sebastian Bach worked as a cantor and home to the famous boys choir Thomanerchor. A statue of Felix Mendelssohn stands in front of this church.
• St. Nicholas's Church (Nikolaikirche), where Bach was also in charge. The weekly Montagsgebet (Monday prayer) here started the peaceful demonstrations against the government in the 1980s.
• St. Peter's has the tallest tower of any church in Leipzig, at 87 m (285 ft).
• The new Propsteikirche, opened in 2015.
• The Continental Reformed Church of Leipzig (Evangelisch-reformierte Kirche) is one of the most noticeable buildings on the Leipzig Innercity ring.
• The Russian Memorial Church of Leipzig
• St. Michael's Church is one of the famous buildings in Gohlis district.

Parks and lakes

Leipzig is famous for its big parks. The Leipziger Auwald (riparian forest) is mostly inside the city limits. Neuseenland is an area south of Leipzig where old mines are being turned into a huge lake area. It is planned to be finished in 2060.

• Leipzig Botanical Garden is the oldest of its kind in Germany. It has about 7,000 kinds of plants, with nearly 3,000 types in ten special groups.
• Johannapark and Clara-Zetkin-Park are the most famous parks in the Leipzig city centre (Leipzig-Mitte).
• Leipziger Auwald covers about 2,500 hectares. The Rosental is a park in the north of the forest and is next to Leipzig Zoo.
• The Leipzig Wildlife Park in Connewitz, with 25 kinds of animals.
• The Lene Voigt Park on the new site of the old train station Leipzig Eilenburger Bahnhof opened in 2004.

Music

Baroque to Modern

Johann Sebastian Bach spent the longest time of his career in Leipzig, from 1723 until 1750, leading the Thomanerchor (St. Thomas Church Choir), at St. Thomas Church, St. Nicholas Church, and the Paulinerkirche, the university church of Leipzig. The composer Richard Wagner was born in Leipzig in 1813, in the Brühl. Robert Schumann was also part of Leipzig’s music, invited by Felix Mendelssohn when he started Germany’s first music conservatoire in the city in 1843. Gustav Mahler was second conductor (working under Artur Nikisch) at the Leipzig Opera from June 1886 to May 1888. Mahler also finished his own 1st Symphony while living in Leipzig.

Today the conservatoire is the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig. It teaches many subjects, including artistic and teacher training for all orchestra instruments, voice, acting, coaching, piano chamber music, leading choirs, and musical composition in different styles. The drama departments teach acting and scriptwriting.

The Bach-Archiv Leipzig, a place to study and keep records about Bach (and the Bach family), was started in Leipzig in 1950 by Werner Neumann. The Bach-Archiv organizes the big International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition, started in 1950 as part of a music festival for the 200th anniversary of Bach’s death. The competition now happens every two years in three different groups. The Bach-Archiv also organizes shows, especially the international festival Bachfest Leipzig and runs the Leipzig Bach Museum.

The city’s music history is also shown in the world-famous Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, led by its main conductor Andris Nelsons, and the Thomanerchor.

The MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra is Leipzig’s second biggest symphony orchestra. Its main conductor now is Kristjan Järvi. Both the Gewandhausorchester and the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra play in the Gewandhaus concert hall.

For over sixty years Leipzig has offered a “school concert” plan for children in Germany, with over 140 shows every year in places like the Gewandhaus and over 40,000 children coming.

Contemporary

Leipzig is famous for its independent music and subculture events. Leipzig has been home to the Wave-Gotik-Treffen (WGT) for thirty years, which is now the world’s biggest Gothic festival, where thousands of goth music fans meet in early summer. The first Wave Gotik Treffen was at the Eiskeller club, today called Conne Island, in the Connewitz area.

Leipzig Pop Up was a yearly music trade fair for independent music and a music festival happening on Pentecost weekend. Its most famous indie-labels are Moon Harbour Recordings (House) and Kann Records (House/Techno/Psychedelic). Many places offer live music often, including the Moritzbastei, Tonelli's, and Noch Besser Leben.

Die Prinzen ("The Princes") is a German band started in Leipzig. With almost six million records sold, they are one of Germany’s most successful bands.

The city of Leipzig is also where Till Lindemann, the main singer of Rammstein, was born and where Bill Kaulitz and Tom Kaulitz, the main members of Tokio Hotel, were born.

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: vocal music festival, organized by the ensemble amarcord
• Bachfest: Johann Sebastian Bach festival
• Leipzig Christmas Market (since 1458)
• Dok Leipzig: 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
• Lichtfest Leipzig, festival celebrating the shows that led to the end of the East German government
• OPER unplugged with Music Dance Theatre by Heike Hennig & Co
• Stadtfest: city festival
• Wave-Gotik-Treffen at Pentecost: world’s biggest goth or "dark culture" festival
• Leipzig Pop Up
• Chaos Communication Congress

Food and drink

• A local dish for all seasons is Leipziger Allerlei, a mix of vegetables and crayfish.
• Leipziger Lerche is a shortcrust pastry filled with crushed almonds, nuts, and strawberry jam; the name ("Leipzig lark") comes from a lark pâté that was a Leipzig special until hunting songbirds was stopped in Saxony in 1876.
• Gose is a local sour beer that started in the Goslar area and became popular in 18th-century Leipzig.

Sports

Leipzig is a city with many sports clubs and places to play. There are over 300 sports clubs, and people can play 78 different sports.

Football is very popular in Leipzig. The German Football Association began here in 1900. The city hosted games for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. RB Leipzig is a top team that has played in the UEFA Champions League and won the DFB-Pokal football cup.

Other popular sports in Leipzig include ice hockey, handball, and American football. SC DHfK Leipzig is a good men's handball team, and Handball-Club Leipzig is known for its women's team. The Leipzig Kings play American football in the European League of Football. The city also has places for sports like fencing, rugby, and horse racing.

Education

Leipzig is a city with many important schools and universities. Leipzig University, started in 1409, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Many famous people studied or worked there. The university has around 30,000 students.

Other schools in Leipzig include the Academy of Visual Arts, founded in 1764, and the University of Music and Theatre. The Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, created in 1992, focuses on subjects like engineering and computer science. The Leipzig Graduate School of Management is the oldest business school in Germany. Additionally, Lancaster University from the United Kingdom opened a campus in Leipzig in 2020. The city is also home to many research institutes.

Economy

Leipzig is an important city for making cars. Big factories owned by BMW and Porsche are north of the city. The city is also a key place for moving goods by air. DHL moved most of its work in Europe from Brussels Airport to Leipzig/Halle Airport.

Leipzig has the European Energy Exchange, where energy is sold in Central Europe. It is also home to VNG – Verbundnetz Gas AG, a big natural gas company in Germany.

Many large companies are in Leipzig, such as software firms like Spreadshirt. The University of Leipzig brings in money each year. The city is strong in medical research and growing in biotechnology. Bio City Leipzig helps new businesses since 2003. With many bars, restaurants, and shops, Leipzig is popular with visitors and is one of Germany’s most visited cities.

Socio-ecological infrastructure

Leipzig has many helpful resources for its community. You can find places to share food, like Fairteiler and foodsharing. There are also farms that people can support directly, called community-supported agricultures. In the area of Plagwitz, there is a place called Umsonstladen where you can get free textiles. The city has special workshops to fix bicycles, known as Radsfatz. There is also a computer space called Hackerspace Die Dezentrale, and a repair café named Café kaputt.

Media

Leipzig is home to MDR, one of Germany's public broadcasters. It has its headquarters and main television studios in the city. The city's only daily newspaper is Leipziger Volkszeitung (LVZ), founded in 1894. Leipzig was also home to the world’s first daily newspaper, the Einkommende Zeitungen, first published in 1650.

Leipzig has a rich publishing history and was once called Buch-Stadt (book city). Today, the German Library (Deutsche Bücherei) in Leipzig is part of Germany's National Library. It collects a copy of every book published in German. The city still hosts a book fair, though Frankfurt’s is larger.

Quality of life

Leipzig is a city where many people like to live. In 2013, it was called the most livable city in Germany. It is also a great place for students, with many shops, restaurants, and beautiful spaces.

The city is known for its bright future and calm atmosphere. In 2019, it won a big award called the European City of the Year. Its main train station is one of the best in all of Europe.

Transport

Leipzig has been an important place for travel and trade since medieval times because it sits at the meeting point of two major old roads, the Via Regia and Via Imperii. After Germany reunited, many efforts were made to improve the city's roads, railways, and airports.

Air

Leipzig/Halle Airport serves the area and offers flights to many cities in Germany and Europe, plus some holiday spots. It is also a big center for cargo planes, especially for DHL. The airport is located near Schkeuditz, between Leipzig and Halle. From December 2025, you can reach Berlin Brandenburg Airport by train in about an hour and a half.

Railways

Leipzig Hauptbahnhof, the main train station, is the largest railway station in Europe by floor space. It is a key stop for fast trains called Intercity-Express, or ICE, connecting Leipzig to cities like Berlin, Munich, Dresden, and Erfurt. The station also has many local and regional trains. Major improvements include a high-speed line to Erfurt that opened in 2015 and a city tunnel for local trains that opened in 2013.

Suburban trains

Leipzig is the center of the S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland network, which links the city to places like Wurzen, Zwickau, Dessau, and Wittenberg. The city tunnel allows trains to go through the center of Leipzig, making travel to the south much easier.

Tramway and buses

The city's tram and bus system, run by Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe, includes 15 tram lines and 47 bus lines. The tram network is one of the longest in Germany. Night buses and trams run on weekends and holidays. Leipzig Central Station is the main place to switch between trams, buses, and trains.

Bicycle

Leipzig is very friendly to cyclists, with many streets where cyclists can go either way and special bike paths. Since 2004, there has been a bike-sharing system that lets people borrow bikes using a phone app.

Road

Several major highways, such as the A 14, A 9, and A 38, connect Leipzig to other cities. The city also has a ring road around the center and many car-sharing stations. You can also book cars or ride-shares using a mobile app.

Long-distance buses

Since March 2018, Leipzig has a long-distance bus station near the main train station. Buses go to many cities in Germany and Europe, such as Budapest, Prague, and Sofia. Some buses also stop at the airport or the Leipzig trade fair.

Water

Leipzig has several rivers and canals, though many were never finished because of World War II. Small boats can travel on some of the city's rivers for fun. Work continues to connect the city's waterways to the larger Elbe River.

Quotations

Here are some famous quotes about Leipzig:

• "I praise my Leipzig! It is a small Paris and educates its people." – Frosch, a university student in Goethe's Faust, Part One
• "I'm coming to Leipzig, to the place where one can see the whole world in miniature." – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
• "To live outside Leipzig is to live miserably." – Benedikt Carpzov the Younger
• "The pleasurable Pleiss-Athens, earns its fame above all, appealing to every one, too, for it is mightily beauteous." – Johann Sigismund Scholze

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Leipzig is twinned with many cities around the world. Some of its sister cities are:

• Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (2004)
• Birmingham, United Kingdom (1992)
• Bologna, Italy (1962, renewed in 1997)
• Brno, Czech Republic (1973, renewed in 1999)
• Frankfurt, Germany (1990)
• Hanover, Germany (1987)
• Herzliya, Israel (2010)
• Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (2021)
• Houston, United States (1993)
• Kraków, Poland (1973, renewed in 1995)
• Kyiv, Ukraine (1961, renewed in 1992)
• Lyon, France (1981)
• Nanjing, China (1988)
• Thessaloniki, Greece (1984)
• Travnik, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2003)

Notable people

Politicians

Leipzig has been home to many important politicians. Notable figures include Nikolaus Krell, who served as a leader in Saxony, and Louise Otto-Peters, who worked for women’s rights. Others include August Bebel, a socialist politician, and Walter Ulbricht, who led the GDR for many years.

Philosophers and theologians

The city has also been a home to influential thinkers. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, a famous philosopher and scientist, was born here. Other notable individuals include Christian Thomasius, a jurist and philosopher, and Franz Delitzsch, a theologian.

Writing and arts

Leipzig has a rich history in the arts. Johann Sebastian Bach, the great composer, lived and worked in Leipzig. Other famous artists and writers from the city include Felix Mendelssohn, a composer, and Richard Wagner, a well-known composer. The city has also been home to painters, photographers, and writers.

Science and business

In the fields of science and business, Leipzig has produced notable figures such as Carl Gustav Carus, a doctor and painter, and Paul Mendelssohn Bartholdy, a chemist. The city has also been home to entrepreneurs and architects.

Sport

Leipzig has seen many talented athletes rise to prominence. Kristin Otto, a swimmer who won Olympic gold medals, is one of the city’s most celebrated sports figures. Other notable athletes include René Müller, a footballer, and Arthur Saxon, a strongman.