Leipzig: City of music, one of 10 good reasons for visiting Leipzig
An internet portal especially for tour operators, coach-tour operators, journalists and for interested music lovers
There are of course far more than 10 good reasons for visiting Leipzig, a city dating back over 800 years and a major centre of both commerce and the arts to boot. Its countenance is changing day by day, and the atmosphere of growth underlined by the slogan "Leipzig kommt!" can be felt throughout the city. Old exhibition buildings and shopping arcades are adjacent to earthworks heralding new architectural masterpieces. In fact Leipzig is now more lively and exciting than ever before…
1) City of music:
hardly any other city in the world has a musical history which can quite match Leipzig's. Names like Johann Sebastian Bach (who headed St. Thomas's Boys Choir from 1723 to 1750) and Felix Mendelssohn (the house where he lived and died is not to be missed!) are inseparably linked to Leipzig.
The Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Gewandhaus concert hall have cultivated classical music in Leipzig for over 250 years and personify the city.
St. Thomas's Boys Choir emerged over 800 years ago from church services organised by the Augustinian Canons. Its most famous choirmaster was J.S. Bach. Cantatas and motets performed by the choir can be heard every Friday evening and Saturday afternoon at St. Thomas's Church (except when the choir is touring and during school holidays).
Oper Leipzig fronts an unbroken tradition of opera dating back over 300 years. With manager and artistic director Professor Udo Zimmermann at the helm, it stages spectacular traditional and modern operas and ballets.
Bach Monument in front of St. Thomas´Church
Leipzig Opera House
2) Leipzig has long been a major commercial centre.
In 1997 it celebrated the 500th anniversary of the imperial trade fair privileges granted by Emperor Maximilian, and the Leipzig Fair is regarded as the "mother of trade fairs". Leipzig's future commercial development was given a boost by the construction of the ultramodern Leipzig Fair Exhibition Centre with its fascinating architecture.
3) Leipzig's mostly pedestrianised compact city centre
is ideal for a stroll and window-shopping. Since it is located inside the central ring road with a length of 3½km/2 miles, many of Leipzig's sights are within walking distance
4) Leipzig Central Station:
one of Europe's largest railway terminuses, and also one of its most beautiful since its conversion into a modern shopping centre.
5) Goethe and Auerbachs Keller:
J.W. Goethe, the father of German literature, studied in Leipzig between 1765 and 1768. Auerbachs Keller is a tavern which was immortalised by a scene in Goethe's national drama "Faust".
6) The Monument to the Battle of the Nations
A vast edifice with an observation platform at a height of 91 metres built to mark the centenary of the 1813 Battle of Leipzig where Napoleon was decisively defeated.
7) Old City Hall:
One of the finest Renaissance town halls in Germany.
8) Drallewatsch:
A collection of bars and restaurants in the heart of Leipzig which is ideal for a pub crawl or "bar-hopping".
9) Leipzig was the cradle of 1989's Peaceful Revolution,
and visitors can follow the trail of the democracy movement which toppled East Germany's communist regime by visiting 'venues' such as St. Nicholas's Church, Augustusplatz, the ring road and the Stasi Museum in the "Runde Ecke", the Stasi's county headquarters.
10) Auenwald:
A swathe of parks, woodlands and floodplains which cuts right across the city and is unique in Europe.
