Bustling Leipzig is an important business and transport centre, a trade-fair mecca, and – aside from Berlin – the most dynamic city in eastern Germany. Relatively low rent and throbbing nightlife are making it an attractive place to live for students and young professionals.Leipzig played a leading role in the 1989 democratic revolution and has plenty in store for history buffs keen on learning about life behind the Wall. The one-time home of Bach, Wagner and Mendelssohn, the city also looks back on a long and illustrious music tradition that continues to flourish today, as do its art and literary scenes. Another famous figure to pass through was Goethe, who set a key scene of Faust in the cellar of his favourite local watering hole.
Don't rush from sight to sight – wandering around Leipzig is a pleasure in itself, with many of the blocks around the central Markt criss-crossed by historic shopping arcades, including the classic Mädlerpassage.
NikolaikircheCHURCH
The Church of St Nicholas has Romanesque and Gothic roots but since 1797 has sported a striking neoclassical interior with palm-like pillars and cream-coloured pews. The church played a key role in the nonviolent movement that led to the downfall of the East German government. As early as 1982 it hosted ‘peace prayers’ every Monday at 5pm (still held today), which over time inspired and empowered local citizens to confront the injustices plaguing their country.
Zeitgeschichtliches ForumMUSEUM
This fascinating exhibit tells the political history of the German Democratic Republic(GDR) from division and dictatorship to fall-of-the-Wall ecstasy and post-Wende blues. It's essential viewing for anyone seeking to understand the late country's political power apparatus, the systematic oppression of regime critics, milestones in inter-German and international relations, and the opposition movement that led to its downfall.
Bach-Museum LeipzigMUSEUM
This interactive museum does more than tell you about the life and accomplishments of heavyweight musician Johann Sebastian Bach. Learn how to date a Bach manuscript, listen to baroque instruments or treat your ears to any composition he ever wrote. The 'treasure room' downstairs displays rare original manuscripts.
ThomaskircheCHURCH
The composer Johann Sebastian Bach worked in the Thomaskirche as a cantor from 1723 until his death in 1750, and his remains lie buried beneath a bronze plate in front of the altar. The Thomanerchor, once led by Bach, has been going strong since 1212 and now includes 100 boys aged eight to 18. The church tower can be climbed.
Stasi MuseumMUSEUM
In the GDR the walls had ears, as is chillingly documented in this exhibit in the former Leipzig headquarters of the East German secret police (the Stasi), a building known as the Runde Ecke (Round Corner). English-language audioguides aid in understanding the all-German displays on propaganda, preposterous disguises, cunning surveillance devices, recruitment (even among children), scent storage and other chilling machinations that reveal the GDR’s all-out zeal when it came to controlling, manipulating and repressing its own people.
Leipzig-Halle airport (LEJ; www.leipzig-halle-airport.de) is about 21km west of Leipzig and linked to town by half-hourly S-Bahn train (€4.30, 35 minutes). High-speed trains frequently serve Frankfurt (€80, 3½ hours), Dresden (€28, 1¼ hours) and Berlin (€47,1¼ hours), among others.
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