NEAR AUGUSTUSPLATZ AND THE UNIVERSITY
CHARACTERISTIC LEIPZIG BRAUHAUS
Music, education, and business are Leipzig’s claims to fame. Johann Sebastian Bach spent his adult years at the St. Thomas Church here, and today the city is home to the Gewandhaus Orchestra and a famous boys’ choir. Luminaries such as Goethe gave the city’s university (established in the 1400s) a reputation as one of Germany’s best. Before World War II, Leipzig was known for its textile, piano making, and printing industries.
Although the city is one of the most architecturally drab destinations in this book and attracts more business travelers than tourists, there’s plenty to do in Leipzig (LYPE-tsikh). It’s one of the best places to learn about the communist era in East Germany (known as “DDR”—Deutsche Demokratische Republik): the excellent Stasi Museum documents the atrocities of the DDR’s secret police, and the exhibits at the Contemporary History Forum contrast life in the East and West. Music lovers make a pilgrimage to Bach’s tomb at the St. Thomas Church and the excellent Bach Museum across the street. Art lovers enjoy exploring the Museum of Fine Arts, beer lovers make it a point to taste the Bayerischer Bahnhof’s unique Gose brew, history buffs trek to the Napoleonic battle site and monument at the edge of town, and those turned on by hipster hangouts flock to the Karli district just south of downtown.
Conveniently located between east (Berlin, Dresden) and west (Frankfurt, Nürnberg), Leipzig easily fills a day or more. But even a visit of just a few hours can be satisfying. If your train comes through Leipzig, throw your bag in a locker at the station and enjoy a short tour. With limited time, focus on the city center—the best options are the Bach sights (St. Thomas Church and Bach Museum) and the Cold War sights (Augustusplatz, Stasi Museum, Contemporary History Forum, St. Nicholas Church). With more time, visit the City History Museum or the worthwhile outlying sights: the lively Karli restaurant and nightlife zone and the Monument to the Battle of the Nations.
The city’s most important sights lie within or very near the ring road—called simply the Ring—which follows what once was the city wall. You can walk across this compact downtown core (called Mitte—the “Middle”) in about 15 minutes. At the center is Market Square (Markt); at the east end is the communist-style Augustusplatz, with the main university buildings and venues for the opera and orchestra. The gigantic main train station (Hauptbahnhof) rises at the northeastern edge of the Ring.
The central core has little cobbled charm—it’s mostly shopping malls and massive old buildings. For more local color, head to the “Karli,” a stretch of Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse that’s a 20-minute walk or 5-minute tram ride due south from downtown. Several other worthwhile attractions are a tram ride from downtown: the Monument to the Battle of the Nations, the Bayerischer Bahnhof brewpub, and the Spinnerei artists’ complex.
Leipzig’s TI, next to the Museum of Fine Arts, gives out self-guided walks and a map that shows gallery passages. You can also ask about local tours (Mon-Fri 9:30-18:00, Sat until 16:00, Sun until 15:00; closed Sat-Sun Nov-Feb; Katharinenstrasse 8, tel. 0341/710-4260, www.leipzig.travel).
The skippable Leipzig Card covers local transit, entrance fees into a few sights (including the City History Museum), and yields minor discounts at most others (€12/1 day, €23.50/3 days, buy at TI or some transit offices).
Tours: The TI offers a guided tour of the city that combines an hour of walking and a 1.5-hour bus ride (€16, March-Dec daily at 13:30 in German and English, departs from TI, smart to reserve ahead on weekends).
Engaging Gisa Schönfeld is a good local guide (€80/2 hours, mobile 0176-210-67204, gisa.schoenfeld@gmail.com). Guides can also be booked through the TI’s Leipzig Erleben service (tel. 0341/710-4280, www.leipzig-erleben.com).
By Train: One of Europe’s biggest train stations, Leipzig Hauptbahnhof is breathtaking, even a bit intimidating. As you arrive, count the six giant arches along the concourse at the end of the tracks. Under your feet are two stories of shops with hundreds of stores open until 22:00.
Two cavernous, mirror-image arrival halls (Westhalle and Osthalle) are linked by the Reisezentrum (ticket office) and Burger King. Both halls have lockers; a WC is opposite track 22. To exit the station, take any elevator or escalator down one floor, to the upper shopping level, and follow signs for Tram or City.
Out through the front door you’ll find waiting taxis and the busy, multilane Ring. Cross the busy street to the Hauptbahnhof tram stop. From here, trams fan out across the city (generally, trams head north from the first set of platforms, and south—including to Augustusplatz and the Karli—from the second set).
You can also take the S-Bahn into town. The S-Bahn is one story lower than where you arrive. All lines run under the city center and conveniently connect the train station to Markt (Market Square), Wilhelm-Leuschner-Platz (central rail), Bayerischer Bahnhof station (with a recommended restaurant), and Völkerschlachtdenkmal (Monument of the Battle of the Nations).
To walk into the town center (about 15 minutes), cross the busy street (past the tram stop and public-transit kiosk), and keep going straight on Nikolaistrasse. After one block, turn right onto Brühl (you’ll see a colorful mural honoring the 1989 Peaceful Revolution up ahead). Walking a block along Brühl, you can’t miss the giant glass box holding the Museum of Fine Arts; the TI is on the museum’s far side, and the main Market Square is two blocks beyond that.
By Bus: Long-distance buses come and go from the bus depot (ZOB) on the east side of the train station.
By Car: Parking is fairly easy in Leipzig, which has a number of garages (most €10/day) and affordable but limited on-street parking (€1.50 for first hour then €1/hour, cheaper outside Ring). For day-trippers, parking at the train station (Parking West or Ost) will run you €5 maximum between 7:00 and 23:00.
Leipzig’s tram system is easy to use and essential for all but the shortest visit. The S-Bahn system, while quicker and more frequent, is a bit more limited (useful stops include the train station, Market Square, and Völkerschlachtdenkmal, near Monument of the Battle of the Nations). Each ride costs €2.50 (or €1.80 for a Kurzstrecke—“short stretch”—of four stops or less, including start point). A day ticket costs €6.90 and is good for 24 hours from initial validation. Tickets are available from machines at platforms and on most trams. You must stamp your ticket in the machines on board.
The main train station (Hauptbahnhof) is the tram network’s main hub. A secondary hub is one stop south, at Augustusplatz (most trams connect these two central stops). Transit info: Tel. 0341/19449, www.lvb.de.
Events: Market Square hosts a lively farmers market each Tuesday and Friday (9:00-17:00). Check the TI’s website for other events: www.leipzig.travel.
Laundry: Tipptopp Schnellreinigung is a coin launderette in the Karli district (daily 8:00-21:00, no English but staff can assist Mon-Fri 8:00-18:00, Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse 76, by the Karl-Liebknecht-/Karl-Eisner-Strasse stop for trams #10 and #11, tel. 0341/252-2794).
▲▲Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus) and City History Museum (Stadtgeschichtliches Museum)
Museum of Fine Arts (Museum der Bildenden Künste)
▲St. Nicholas Church (Nikolaikirche)
▲Contemporary History Forum (Zeitgeschichtliches Forum)
▲▲Stasi Museum in the “Runde Ecke”
▲St. Thomas Church (Thomaskirche)
▲Monument of the Battle of the Nations (Völkerschlachtdenkmal)
These sights are all in the heart of town (Mitte), within the Ring.
The Renaissance-style Old Town Hall, overlooking the bustling Market Square, houses the good City History Museum upstairs. Although there are English descriptions throughout the museum, the audioguide is necessary for non-German speakers to fully appreciate the lower level.
Cost and Hours: €6, Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00, closed Mon, audioguide-€1, Markt 1, tel. 0341/965-1320, www.stadtgeschichtliches-museum-leipzig.de.
Visiting the Museum: You’ll enter through a grand hall, lined with ornate benches and giant portraits of judges who presided here. The extremely detailed town model shows Leipzig in 1823. Smaller exhibit rooms branching off from the central hall cover the city’s history chronologically, from prehistoric times through the Middle Ages.
Start to the left of the entry, where you’ll find good sections on the Reformation (with portraits of reformers by Cranach, and the wedding ring Martin Luther gave his wife) and the early trade fairs that enriched the city. At the opposite end of this floor is an exhibit on Bach, with the best portrait of the composer in existence.
The exhibit upstairs, which takes you into the Industrial Age and up to the present, is more engaging. Don’t miss the film clip that lets you take a vicarious tram ride through 1930s Leipzig. You can also climb into the attic to see loud, grainy film clips showing the December 1943 bombing of the city, which destroyed this very attic (the lower floors survived).
Nearby: Behind the Town Hall is the ornately decorated Baroque Old Exchange (Alte Börse) building, now used as a meeting hall. The statues in the top corners symbolize important facets of Leipzig life: on the left, Apollo, representing art; and on the right, Mercury, for trade and commerce. The statue standing in front depicts Goethe, who studied law here (1765-1768) before dropping out to become a writer. It worked out well for him. Goethe set a scene from Faust in a restaurant in the nearby Mädler Passage (at the far end of the long square from the Alte Börse, and explained next).
Leipzig once had the higgledy-piggledy cobbles-and-red-rooftops charm of many other German cities. But in the late 19th century, prosperous city leaders decided to modernize—tearing down the quaint medieval townscape and replacing it with bulky buildings. After some WWII bomb damage and decades of communist neglect, the city center was a wasteland, but in just a generation, Leipzigers have dramatically remade their city. One feature they preserved—and expanded—was the tradition of shopping galleries that burrow through the middle of many buildings. As you wander the city center, don’t miss doorways that lead into these areas (usually lined with shops); some are nondescript, but many are more beautiful than what’s on the outside. The TI has a free map to help you locate these galleries. Two worth seeking out are Speck’s Hof/Hansa Haus (enter across the street from St. Nicholas Church or from near the Old Exchange behind the Old Town Hall) and Mädler Passage (enter roughly across the street from the Old Town Hall).
Just inside Mädler Passage, at the end nearest the Old Town Hall, statues in front of the famous and touristy Auerbachs Keller restaurant enact a scene from Faust that Goethe set here: The brilliant thinker Faust (wearing a scholar’s gown and floppy hat) has made a deal with Mephistopheles (gesturing skyward) to experience as much as possible of the world—but if anything so impresses Faust that he refuses to move on, the devil gets his soul. Mephistopheles brings Faust to Auerbachs Keller to show him the simple pleasures of revelry with friends (“Before all else, I bring thee hither / Where boon companions meet together, / To let thee see how smooth life runs away. / Here, for the folk, each day’s a holiday”). Across the passage are drunken students who have been bewitched by Mephistopheles.
Inside the Speck’s Hof/Hansa Haus passage (the oldest passage in the city) is a cool “sound fountain”—a bronze bowl of water with brass handles, which, if rubbed just right with dampened hands, produce a loud ringing that reverberates as the water bubbles—give it a shot. Below, a sunken “art clock” sundial shows the time with a green laser. The inscription around the basin has a line from a beloved children’s book: “Just as you have eyes to see light with, and ears to hear to sounds with, so you have a heart to appreciate time.”
Located in a fancy glass house in the center of town, this museum displays Leipzig’s eclectic collection of fine arts. Instead of being organized chronologically, items are displayed thematically—juxtaposed by some clever curator to create a “dialogue” between otherwise unrelated works. While this treatment thrills a certain breed of museumgoer, it’s sometimes alienating to lowbrows (like me), and its split-level floor design can be confusing. There’s also very little English (aside from a thick catalog), so the audioguide is essential.
Cost and Hours: €5, special exhibits extra—usually €8, €10 combo-ticket covers everything, Tue and Thu-Sun 10:00-18:00, Wed 12:00-20:00, closed Mon, audioguide-€2, a short block north of Market Square at Katharinenstrasse 10, tel. 0341/216-990, www.mdbk.de.
Visiting the Museum: Within the vast, glassy building, the basement features temporary exhibits; the first floor displays excellent works by local sculptor Max Klinger, as well as other 20th-century and Leipzig art; the second floor has mostly Dutch and Flemish works from the 15th to 18th centuries; and the third floor shows predominantly Romanticism, 19th-century works, and contemporary pieces.
The museum’s highlight is Leipzig artist Max Klinger’s (1857-1920) sculpture of Beethoven (1902, restored 2004). The marble and bronze piece—depicting the great composer pensively hunched over on a throne, nude, legs crossed, with Prometheus’ eagle in clouds at his feet—took Klinger some 15 years to complete. Installed as the centerpiece of a 1902 Vienna Secession exhibit devoted to Beethoven, the sculpture was surrounded by Gustav Klimt’s famous Beethoven Frieze (still displayed in Vienna). On the same floor, look for Expressionist works by another Leipzig artist, Max Beckmann, including Portrait of a Carpet Dealer (1946). The rest of the collection features minor works by major artists (such as Frans Hals’ The Mulatto and Rembrandt’s Head of an Old Man) and some genuinely interesting pieces from lesser-known artists. For example, Paul de la Roche’s evocative Napoleon at Fontainebleau shows the pudgy, diminutive Frenchman dejected after learning that he’s lost Paris.
This somewhat dramatic square is home to Leipzig’s university and its two most respected musical institutions. Renamed Karl-Marx-Platz during the DDR period, the square became a showcase for the communist aesthetic. In September of 1989, protesters against the communist regime gathered here—and were dispersed by the police. Today it’s a busy people zone and a hub for trams around the city.
Stand between the fountain with the obelisk and the tram stops, and face the tallest skyscraper. This is the MDR building (named after the radio and TV station that’s based here), which was erected in the 1970s as part of the university. Though it was designed to resemble an open book, locals affectionately refer to the skyscraper as Weisheitszahn (wisdom tooth). You can ride to the 29th floor and pay €3 to go out on the rooftop terrace for the best view in town (daily 9:00-22:30, Fri-Sat until 23:30, tel. 0341/710-0590, www.panorama-leipzig.de). Enjoy a similar view from the Panorama Tower restaurant on the same floor (affordable €10 three-course lunch served Mon-Fri 11:30-14:30). Hiding behind this building (not quite visible from here) is the Moritzbastei. This bastion is all that survives from Leipzig’s former city wall, which was torn down in the early 19th century to build the ring road. Today it hosts a happening student pub.
Stretching to the right is a complex of glassy buildings housing Leipzig University—the second oldest in present-day Germany. The pointed facade marks the new University Church of St. Paul’s—replacing the 13-century church dynamited by the communists in 1968. The new church pays homage to the site’s former purpose but will be used for secular assemblies as well as religious services.
At either end of this square, two of Leipzig’s main cultural institutions are housed in communist-era buildings. At the south end (to the left) is the Gewandhaus, home to the city’s world-renowned orchestra. (If you step into the lobby, you’ll see models of the three different buildings that have housed the orchestra, including the original location in the clothmakers’ guild hall—which is what Gewandhaus means.) At the north (right) end is the Opera House. Facing the Opera House, the tall building on the left with the two bell-ringers is Leipzig’s earliest “skyscraper.”
If you’re intrigued by quirky public art, head a few steps up the pedestrianized shopping street, Grimmaische Strasse (to the left as you face the Opera House), and find the sculpture Untimely Contemporaries (a pun that works better in German), with insulting, exaggerated caricatures of hypocritical DDR figures. For example, the teacher (on the right) clutches a mallet used to pound communist ideology into her students; the fourth guy over, with the too-big laurel wreath covering his eyes, is detonating St. Paul’s Church.
These attractions are scattered around the city center, but are all within about a 10-minute walk of each other.
Leipzig’s oldest church (1165) played a pivotal role in recent German history. In the 1980s, prayer meetings held here every Monday gradually became a forum for those deeply dissatisfied with the communist status quo. As anticommunist sentiment grew, the church became a major staging ground for the Peaceful Revolution that would ultimately topple the regime. During these protests, people would bravely go inside the church to meet—not knowing what would happen to them when they came back out.
The church sits in what was once a market square—appropriate, since its namesake, St. Nicholas, is the patron saint of traders. The unusual but dull interior belies the church’s importance in recent history. In the 1780s, the church was redecorated in a very clean, bright Neoclassical style, with a pastel pink-and-green color scheme and fluted columns that sprout green fronds at the top. Above the door is the largest organ in Saxony, which booms out 45-minute concerts each Saturday at 17:00 (€2). Look for the free English flier that explains the church’s role in the peace prayers and historic events of 1989 (see the sidebar on here).
Outside and behind the church, find the single column with green leaves at the top. This column, echoing the decoration inside the church, is dedicated to the people of Leipzig and memorializes the anticommunist protests that began here.
Cost and Hours: Free, daily 10:00-18:00 (closes during Sunday services), Nikolaikirchhof 3, tel. 0341/124-5380, www.nikolaikirche.de.
Funded by the German government, this center examines life in a divided Germany (1945-1990), focusing mainly on the East but dipping into the West to provide contrast. The statue out front represents Germany’s two 20th-century dictatorships: the flat-palmed Sieg Heil! Nazi salute and the proletariat’s raised communist fist. The poor fellow—whose form resembles an abstracted swastika—has his head scrunched down, hoping to somehow get through it all.
Cost and Hours: Free, Tue-Fri 9:00-18:00, Sat-Sun 10:00-18:00, closed Mon, Grimmaische Strasse 6, tel. 0341/22200, www.hdg.de/leipzig.
Visiting the Museum: The exhibit is modern and well-presented, although there’s little in English (translations sometimes available at the gift-shop counter where you enter—ask).
Ride the elevator (with patriotic DDR songs and voice clips piped in) up to the second floor, where the circular permanent exhibit spins off from a central timeline. Displays include photographs, propaganda posters, a mock-up of a DDR-era apartment, film footage of DDR authorities destroying churches and Soviet tanks putting down a 1953 protest at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, a van used by the secret police to transport prisoners, an original “You are leaving the American sector” sign from an East/West border crossing, a simple airplane used to escape to the West, heads from several Stalin statues, protest signs from the fall of 1989, and the long table where the East German politburo met to hash out their plans for the country.
Temporary exhibits, which can give a stimulating peek at contemporary German life, fill the third floor.
In the notorious so-called “Round Corner” building, the communist secret police (Stasi) detained and interrogated those suspected of being traitors to the state. That same building—once the Stasi headquarters—now houses a humble but worthwhile exhibit about the Stasi’s activities. A citizens’ committee created the museum in 1990—just months after their protests helped spark the fall of the Wall—as a temporary exhibit to document Stasi atrocities, with the goal of preventing such things from happening again. Decades later, the museum and its committee are still going strong. The museum is not fancy—basically one long hallway and a few rooms, with dusty hand-lettered exhibits—but fascinating to those interested in this dark chapter of German history. And it’s chilling to see all of this while walking through the actual perpetrators’ offices.
In the same building is the Stasi Records Agency—one of several satellite offices scattered throughout Germany that archive Stasi surveillance records (the central office is in Berlin). This is also worth a visit.
Cost and Hours: Museum-free, daily 10:00-18:00, €4 for the excellent and essential audioguide, Dittrichring 24, tel. 0341/961-2443, www.runde-ecke-leipzig.de; Records Agency-free, Mon-Fri 9:00-18:00, Sat-Sun 10:00-18:00, http://bstu.de.
Background: Initially formed to investigate and prosecute Nazi crimes, the DDR government’s Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS, “Ministry for State Security”)—nicknamed the “Stasi” (SHTAH-zee)—quickly became a means of suppressing dissent as civil liberties dwindled in communist Germany. The Stasi considered themselves “the sword and shield of the party.”
Modeled after the Soviet Union’s secret police, the Stasi actively recruited informants from every walk of life, often intimidating them into cooperating by threatening their jobs, their children’s education, or worse. They eventually gathered an army of some 600,000 “unofficial employees” (inoffizielle Mitarbeiter), nearly 200,000 of whom were still active when communism fell in 1989. At its peak, an estimated one in seven East Germans was cooperating with the Stasi. These “employees” were coerced into reporting on the activities of their coworkers, friends, neighbors, and even their immediate family members.
Preoccupied with keeping track of “nonconformist” behavior, the Stasi collected whatever bits of evidence they could about suspects—including saliva, handwriting, odors, and voice recordings—and wound up with vast amounts of files.
What was the Stasi’s goal? Quite simply, to be in control...of everything. Sometimes they’d pursue criminal prosecution and imprisonment. And the worst offenders might be deported. But most often, the Stasi simply harassed. They wanted suspects to know that they were being watched—to destabilize and marginalize them. Often no formal accusation ever came of these investigations, but lives were ruined nonetheless.
Soon after the Wall fell, DDR authorities scrambled to destroy the copious illicit information their agents and informants had collected about the people of East Germany. But the new government mandated that these records be preserved as evidence of DDR crimes, and the documents are now managed by the Federal Commissioner for Stasi Records.
While the fall of the Berlin Wall got all the press, the end of communism in East Germany arguably began seven years earlier and a hundred miles to the south, in Leipzig.
In 1982, parishioners at Leipzig’s St. Nicholas Church began gathering on Monday evenings to pray for peace and a better world. This continued until 1989, when a series of events sparked citizens to action. That spring, the Tiananmen Square protests in China inspired East Germans who felt similarly oppressed. And that summer, Hungary opened its border to the West, offering an enticing glimmer of hope to East Germans.
By September of 1989, the St. Nicholas prayer meetings started taking on an increasingly political bent, and more people joined, regardless of religious belief. DDR government officials watched with concern; after the October 2 gathering, they warned that deadly force would be authorized to put down any uprisings.
On October 7, Mikhail Gorbachev came to Berlin to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the founding of the DDR. He made a cryptic remark implying that the people of Eastern Europe had a right to bring about change. A huge demonstration ensued in Leipzig on October 9. An estimated 100,000 protesters carried banners bellowing Wir sind das Volk! (“We are the people!”). The Stasi (secret police) embedded undercover agents in the crowds to stoke the protesters to violence—but it didn’t work. One official said, “We were ready for anything...except candles and prayer.” With no excuse for clamping down on the demonstration, DDR officials for the first time allowed a major protest to continue—a turning point in the struggle to topple the Berlin Wall.
On October 16, an estimated 320,000 people participated in demonstrations. Two days later, DDR premier Erich Honecker and several other top officials resigned. The government was in disarray, and within two and a half weeks, people were dancing on top of the Berlin Wall.
While cameras were rolling in Berlin, the heroics in Leipzig were hardly documented. But today Leipzig remains fiercely proud of the crucial role it played in ousting the communists through nonviolent means. Around town, look for “89” plaques that explain sites relating to the Peaceful Revolution.
These days, German citizens can read the files that were once kept on them. People struggle with the decision: Request a full view of their record—and likely find out that friends and loved ones had been reporting on them—or never know the truth. For a film that brilliantly captures the paranoid Stasi culture, see the 2006 Oscar winner The Lives of Others.
Visiting the Museum: As the museum exhibits are entirely in German, rent the audioguide before you start: Go partway down the hall and ask in the office on your left. Then return to the entrance to view the permanent exhibit.
The exhibit’s title, “Power and Banality,” invokes scholar Hannah Arendt’s notion of the “banality of evil”—the idea that if horrific acts are systematized and repeated, they become routine and therefore more acceptable to the perpetrator. The first section of the exhibit documents the pivotal protest of October 9, 1989 (see sidebar on here), with shields and batons, and photos of the candles that stymied riot police who were expecting Molotov cocktails. It’s an important reminder that the West can’t take sole credit for the freedoms won that year—Leipzigers rightly take pride in what they helped accomplish as ordinary citizens, often at great risk to themselves.
Inside, surveillance cameras mounted overhead and a wall of monitors suggest just how closely the secret police observed the East German people. In the hallway, look for the copy of a 14-year-old student’s essay questioning aspects of communist life, and its extensively documented consequences (audioguide #15). It’s chilling to see how this free-thinking assignment was on track to bar this schoolboy from university and ruin his life; fortunately, he wrote it in 1989, just before the Wall fell.
The former offices contain several items and tools used by the Stasi, such as a camera that could easily be concealed in a briefcase, microphones that could be hidden just about anywhere, disguises (including a fake beer belly with a hidden camera), and forged documents. One display case holds several jars with pale yellow cloths impregnated with “odor samples.” Stasi agents would sit suspects on cloths to interrogate them, then save the sweat-drenched swatch for trained dogs to identify the scent. (For example, the dog would sniff an anti-DDR propaganda leaflet, then smell several odor samples and bark at the one that matched.) The police also used under-car mirrors to check for potential escapees at border crossings. The replica prison cell, with original fixtures, illustrates what life was like in a detention center. All mail and packages coming into the country were searched for contraband—inspectors would steam them open, read them, then reseal them. Stasi mail inspectors stole millions in West German marks (sent to East German relatives) and confiscated piles of cassette tapes containing Western pop music—which officials then re-used to record interrogation sessions.
Stasi Records Agency: When you finish your audioguide tour, a visit to the Stasi Records Agency will fill in some gaps about what you just learned with thought-provoking exhibits described in English (inside the same building; door is across from the museum entrance). Let the bureaucrat behind the desk know that you’re there “just to look.” German citizens have a right to view their files, but not everyone chooses to learn the truth about family or friends who aided the Stasi. Visitors are welcome to explore the permanent and temporary exhibitions that shed light on the structure, tactics, and methods employed by the secret police.
Begin by following the displays in the stairwell. See how the Stasi targeted those on the fringe of society: skinheads, Goths, and heavy metalers. Each floor is dedicated to a different subgroup. Back downstairs, the second-floor exhibit explores the origin and ideology of the Stasi. The ground-floor rooms deal with the documentation process, “unofficial collaborators,” and the logistics of secret surveillance.
Snooping on citizens was a huge industry. Eventually the Stasi outgrew this building. As you exit, walk to the right to see the Stasi headquarters expansion—a dreadfully ugly, gray and brown, prefabricated annex that’s typical of the DDR.
These sights cluster along the west side of the Ring.
At this historic church, Martin Luther introduced Leipzig to Protestantism, and Johann Sebastian Bach conducted the boys’ choir. The most famous boys’ choir in Germany—the Thomanerchor—still performs here.
Cost and Hours: Free, daily 9:00-18:00; pick up English flier about the church’s history, artwork, organ, and choir for a small donation; Thomaskirchhof 18, tel. 0341/222-240, www.thomaskirche.org.
Concerts and Events: The St. Thomas boys’ choir performs Fridays at 18:00 and Saturdays at 15:00, unless they are traveling (€2). The Bach Organ Festival is held each summer (concerts Saturdays late June-early Aug).
Visiting the Church: Before entering the church, look (just outside the church door) for the statue of Bach standing in front of his favorite instrument, a pipe organ. Bach was the leader of the boys’ choir here from 1723 until 1750. While here, Bach was remarkably prolific—for a time, he even composed a new cantata every week. Examine the details of his portrait: He’s holding a rolled-up sheet of music, which he used as a baton. Notice the button open on his vest—he could stick the “baton” into his shirt, if necessary, to free up his hands. His jacket pocket is turned out—Bach was famously always scrounging for more money to feed his huge family and the boys in the choir. His dedication to the arts led him to advocate tirelessly for the funding of local musicians.
Inside, the clean, white, stripped-down Neo-Gothic interior evokes the Protestant aesthetic of uncluttering the congregation’s communion with God. On Pentecost in 1539, Martin Luther came here to perform Leipzig’s first Protestant service. Look up at the 19th-century stained-glass window on the wall above the door through which you entered. In the panel to the left, Martin Luther is flanked by his supporter, prince-elector Frederick the Wise (on the left) and fellow reformer Philipp Melanchthon (on the right). Keeping them company in neighboring stained-glass windows (from left to right) are a WWI memorial, Sweden’s King Gustavus Adolphus (champion of Protestantism during the Thirty Years’ War), Johann Sebastian Bach, Felix Mendelssohn, and Kaiser Wilhelm I (Germany’s first emperor when it unified).
The main altar actually comes from a different historic church, St. Paul’s on Augustusplatz, which was demolished by the communist regime in 1968 to make way for the expansion of university buildings (for the rebuilt version of that church, see here).
In front of the altar is the tomb of Bach—or is it? Largely unappreciated in his own time and forgotten shortly after his death, Bach was buried in a humble graveyard. But after he was rediscovered in the 19th century, aficionados tracked down what they thought were his remains. Three cadavers that could have been Bach were compared to portraits of the composer to determine which one was most likely to be the real Johann Sebastian.
Facing the altar, look up and to the left (opposite the pulpit) to see the new organ, built in 2000 but designed to sound like a much older, Bach-era organ.
On the Ring side of the church (to the right as you leave, around the corner, and across the street), look for the statue of Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847). Mendelssohn came to Leipzig at age 26 to conduct the Gewandhaus Orchestra, which he led to great success, putting Leipzig on the world musical map. Mendelssohn is remembered today primarily as a composer, but perhaps his greatest contribution was to popularize the works of Bach, which had become unfashionable after his death. If not for Mendelssohn, the name “Bach” would probably mean nothing to you today. Because he was Jewish, Mendelssohn’s statue was torn down and used for scrap metal by the Nazis; this copy was erected here in 2008.
The busy ring road just beyond the Mendelssohn statue was the fortified city wall that once marked the end of town. When the wall was torn down in the 19th century, the west portal of St. Thomas Church suddenly stood in full view of the townsfolk, who were inspired to add the fancy Neo-Gothic facade you see today.
Turn around and go a bit farther along the park (with the Ring on your right) to find another, much older monument to Bach. Mendelssohn was so dedicated to honoring the genius of the Baroque composer that he personally funded the construction of this monument. In the reliefs around the pillar, see Bach depicted as an organist, a good Christian, and a teacher (of the boys’ choir).
Across the Ring from here, and a block up Gottschedstrasse (which is also lined with some great restaurants—see “Eating in Leipzig,” later), you’ll find a Holocaust memorial, with 140 chairs on the site of the city’s former main synagogue. The empty seats encourage people to “stand up” for what’s right.
Across the little square from St. Thomas is this small but very well-presented museum about Leipzig’s favorite composer. Its good interactive exhibits are mostly displayed in 12 rooms on two manageable floors. With the help of the excellent, included audioguide, this museum is an absolute delight for music lovers.
Johann Sebastian Bach was a man of many musical trades—composer, musical director, organist, organ builder, and violinist. Born in 1685, he lived immersed in music from the very beginning. His father was the director of the town musicians (because the family was so musically talented, people from Erfurt—where Bach senior was from—used the word Bache to describe any musician). After his parents’ early deaths, Bach lived with his older brother, Johann Christoph, who helped him develop his musical skill.
In 1723, Bach was selected as the cantor of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. He spent the last 27 years of his life in the city, working as the director of music for the city’s four main churches and directing the St. Thomas boys’ choir, the Thomanerchor. Responsible for providing Sunday music at the churches, in just five years Bach composed some 150 cantatas, two great Passions, and numerous other sacred pieces for his choir to perform.
In addition to shepherding the 50 boys in the choir, Bach, who married twice, had a number of his own children—seven with his first wife and another thirteen with the second. Of the twenty children, only nine survived into adulthood. And of those, six had musical careers of their own.
While living in Leipzig, Bach began directing a group of university-student musicians who were more interested in convivial entertainment than somber church music. Their crowd-pleasing performances of his secular compositions drew attention to the composer’s work, elevating his status in Leipzig.
Later in life, Bach became more withdrawn and reflective, composing complex, abstract Baroque pieces. He enjoyed entertaining guests with private concerts in his personal music room. But his eyesight began failing near the end of his life, and he died in 1750 after suffering a stroke. He was buried in an unmarked grave and soon forgotten.
In 1829, the musician and composer Felix Mendelssohn received from his grandmother a copy of Bach’s manuscript for St. Matthew Passion. When Mendelssohn conducted and performed Bach’s profoundly expressive music in Berlin, it was an instant hit. Mendelssohn’s concert sparked a newfound appreciation for Bach’s music that began in Germany, took over Europe, and soon spread around the world.
In the mid-1800s, several Bach fans and Leipzig scholars succeeded in rediscovering what they thought to be Bach’s remains and moved them to Leipzig’s Johanneskirche. After that church was destroyed by WWII bombs, the composer’s remains were laid to rest, for a third time, at St. Thomas Church—where appreciative pilgrims and Bach admirers still bring flowers to honor the man whom The New York Times named “the most influential composer of all time.”
Cost and Hours: €8, includes audioguide, Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00, closed Mon, Thomaskirchhof 15, tel. 0341/913-7207, www.bach-leipzig.de.
Visiting the Museum: At the entry is a replica of a famous portrait-bust of the great composer. Inside and up the stairs, the family tree makes it clear that he came from a very musical family. In the organ room, touch the organ pipes to hear music, or settle in at a station to listen on headsets to one of Bach’s many compositions. You’ll see an actual organ console where Bach played his favorite instrument, an iron chest that came from his household, and original manuscripts. The orchestra exhibit explains Baroque music by letting you press buttons to isolate the different instruments. The Leipzig room shows sights in town associated with the composer—including a model of the residence (in the boarding school for his 50 choirboys) where he lived with his huge family. Film clips show the many cinematic depictions of Bach, including documentary footage of American jazz musician Bobby McFerrin discussing the influence of Bach’s improvisational style on the music he creates today.
Back on the ground floor, the Research Laboratory provides informative and interactive displays about the physical elements of making music, as well as a listening station where you can “play” with Bach’s scores. The highlight of the softly lit Treasury is the original manuscripts written by Bach. Because of their fragility, different documents are regularly rotated into and out of the display.
Just south of the Ring, Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse—“Karli” for short—hosts a funky zone of boutiques, cafés, restaurants, and nightclubs (a.k.a. the Südmeile—“South Mile”).
Renamed “Adolf-Hitler-Strasse” during the Führer’s reign, today’s Karli would make Hitler spin in his grave. Parts of the street feel like a squatter’s haven, filled with run-down buildings housing lots of fun eateries and nonconformist hangout spots, all slathered with artistic graffiti. But you’ll also see many fine period buildings, and some of yesterday’s hippies are now environmentally aware parents biking down the sidewalk with their children.
After the generally stern architecture of downtown Leipzig, a stroll here is good for the soul and flat-out fun. You can walk here from downtown (across the Ring, south of the New Town Hall), but it doesn’t get interesting until the Hohe Strasse tram stop. The core of the zone is the four-block stretch between the Südplatz and Karl-Liebknecht-/Kurt-Eisner-Strasse stops. For more details, see the description under “Eating in Leipzig,” later.
Getting There: Ride tram #10 (direction: Lössnig) or #11 (direction: Markkleeberg-Ost) about 5 minutes south from downtown (to the Hohe Strasse, Südplatz, or Karl-Liebknecht-/Kurt-Eisner-Strasse stops).
This gigantic, heavy-handed monument—Europe’s biggest—commemorates a pivotal battle in 1813 that involved forces from all over Europe. It was the first time Napoleon was decisively defeated in a major battle. While it’s on the outskirts of town and a bit anticlimactic (it looks like a giant pedestal missing a statue on top), the monument is worth an ogle for its sheer size and chillingly patriotic design, especially if you’re a history buff.
The year 2013 marked the 200th anniversary of the battle and the 100th anniversary of the monument. Today, nicknamed “Volki” by Leipzig’s youth, it’s most appreciated as a venue for concerts and outdoor events.
Cost and Hours: €8 ticket covers both monument and museum, daily 10:00-18:00, Nov-March until 16:00; informative, if wordy, audioguide-€1; Strasse des 18 Oktober 100, tel. 0341/241-6870, www.voelkerschlachtdenkmal.eu.
Getting There: Ride tram #15 from the Hauptbahnhof or Augustusplatz (direction: Meusdorf) to the Völkerschlachtdenkmal stop, which is right next to the big park surrounding the monument. Or hop on S-Bahn lines S-1 or S-4 to Völkerschlachtdenkmal. “You can’t miss it” is an understatement.
Background: In October 1813, the Battle of the Nations (Völkerschlacht, also called the Battle of Leipzig) pitted Napoleon’s army against a united force of Prussian, Austrian, Russian, and Swedish fighters. With more than a half-million men involved and casualties approaching 100,000, it was the largest battle in European history until World War I. The Battle of the Nations marked the turning point in the fight against Napoleon, who was routed and forced to retreat to France. It was the ultimate victory of predominantly German forces against French invaders.
A century later—during a surge of nationalism following the unification of the modern nation of Germany—Leipzig city leaders built this 300-foot-tall memorial on the site of the bloodiest warfare. Looming over a huge reflecting pool, the concrete monument has a granite facade and is decorated inside and out with gigantic, heroic (almost mythical) statues of faceless soldiers and other archetypes celebrating German might. Not surprisingly, it later became a favorite backdrop for Hitler’s speeches. The Soviet puppet government of East Germany wasn’t thrilled with its German nationalistic overtones, but decided to let it stand as a monument to German-Russian cooperation.
Visiting the Monument: A visit here has several parts: viewing the massive monument (ideally from the far end of the reflecting pool); entering the atmospheric crypt; riding the elevator up to the viewing platform; and visiting the Forum 1813 museum.
On the exterior, the Archangel Michael straddles the main door with the same tiresome message that accompanies most military monuments: “God with us.” Circling the rounded top of the monument, a dozen stoic 40-foot-tall soldiers lean menacingly on their swords—which they will use, if necessary, to protect their nation.
Buy your ticket at the building to the left, then head through the main door and ride the elevator up to floor 1. A 13-minute video guides you through the history of the Battle of the Nations and its namesake monument, from Napoleonic entanglements in 1812 to the restoration and reopening of the monument in 2013. From there, go to floor 3. Guards direct you to the exterior stairs leading to an upper gallery where four gigantic 30-foot-tall statues represent the virtues of the German people during wartime: bravery (flexing muscles), faith (an idealistic child), strength (a mother nursing two young children—more fodder for the battlefield), and sacrifice (holding out a piece of fruit). Rocketing up 225 feet from the crypt below is a dome decorated with hundreds of life-sized cavalry triumphantly returning from battle.
Head back down a level to the crypt. The atmospheric atrium is ringed by 16 soldiers with their heads respectfully bowed to honor the sacrifice of those lost in battle. From the crypt or atrium, continue up the elevator to the viewing balcony for a commanding open-air view. From there you can climb more steps to summit the monument and stand on the tip-top platform, enjoying more sweeping (if distant) views over Leipzig.
Back on the ground, the Forum 1813 museum, in the smaller building to the right of the monument, narrates the story of the battle with paintings, models, uniforms, weapons, lots of artifacts from 1813, and a large diorama (all in German, but explained by the English audioguide).
Formerly Europe’s largest cotton mill—in the 19th century, it was a self-contained community of both factories and homes—this industrial complex has been converted into a sprawling artistic venue with some 10 galleries and dozens of artists’ studios. Many showcase the “New Leipzig” art movement (contemporary eastern German art from after reunification). Gallery hoppers, or anyone interested in the gentrification of old industrial wastelands, may find this place (with the slogan “from cotton to culture”) worth a visit.
Cost and Hours: Most galleries are free to enter, generally Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, closed Mon, Spinnereistrasse 7, tel. 0341/498-0222, www.spinnerei.de.
Getting There: It’s about three miles southwest of the town center. From the Hauptbahnhof, take tram #14 or S-Bahn line S-1 to the Plagwitz stop. Cross under the tracks, and turn left at Spinnereistrasse. Spinnerei will be on your left.
Music lovers can look into performances at the Opera House or Gewandhaus, home of the city’s orchestra (both on Augustusplatz). Nearby, the Moritzbastei is a popular-with-students place for cultural events (described later, under “Eating in Leipzig”; check events schedule at www.moritzbastei.de).
Leipzig’s most happening nightlife zone is the Karli, loaded with cutting-edge restaurants, cafés, bars, and nightspots (see “Eating in Leipzig,” later). A well-established venue here is die naTo, a cultural center presenting theater, film, poetry slams, and music as well as a bar with drinks and food (events nightly from 18:30, cover charge, Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse 48, tel. 0341/391-5539, www.nato-leipzig.de).
Thanks to the one-two punch of being both a convention town and a post-communist one, Leipzig is short on the characteristic, family-run little pensions I favor in other parts of Germany. With a few exceptions, I’ve listed functional, business-oriented hotels. Rates are typically higher on weeknights than weekends, and soft both in midsummer (July-Aug) and winter (Nov-March). Prices skyrocket during conventions and fairs—concentrated during the months of April-June and Sept-Oct (for a schedule, see www.leipziger-messe.com).
$$ Hotel Fregehaus is a real find. Just across from the TI, this historic merchant’s house-turned-boutique hotel dresses its 17 rooms, two apartments, and one suite in an antique-chic-meets-low-key-mod look. The classy ambience and regional breakfast feel indulgent without having a high price tag (breakfast extra, elevator, Katharinenstrasse 11, tel. 0341/2639-3157, http://hotel-fregehaus.de, kontakt@hotel-fregehaus.de).
$$ Seaside Park Hotel has an anonymous, business-class vibe but an extremely convenient location (albeit nowhere near any seashore), just across the busy Ring from the train station and an easy walk to anywhere in the town center. With 288 rooms and a lot of marble, mirrors, and brass in the lobby, it feels elegant for the price. Note that many rooms come with open-plan bathrooms, with the shower or tub visible from the whole room (breakfast extra, air-con, elevator, pay parking, bistro, train-themed restaurant, Richard-Wagner-Strasse 7, tel. 0341/98520, www.parkhotelleipzig.de, info@parkhotelleipzig.de).
$ Mercure Art Leipzig, part of a stylish European chain, has 72 comfortable, minimalist rooms decorated with bright paintings of action heroes by a local artist. It’s in a dull urban neighborhood one tram stop (or a 10-minute walk) north of the train station, but the prices are reasonable for what you get (breakfast extra, air-con, elevator, pay parking; from station ride tram #10, #11, or #16 one stop north to Wilhelm-Liebknecht-Platz, hotel is across street, on other side of triangular park; Eutritzscher Strasse 15, tel. 0341/303-840, www.mercure.de, h8847@accor.com).
$ Motel One Nikolaikirche, part of a German chain, is the best deal in town for well-located comfort. The most central hotel in Leipzig (facing St. Nicholas Church), its 194 rooms are cookie-cutter predictable, and lack some basic amenities (phones, minibars)—but that’s what keeps the prices low. Still, the rooms are modern and sleek, and the staff is professional (breakfast extra, walkable from train station at Nikolaistrasse 23, tel. 0341/337-4370, www.motel-one.com, leipzig-nikolaikirche@motel-one.com). A second Motel One, located just off Augustusplatz, also has family rooms (Ritterstrasse 4, tel. 0341/252-7980, www.motel-one.com, leipzig-augustusplatz@motel-one.com).
¢ A&O Leipzig Hauptbahnhof Hostel fills the former post office with 163 rooms, ranging from dorms to private rooms. Vast and institutional, it caters to a wide range of travelers, from backpackers to families. Ask for a room away from the street (private rooms available, breakfast extra, pay Wi-Fi in rooms—free in common areas, elevator, bar and lounge in lobby, Brandenburger Strasse 2, tel. 0341/2507-94900, www.aohostels.com, booking@aohostels.com). From the train station, take the Wintergartenstrasse exit (by track 23); you’ll see the hostel to the left, across the street from the bus parking lot.
This area, along Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse, has Leipzig’s best bar and nightclub scene, and some of its most appealing restaurants. Staying here puts you close enough to the sightseeing while helping you escape the relatively characterless downtown for a funkier, more colorful people zone. These listings are just off the main drag, so night noise is minimal, though you may hear rowdy people and rumbling trams in the distance—ask for a quieter back room. To get here from the train station (or Augustusplatz), ride south on tram #10 (direction: Lössnig) or #11 (direction: Markkleeberg-Ost).
$$ Michaelis Hotel is a class act, with 65 rooms, sophisticated decor, good service, and rooms that are a particularly good value in July and August (pay parking, tram stop: Hohe Strasse—then walk 100 yards ahead, turn left at intersection, and it’s on the left, Paul-Gruner-Strasse 44, tel. 0341/26780, www.michaelis-leipzig.de, info@michaelis-leipzig.de).
$ Hotel Markgraf is simple but professionally run, offering 57 straightforward, sometimes musty rooms with sterile comfort at fair rates just a half block from the Südplatz tram stop—close but not too close to the Karli action (breakfast extra, elevator, sauna, free laundry service, free street parking in front of hotel, tram stop: Südplatz, Körnerstrasse 36, tel. 0341/303-030, www.markgraf-hotel-leipzig.com, hotel@markgraf-leipzig.de).
(See “Leipzig” map, here.)
Getting “High” for Lunch: The towering MDR skyscraper (described on here), just off Augustusplatz, is capped with the elegant $$$ Panorama Tower restaurant, serving modern, international cuisine in a classy setting with a dramatic view. While dinner can be pricey, they serve a very affordable lunch, and free rooftop access is included (available Mon-Fri 11:30-14:30; take elevator to 29th floor, tel. 0341/710-0590, www.panorama-leipzig.de).
Student Grub: Behind the skyscraper, $ Moritzbastei is a maze of vaulted cellars that were once part of the city fortifications. After World War II, these passages were covered with dirt until a group of students—including, reportedly, Angela Merkel—organized to excavate them. Today the complex is filled mostly with students enjoying its indoor and outdoor seating, bars, basic bar food, sandwiches, design-your-own salads, weekday lunch specials, and live entertainment (daily until 24:00, closed Sat mornings and some Sun mornings in summer, Universitätsstrasse 9, tel. 0341/702-590).
(See “Leipzig” map, here.)
Two downtown streets to either side of the busy Dittrichring are lined with restaurants that cater to the lunch-break crowd and are also open for dinner. Barfussgässchen (“Barefoot Lane”), just inside the Ring, is closer to Market Square and has a higher concentration of bars and eateries. It’s touristy, but even locals enjoy the drinks and people-watching here. I recommend walking another five minutes across the Ring and checking out Gottschedstrasse, which has somewhat better variety and value. Choose the cuisine and ambience you like best: Thai, tapas, Italian, Vietnamese, trendy lounge, and so on. Just about the only thing you won’t find is a German beer hall.
(See “Leipzig” map, here.)
$$ Luise, a big, lively, red-and-yellow bar with happening outdoor seating, serves international dishes, burgers, and big salads (daily 9:00-24:00, breakfast served until 15:00, at Gottschedstrasse and Bosestrasse at Bosestrasse 4, tel. 0341/961-1488).
$$ Pilot, attached to the Central Theater, is hip yet accessible, with eclectic German and international food in a relaxed setting with mismatched used furniture (Mon-Fri 8:00-22:00, Sat-Sun 9:00-24:00, at intersection with Gottschedstrasse at Bosestrasse 1, tel. 0341/126-8117).
$$ Canito is a classy wine bar serving light antipasti meals, with live piano music, a wall of wines, and a Mediterranean deli case in back (Mon 12:00-15:00, Tue-Fri 12:00-24:00, Sat 15:00-24:00, closed Sun, Gottschedstrasse 13, tel. 0341/993-8011).
(See “Leipzig” map, here.)
If dining here, consider the following tasty options. $ Spizz is a jazz bar with an easy menu serving popular pasta and offering lots of outside seating on the market square. $ Coffe Baum, which claims to be the oldest coffeehouse in Germany, is now a quality restaurant—and coffee museum—serving traditional Saxon and other German food as well as lots of coffees and cakes. $ Umaii Ramenbar serves big Asian noodle soups, and the $ 100 Wasser Café Bar is a mod pub offering breakfast until late, light meals, and drinks (Barfussgässchen 15).
(See “Leipzig” map, here.)
Leipzig’s avant-garde epicenter takes a bit more effort to reach, but is accessible to visitors of any age. This several-block stretch of Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse is filled with artfully dilapidated, graffitoed buildings hosting eccentric and upscale boutiques, bars, restaurants, and venues for concerts and other artistic happenings. You can walk here from downtown (across the Ring, south of the New Town Hall), but I’d hop on tram #10 (direction: Lössnig) or #11 (direction: Markkleeberg-Ost) at the train station or Augustusplatz, ride to the Karl-Liebknecht-/Kurt-Eisner-Strasse stop, and walk back until you find something you like.
Burgers are popular everywhere in the Karli, and there are plenty of vegetarian places too. Most eateries here are bars with decent food and indoor or outdoor seating. Here are some standout sit-down eateries notable for their funky vibe or fun cuisine.
$$ Pata Negra (#75) serves up tasty Spanish main dishes, but I’d go for a mix of tapas and call it dinner (choose between inside seating, cozy courtyard, or streetside tables, reservations smart, daily 15:00-24:00, tel. 0341/306-7103, www.patanegra.de).
$$ LuLu Lottenstein (#63) is your elegantly understated option in this part of town. Their focus is on regional specialties, with a menu that changes seasonally, in a comfy rustic-chic setting with a cozy fireplace (daily 10:00-24:00, tel. 0341/308-2613).
$$ Maître (#62) is a brasserie serving a hodgepodge of German interpretations of French dishes including shareable salads, crêpes and galettes, quiche, and meat dishes. Locals enjoy their varied breakfast menu and pastry selection (daily 9:00-24:00, tel. 0341/3032-8924).
$$ L’Angolo d’Italia has solid Italian basics like pasta and pizza—as well as more creative and seasonal main courses with fish or meat—in a setting that aims for romance. Outside tables are less intimate and flanked by two busy streets (daily 11:30-14:30 & 17:30-23:00, Koschstrasse 1, tel. 0341/3068-6211).
$ Volkshaus (#30), a classic smoky pub with a beer garden out back, prides itself on its Flammkuchen and offers standard international dishes like pastas and burgers (daily 9:30-24:00, tel. 0341/212-7222).
$ Gaststätte Kollektiv (#72) is an “Ostalgic” hoot with its classic—and filling—DDR dishes like Oma used to make. Try the “Strammer Max”—black bread with fried ham. Even if you dine on their terrace, be sure to take a time-travel stroll through each dining room filled with kitschy, authentic memorabilia and decor, including a cool model train set (daily 11:00-24:00, tel. 0341/306-7004).
$ Killiwilly Irish Pub (#44) slings beers and plates of typical pub grub, along with seasonal German classics and big salads, in a convivial locale (daily 10:00-24:00, tel. 0341/211-4322).
$ Casual or On-the-Go Options: These places are all open every day until 24:00. Burgermeister der Grill (#56 at Südplatz tram stop), a trendy hamburger stand filling a circa-1900 public toilet kiosk, has a wide selection of made-to-order burgers that go great with a side of sweet-potato fries or truffle-cheese fries. Be prepared to share a table. El Amir (#59) is the go-to döner joint with a chaotic menu of cheap, filling, and tasty dishes. Skip the salads and go for one of the döner or vegetarian specialties. Olive Tree (#38) is a slightly classier, if yuppier, venue with a simpler döner menu, splittable pizzas, and filling vegetarian options.
(See “Leipzig” map, here.)
$$$ Bayerischer Bahnhof is the city’s main draw for beer pilgrims eager to sample the local brew, Gose (GOH-zeh). Originating in the town of Goslar, this extremely acidic-tasting light brew (to which coriander is added in the final stage) became a Leipzig favorite. But through the tumultuous 20th century, the recipe was all but lost, and Gose was forgotten. In the 1980s, a Berlin brewer dusted off the recipe and started making Gose once more. Its fizziness makes Gose especially refreshing on a hot day and also helps it mix well with various shots and flavors (you’ll see a list on the menu; for example, the Frauenfreundliche—“women friendly”—has a shot of cherry syrup). Adding a shot isn’t a bad idea, as first-timers sometimes find Gose sour and a bit salty.
True to its name, the restaurant is inside one wing of the old Bayerischer Bahnhof (“Bavarian train station,” where trains from Bavaria first reached all the way north to Saxony). Built in 1842, this station recently finished an extensive renovation to become part of the city’s S-Bahn system, allowing it to retain its title as the “world’s oldest functioning train station.” Besides beer, the restaurant also has a full menu of tasty beer-hall dishes. Choose between several brewpub seating sections—some with a view of the giant copper vats—or the delightful beer garden (daily 11:00-24:00, Bayerischer Platz 1, take the S-Bahn from Hauptbahnhof or Market Square or ride tram #16 from Hauptbahnhof or Augustusplatz a few minutes to Bayerischer Platz, tel. 0341/124-5760).
Leipzig is a major rail hub for eastern Germany; if you’re traveling between towns in the western part of the country (Frankfurt, Würzburg, Nürnberg) and towns in the east (Berlin, Dresden), you’ll likely pass through here. If traveling to the Luther towns or Dresden, you can save some money (but not time) with the Sachsen-Ticket, which is valid on slower RE trains.
From Leipzig by Train to: Berlin (hourly direct, 1.5 hours), Dresden (1-2/hour direct, 1.5 hours), Erfurt (hourly, 45 minutes on ICE), Eisenach and Wartburg Castle (hourly, 75 minutes on ICE, more with transfer in Erfurt), Wittenberg (6/day on ICE, 40 minutes; also hourly on regional trains, 1 hour, some with transfer in Bitterfeld), Frankfurt (every 2 hours direct on ICE, 3.5 hours; a few additional on IC, 4 hours), Würzburg (hourly, 3 hours, some transfer in Fulda), Hamburg (hourly, 3 hours, some transfer in Berlin), Nürnberg (every 2 hours direct, 3.5 hours, a few more with a transfer in Naumburg), Munich (8/day direct, 5.5 hours; more with change in Nürnberg or Naumburg), Prague (every 1-2 hours, 5 hours, transfer in Dresden). Train info: Toll tel. 0180-699-6633, www.bahn.com.