Highlights of Germany: Leipzig
An Antipodean travel company serving World Travellers since 1983
Highlights of Germany |
What to See
Markt and Old Town Hall
The Markt or main square of Leipzig is dominated by the Old City Hall (Rathaus), a Renaissance building built in 1556 and considered one of the most beautiful Renaissance buildings in Germany as well as one of the country’s largest town halls. The municipal government moved into the New Town Hall in 1909 and now inside the Old City Hall you will find a museum filled with artefacts and pictures from Leipzig’s history, documenting city life from the time of medieval fairs to the famous 1989 ‘peaceful revolution’ that became a catalyst for an end to the Iron Curtain. You will also find many impress works of medieval religious art including wood-carved sculptures and paintings that were saved from churches that have since been deconstructed. Underneath the building you will find the cellar which was once used as a jail and torture chamber.
The Markt is where farmers’ markets and many of the city’s music festivals are held including the annual Bach Festival. The Bach Music Festival is held in honour of Bach because Leipzig is the city where he spent nearly three decades as music director. On May 13, 1722, he was sworn in as director of church music for the city of Leipzig. Prior to this, he was mostly engaged in chamber music in his appointment at Köthen, where he finished the Brandenburg Concertos and where he had the support of a musically inclined prince. He thought he would be living the rest of his life in Köthen, but after a decline in his relationship with his royal patron, he applied and was accepted for the position in Leipzig. He provided music for Leipzig’s main churches and its university student ensemble Collegium Musicum. He worked at an incredible pace, producing one cantata (vocal composition with musical accompaniment) a week. It was in this city where Bach would live until his death in 1750. The 2020 BachFest is the 95th Bach Festival of the Neue Bachgesellschaft (New Bach Society), the oldest Bach organisation in the world.
One of Odyssey’s tours, Bach, the man & his music, explores the life and work of Bach and visits Leipzig during the time of the Bach Festival. Odyssey Traveller has created a 16-day experience with the chance to see 6 world-class concerts. During the journey exploring the life and work of Johann Sebastian Bach, you spend time in Berlin (3 nights), Dresden (2 nights), Leipzig (3 nights), Weimar (3 nights), Halberstadt (1 night), and Hamburg (2 nights).
The Old Town Hall and Markt is about a ten minute walk from Leipzig Hauptbahnhof, Leipzig’s main station.
St Nicholas Church (Nikolaikirche)
St Nicholas Church was built in the 12th century but has been altered in various ways over many centuries. Since the late 1700s it has sported a Neoclassical style interior with cream-coloured pews and palm-like columns. It is home to one of Europe’s finest organs and Bach, who was music director here and at another Leipzig church, St Thomas, debuted much of his work at St Nicholas.
The church is also famous for the role it played in the nonviolent movement that eventually saw the downfall of East Germany. The church hosted ‘peace prayers’ that are still held today, every Monday, and these meetings empowered citizens to take action against the government. This practice started in September 1989 and the prayers were followed by candlelight vigils. On October 9, 70,000 citizens took to the streets despite protests previously being violently suppressed and the GDR leadership eventually capitulated. There is a column outside the church to commemorate the revolution.
Battle of the Nations Monument
The colossal Battle of the Nations monument is one of the Germany’s most important monuments and the largest war memorial in Europe, standing at 91 metres tall with 500 steps. The monument was completed in 1913 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of the Nations, also known as the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. The defeat was a crucial step towards the end of hostilities in the War of the Sixth Coalition and Napoleon’s army was forced to retreat to France, eventually leading to his exile to Elba the following year. Below the monument is a museum about the Battle of Leipzig, illustrating the equipment and the military life of the soldiers who fought here. The monument is a 15-minute tram ride from the city centre.
Leipzig Zoo
First opened in 1878, Leipzig Zoo is one of the largest and best known zoos in Germany. Home to 850 different animal species, the zoo’s main speciality is big cats and over the years it has bred more than 2,000 lions and 250 rare Siberian tigers. You can also see snow leopards, red pandas, black howler monkeys, Baikal seals, musk deer and the okapi.
The zoo is divided up into six different landscapes, allowing you to explore exotic rainforests with lush green canopies and jungle paths as well as mountainous Siberian landscapes. The zoo occupies a 54-acre site and can be reached in several minutes on foot from the city centre. If you arrive by train at Leipzig’s central station, there are signs directing you to the zoo.
The Grassi Museum
The Grassi Museum is an impressive Art-Deco building complex that houses three museums of domestic and international significance: the Museum of Applied Arts, Ethnographic Museum Leipzig and the popular Museum of Musical Instruments. The building itself is almost palatial with greened inner courtyards, luxurious gardens and ornamental architecture. The Museum of Musical Instruments houses nearly 5,000 instruments from the Middle Ages to the 20th century and music is brought to life in hands-on laboratories and extensive archives. Leipzig is a classical music lover’s dream having been home to over 500 composers over the centuries, including Georg Philipp Telemann, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Clara and Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner, Edvard Grieg, Albert Lortzing, Gustav Mahler and Hanns Eisler, as well as Bach.
Our tours featuring Leipzig include:
- Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle: For lovers of Wagner’s music, this tour gives you the opportunity to see four performances of his music in his home city, Leipzig.
- Bach, the man and his music: Another tour for classical music fans. This cultural tour is based around the Bach Music Festival in Leipzig, but includes visits to other cities lived in by Bach.
- The European Ballet: This tour includes nine wonderful performances in five European cities. You will experience six ballets, plus modern dance and two operas performed in beautiful opera houses.
- Contemporary Germany: This tour captures the diversity of contemporary Germany, ranging from north to south, and taking in Germany’s most important cities: Munich, Dresden, Berlin and Cologne. The tour spends one day exploring Leipzig, including the Gewandhaus tour and visits to some of the local churches