Leipzig

Leipzig’s fame as a music center began with its strong associations with Johann Sebastian Bach, Richard Wagner (he was born here), Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann, and continues today with the city’s Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Leipzig Opera House and the choir at St. Thomas Church. But music is not the only claim Leipzig has in the art world. Its enormous Fabrikstadt, once the largest cotton spinnery in Europe, now houses 10 galleries and 80 working artists, including architects, cabinetmakers, dancers and theater groups who make this a vibrant urban creative and cultural center. Amid the rich cultural climate and the great swaths of ...

Leipzig’s fame as a music center began with its strong associations with Johann Sebastian Bach, Richard Wagner (he was born here), Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann, and continues today with the city’s Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Leipzig Opera House and the choir at St. Thomas Church. But music is not the only claim Leipzig has in the art world. Its enormous Fabrikstadt, once the largest cotton spinnery in Europe, now houses 10 galleries and 80 working artists, including architects, cabinetmakers, dancers and theater groups who make this a vibrant urban creative and cultural center. Amid the rich cultural climate and the great swaths of beautifully tended green parks for walking, cycling and horseback riding, it’s easy to forget that Leipzig’s history also includes its grim decades behind the Iron Curtain. But the locals have not forgotten. More than 2,500 artifacts, photographs and documents in the Leipzig Forum of Contemporary History and Stasi Museum graphically recall the Soviet occupation and the resistance movement of local citizens.

About the Expert

Stillman Rogers has written more than two dozen guidebooks, including Adventure Guide to Canada's Atlantic Provinces, Guide to Eastern Canada, and Adventure Guide to the Chesapeake.