1,000 years of Leipzig - Happy Birthday!

Founded at the intersection of two important medieval trade routes, the Via Regia and Via Imperii, Leipzig has always been a trade City. The cityscape is still defined by impressive merchants' houses, trade buildings and shopping arcades. In the 20th century the trade fair was relocated to the edge of town. In 1996 the new trade fair complex was opened which hosts the annual Leipzig book fair.

St. Nicolas Church in the heart of Leipzig is rich in history. Construction began in 1165 on the church named after the patron saint of merchants. Reformist Martin Luther preached here, and composer Johann Sebastian Bach premiered his St. John Passion. More recently the church rose to fame as the place where the peaceful revolt against Communist rule began, ending with the fall of the Berlin Wall.

St. Thomas is the second church in Leipzig town center and famous as Johann Sebastian Bach's main place of work, to whom this memorial is dedicated. The composer spent many years working as choir master for the Thomaner boys choir associated with the church. Rather than compose, Bach now decomposes here, as he was also buried in St. Thomas church.

Other big names from Leipzig, apart from Bach, have also had a profound influence on the music world: Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Edvard Grieg, Gustav Mahler, Clara and Robert Schumann lived and worked in the city, Hanns Eisler and Richard Wagner were born in Leipzig. Famous the world over is the Gewandhaus concert hall orchestra that has been performing in this new building since 1981.

In 1785 poet Friedrich Schiller lived in this house, which is also where he wrote his "Ode to Joy". Composer Ludwig van Beethoven put it to music as part of his 9th symphony and centuries later it became the anthem of the European Union. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe also spent many years in Leipzig and used some locations like Auerbach's tavern in his play "Faust".

The 91 meter (298 feet) tall monument commemorates the bloody battle in 1813, which saw the allied forces of Russia, Austria, Prussia and Sweden defeat Napoleon's army and their allied troops. The outcome: thousands killed and injured. These days the memorial offers visitors the chance of a fabulous panoramic view of Leipzig and its environs from the observation platform.

In 2009 Leipzig University celebrated its 600th anniversary making it one of the oldest in Germany. Until 1968 this was the site of the university's own St. Pauls church, dating back to the 13th century. The former East German government had it blown up in order to rebuild the campus. For some years now, modern design has tried to recreate the outline of the original church on the new building.

It is not the university alone that makes young people flock here. 25 years after German unification Leipzig offers artists and start-up companies a lot of space for development. Collectively they define the creative life-style of the city, like here in the Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse with its small shops, bars and galleries.

Leipzig, apart from music, literature and history is also become a center for modern art. Even before German reunification in 1990 artists began to take over the abandoned industrial buildings in the Plagwitz district and founded the so-called New Leipzig School. One better known member of this movement is Neo Rauch, whose paintings today are world famous and virtually unaffordable.

To the south of the trade city lies the Cospudener See, a lake affectionately referred to by the people of Leipzig as Lago Cospuda. Indeed the former open cast mine, which was filled with water in 1993, today has a hint of Mediterranean about it. Visitors can relax in numerous waterside cafés, or take a dip in the lake or sunbathe on the sandy beach. Athletes like to wind surf and canoe here.