Leipzig
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| Leipzig | |
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| Coat of arms | Location |
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| Administration | |
| Country |  |
|---|---|
| State | Saxony |
| Admin. region | Leipzig |
| District | Leipzig |
| Mayor | Burkhard Jung (SPD) |
| Basic statistics | |
| Area | 297.60 km² (114.9 sq mi) |
| Population | 506,578 (23/12/2006) |
| - Density | 1,702 /km² (4,409 /sq mi) |
| Other information | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Licence plate | L |
| Postal codes | 04003-04357 |
| Area code | 0341 |
| Website | www.leipzig.de |
Leipzig is the biggest city in the state of Saxony (eastern Germany). When Germany was divided into East and West Germany, Leipzig was one of the three biggest industrial cities in the Eastern part.
Leipzig has occupies 297.62 km² (114.9 sq mi) and is still an industrial city. 502,053 people are living in Leipzig as of 30 November 2005.
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[change] History
Its Latin name is Lipsia and the German name Leipzig came from this name. Leipzig has a long history. Its name was recorded first in 1015 as Leipzig Castle (Leipziger Burg). The city was settled in 1165. It was an economic center of the Medieval Germany, famous with its market (Leipziger Messe).
In 1409 Leipzig University was founded. Theology was its major faculty. In 1519 Martin Luther had a discussion in Leipzig against Johann Eck. Reformation came to Leipzig in 1539 after all and the city people believed in the Lutheran.
It is famous for St. Thomas Church, where Johann Sebastian Bach worked as music director (Kantor) from 1723 till his death in 1750.
In 1813 near Leipzig, there was the Battle of Leipzig between the French army led by Napoleon Bonaparte and the allied armies of Austria, Prussia and Russia.
In 1839 the railway between Dresden and Leipzig was opened. It was the first long distance railroad in Germany.
As a result of industrialisation the number of people living in Leipzig was growing during the 19th century. Before World War II, there were about 750,000 people in Leipzig.
After the war Leipzig belonged to the part occupied by the Soviet Union, and later to East Germany.
In 1989 the mondaydemonstrations took place in Leipzig. Every monday after a christian mess in the Nikolaikirche the Leipzig people demonstrate for freedom to travel and democracy. This demonstartions became bigger and bigger and reached the peak at 23. October when 320,000 people came. This demonstrations are one of the reasons lead to the end of comunistic dictatorship in eastern germany.
Today Leipzig is still known as a city of fairs, media and university, but is less important than it was before World War II.
[change] Economy
Befor the World War II Leipzig was a famous centre of commerce (Leipzig exhibition) und industry. Nowadays there are big companies in Leipzig like Porsche, BMW, Siemens and at the Leipzig airport DHL.
[change] Miscellaneous
Leipzig has also an university where famous people studied e.g. Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Edvard Grieg, Erich Kästner, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Angela Merkel, Friedrich Nietzsche, Robert Schumann and Richard Wagner.
The Leipzig Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) is the largest terminal station in Europe. It sees an average of 150,000 passengers per day. The façade is 293 metres wide.
[change] Other websites
