Instead, potential buyers only examine samples

For centuries, Leipzig was one of the most important trade fair, literature and music centers in Germany. Politically, too, the city on the White Elster was often at the center of German and European history. By Johannes Eberhorn New section Founding of the "Lindenort" Rise to trade fair city Center for Science and Literature Musical Leipzig Leipzig and politics Leipzig today Founding of the "Lindenort" "I praise my Leipzig! It is a small Paris and educates its people," says Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, one of his characters in the drama "Faust" about the Saxon metropolis. The first traces of settlement in today's Leipzig area date back to around 4000 BC. Later, migratory Germanic peoples moved through the central German region again and again - such as the Vandals or the Lombards, who, however, did not settle there. The village that later became Leipzig finally emerged between the 7th and 9th centuries. At that time, the Sorbs, a Slavic tribe, founded a small settlement that they called "Lipzk" - in High German "place near the linden trees". Leipzig was first officially mentioned in 1015 by Bishop Thietmar von Merseburg, who reported in his chronicle of a German castle called "urbs Libzi". A settlement of craftsmen and merchants grew up near the castle. Margrave Otto the Rich of Meissen finally gave it city and market rights in 1165, the official year in which Leipzig was founded. This laid the foundation for the economic boom that would later make Leipzig one of the most important trading centers in Germany. Rise to trade fair city The first markets opened in Leipzig in the year the city was founded. From 1190, two large annual markets were held regularly: the Easter market and the Michaelis market. On this basis, Leipzig - also benefiting from silver discoveries in the Ore Mountains - expands its position as an important trading center up to the 15th century. Finally, in 1497, Emperor Maximilian I granted the city the imperial fair privilege and later also the "staple right". The latter empowers Leipzig to require merchants passing through to stay in the city with their goods at least temporarily (i.e. "stack" them there) and trade. By the 18th century, the Leipzig Fair developed into the most important German goods fair. In the course of industrialization, the population of Leipzig is growing rapidly. Around 1865 around 100,000 people live in the city, by the end of the 19th century there are already around 400,000. The fair also adapts to the new economic conditions and offers more space for industrial goods. From 1894 the previous goods fair finally becomes a sample fair. The goods are no longer sold during the fair itself. Instead, potential buyers only examine samples from which they can then order any number of units. Leipzig loses a great deal of its economic power and importance as a result of the Second World War, but remains an important place for East-West trade during the GDR era. Numerous trade fairs still take place there today, including the "Auto Mobil International", the "Games Convention" and the Leipzig Book Fair. Leipzig has had a new exhibition center since 1996 Center for Science and Literature Leipzig was also known early on for literature and education far beyond the borders of Saxony. Leipzig University was founded as early as 1409, and famous figures such as Goethe, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Robert Schumann and Gotthold Ephraim Lessing studied there over the centuries that followed. In addition, Leipzig established itself as a scientific center with the founding of the "Saxon Academy of Sciences" in 1846. Even today, many young people are drawn to the various universities in the city. Where there are colleges, many books are needed. It is therefore not surprising that Leipzig is also developing into a center for book printers and dealers. A book was first printed in Leipzig in 1481, and 50 years later 1300 titles were already appearing in the city. Publishers that are still well-known today are established or settle in Leipzig, such as Brockhaus, Reclam or Baedeker. In the meantime, the book fair has become the most important literature show in Germany, making Leipzig the "book capital" - ahead of Frankfurt am Main. Due to the turmoil of the Second World War, Leipzig loses importance from a literary point of view, but the city still houses the second oldest university library in Germany, the German Central Library for the Blind and the German Museum of Books and Writing. Musical Leipzig In addition to booksellers and scholars, many musicians also find their home in Leipzig. Perhaps the city's most famous son is Johann Sebastian Bach, who was born in Eisenach in 1685. From 1723 until his death in 1750 he held the prestigious office of cantor at the Thomaskirche. Especially in his early years in Leipzig, Bach composed numerous pieces of music, including the famous St. Matthew Passion. To commemorate the composer, the city now maintains a Bach archive and a Bach museum. Thomanerchor and Gewandhausorchester regularly perform the works of the former cantor. Founded in 1781, the Gewandhaus Orchestra attracts outstanding musicians from all over the country. Principal conductors are geniuses such as Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Kurt Masur. Even today, the orchestra, which plays in the Leipzig Opera and in the Thomaskirche, among other places, is one of the best in Germany. Bach was the most famous Thomaskantor Leipzig and politics From the 19th century, Leipzig was at the center of important political events on several occasions. In the Battle of the Nations in 1813, the allied armies of Austria, Prussia, Russia and Sweden defeated the troops of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, ending his European supremacy. With over 500,000 soldiers involved, the battle went down in history as the largest military conflict to date. Between 90,000 and 120,000 men die. In their honor, the 91 meter high Monument to the Battle of the Nations was inaugurated in 1913. Even during the Second World War, Leipzig was not spared and was repeatedly bombed by the Allies. The heaviest air raid on December 4, 1943 takes the lives of around 1,800 people and 140,000 lose their homes. After a total of 38 bombardments and the end of the war, Leipzig became part of the Soviet occupation zone and later the second largest city in the GDR. In the decades that followed, the citizens of Leipzig repeatedly rebelled against the centralized system of the governing "Socialist Unity Party of Germany" (SED). First, thousands of demonstrators take part in the uprising of June 17, 1953, which is ended bloodily by Soviet troops. The people of Leipzig are far more successful 36 years later. The famous Monday demonstrations, in which up to 300 people took part in autumn 1989. 000 people participate, are the starting point of the peaceful revolution, which finally leads to the end of the GDR. Leipzig commemorates the autumn of 1989 Leipzig today After the fall of the wall, Leipzig - like the whole of eastern Germany - had to contend with considerable economic and structural problems. Many young people are leaving the city, so that the population is falling rapidly. But in the years that followed, Leipzig recovered relatively well from the aftermath of reunification. In 1996, the exhibition center moves to a new site, large automobile companies set up factories there, and the airport is expanded.