They wanted to demonstrate normality and performance

The Leipzig Trade Fair is the trade fair and exhibition center in Leipzig, which is one of the oldest trade fair locations in the world. It is located in the new exhibition center built in 1996, about seven kilometers from the city center on the northern outskirts in the Seehausen district. The glass hall of the new exhibition center received the IABSE's "Outstanding Structure Award" in 2000. 1 History 1.1 Reasons for trade fairs at the end of the Middle Ages 1.2 Transition to the model fair 1.3 Trade fairs after 1945 1.4 Trade fairs after 1990 3.1 Leipzig Book Fair 3.2 Auto Mobil International 3.3 Games Convention 3.4 Games Convention Online 3.5 Model Hobby Game 3.6 House-Garden-Leisure 3.7 Rehab 4.1 Street 4.2 Railway 4.3 Tram Story Justification of the fairs at the end of the Middle Ages The city of Leipzig lay at the crossroads of the Via Regia (which led from the Rhineland to Eastern Europe) and the Via Imperii (from Italy to the Baltic Sea). This location favored trade, especially long-distance trade. In 1190 the Easter markets and the Michaelmas markets were confirmed by Margrave Otto von Meissen. No harmful market was allowed to be held within a radius of one Saxon mile (about 15.39 km) around the city of Leipzig. In 1268, Margrave Dietrich von Landsberg issued the escort privilege, which was of eminent importance for the development of long-distance trade. With the New Year's Market, Leipzig was awarded a third fair by Elector Friedrich II. This was first held on New Year's Day 1459. In 1497, the Roman-German King Maximilian I elevated the previous annual fairs to imperial fairs. This meant that within a radius of 15 German miles (around 115 km) no other city had the right to hold fairs as well. On the basis of this privilege, Leipzig has continuously developed over the centuries into one of the most important trading centers in Europe by initiating its own trade connections in all directions. Transition to the sample fair In 1895 the changeover from the goods fair to the world's first sample fair took place. The municipal department store, completed in 1904, was followed by numerous other trade fair houses, which still characterize the image of Leipzig's city center today. From now on, the goods were no longer sold directly on site. By presenting samples, commercial contracts were concluded, on the basis of which the goods were then transported from the manufacturer to the customer in the previously agreed quantity and quality and on agreed terms. The logo of the Leipzig Trade Fair with two Ms placed one above the other was designed for the Autumn Fair in 1917 and represents the term Sample Fair. Georg Baus was commissioned by Erich Gruner to create a corporate design for the trade fair in 1921, one of the first in the world. From 1964 the Leipzig fair man was a popular advertising figure. Fairs after 1945 After the Second World War, the Leipzig Trade Fair also came to a standstill for the time being. The slow new start in the post-war years initially only had the character of small trade. On May 8, 1946, the first Leipzig trade fair after the end of the war, which the organizers called the Peace Fair, opened in the Ring-Messehaus. They wanted to demonstrate normality and performance. West German exhibitors were also represented. From the 1950s, the Hanover Fair became the biggest competitor. In the years that followed, the Leipzig Trade Fair gradually developed into an important center of East-West trade. It was used by the SED leadership as an economic and political showcase for the GDR. Every year a spring fair and an autumn fair took place in Leipzig with exhibitors from East and West and offered the GDR the opportunity, especially up to 1970, to compare its technical performance with the "world level". From the 1960s, the number of visitors leveled off at around 600,000 90% of the visitors came from the GDR, 7-8% from Western countries (mostly from the Federal Republic of Germany).The number of exhibitors in the 1950s and 1960s was around 10,000, using up to 300,000 m² of exhibition space Later, Western and Eastern European exhibitors held back in presenting their newest and most advanced products, but the central function in West-East business remained untouched[2]. Trade fairs after 1990 After the end of the GDR, the special conditions under which the Leipzig Trade Fair was able to develop its outstanding position also disappeared. The trade fair had to adapt to completely changed conditions within a short period of time. The previous universal fairs (every year in spring and autumn) have now been replaced by trade fairs. This was a step that Western trade fair locations had already taken decades earlier. This step and the relocation of the trade fair from the old exhibition center to the new, modern trade fair on the outskirts of the city, which opened in 1996 and was built according to a master plan by the architects GMP, enabled the Leipzig trade fair to compete with the locations in Frankfurt am Main, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Berlin, Munich and Hanover exist. In particular, the fair has had some successes in the recent past with the Auto Mobil International car fair, the book fair and the computer games fair Games Convention. The Games Convention, for example, became one of the most important European trade fairs for the computer games industry in just a few years. In the summer of 2006, the Games Convention set a new daily visitor record for the new exhibition center. The importance of the trade fair for the location is shown not only by the number of visitors but also by the fact that the trade fair operators in Munich, Cologne and Berlin already wanted to acquire the Games Convention, with the justification that Leipzig as a location was reaching its capacity limits. A license for the trade fair concept was also sold to Singapore. The first Games Convention Asia took place there in 2007[3]. In addition to these successes, there have also been some failures in recent years. The attempt to establish a larger fashion fair in Leipzig failed. This was due in particular to the exhibitor response, which was too low due to the great distance to the leading German locations of the fashion industry. In early 2006, the Body Look fashion fair developed for Leipzig was sold to Düsseldorf, one of Germany's fashion centers. Leipziger Messe GmbH, with around 35 trade fairs a year, is now one of the ten largest trade fair companies in Germany. As an economic promotion tool, the trade fair generates production effects of several hundred million euros every year. Despite these sums, the core business, from a purely monetary point of view, remains a subsidy business for the shareholders, the city of Leipzig and the state of Saxony. The strategic cooperation with other exhibition companies such as in Moscow, Kyiv, Warsaw and Prague is expected to provide supportive impetus for corporate development. Foreign business should account for 40% of sales in the long term. The focus is on the markets in Eastern Europe and Asia[4]. According to the plans of the board of directors, Leipzig is to work closely with Messe Dresden in the future and thus become the leading trade fair location in the border triangle of Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic[5]. statistics There are five interconnected exhibition halls of 20,500 square meters each, a central glass hall and a congress center on the Leipzig Trade Fair grounds. The outdoor area has an exhibition area of ​​70,000 square meters. Significant Events Leipzig Book Fair The Leipzig Book Fair, which takes place every year in March, is the second largest book fair in Germany after the Frankfurt Book Fair. It is one of the most well-known events at Messe Leipzig. Founded in the 17th century, it developed into the largest industry meeting place in the German-speaking area. It retained this status until the Second World War, but then had to hand it over to the Frankfurt Book Fair. Auto Mobile International The Auto Mobil International is the second largest car show in Germany (after the IAA in Frankfurt). It takes place every two years in combination with AMITEC, a trade fair for suppliers and accessories. The entire fair is strongly geared towards Eastern Europe, which is also where the greatest growth opportunities are located. Games Convention The Games Convention took place annually at the end of August until 2008. Until then, it was the leading European trade fair for interactive entertainment software. However, it took place in Cologne from 2009, since the organizers considered Leipzig to be too small in view of the annual increase in visitor numbers and the clear record number of visitors in 2008 (see main article) and relocated the fair to Cologne under a new name. Games Convention Online In 2009, the Games Convention Online took place in Leipzig for the first time. After the Games Convention was moved, only a few exhibitors presented their articles on the subject of online and multiplayer games in only two halls. The fair lasted only three days instead of five. In 2010, the fair was converted to a purely specialist show, with various public events such as the qualification for the World Cyber ​​Games being relocated to Belantis. model hobby game According to the company, the "Modell-Hobby-Spiel" is the largest visitor fair of its kind in Germany. Home Garden Leisure The "Haus-Garten-Freizeit" is a trade fair for gardening, cooking and living. In recent years it has taken place at the same time as the Mitteldeutsche Handwerksmesse. rehab The "reha" is the world's leading trade fair for orthopedics and rehabilitation technology, which takes place every two years. In 2010 it will be held in cooperation with the annual conference of the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO). transport connection street The new exhibition center is located directly on the A 14 motorway and the B 2 federal highway. Rail Regional trains of Deutsche Bahn and the "FlughafenExpress", which connects Leipzig Central Station with Leipzig-Halle Airport and Halle Central Station, stop at the "Leipzig - Neue Messe" station. tram The new exhibition center is connected to the tram network of the Leipzig public transport company, line 16 stops there; the 16E amplifier line is also available for large trade fairs. literature - Ernst Hasse: History of the Leipzig fairs. Prize writings crowned and published by the Princely Jablonowski'sche Society in Leipzig, No. 17 of the historical-national-economic section, volume 25, Verlag Hirzel, Leipzig 1885 (digitized) - Werner Starke: The Leipzig trade fair houses. shape and history. Leipzig, Leipzig Trade Fair Office 1961 web links Leipziger Messe GmbH the buildings of the new trade fair. In: archINFORM. Leipzig fair. In: Structuree.