Leipzig
Wow, what a lively city! It is the eighth-largest city in Germany and the most populous one in Saxony. Later we found out it was quite a special weekend, that Pentecost weekend almost a year ago. After a while, we started wondering if it was correct that the average Leipziger looks, let's say, a bit different dressed in every shade of darkness, till we found out that it also was the weekend of the WGT, the Wave-Gotik-Treffen, the world's largest Gothic festival with over 300 thousand visitors so there were a lot of fairytale like velvet dresses, purple haircuts and metal all over the place, with probably a hangover or at least not looking better than the evening before. It was an early Pentecost Monday morning.
Neues Rathaus, 1924. Photo: Kurt Hielscher.
Neues Rathaus, 9th of June 2025. Photo: Casper Molenaar.
We parked the van somewhere south of the city center and went in with our bikes, passed the impressive Bundesverwaltungsgericht at the Harkortstraße when the Neues Rathaus popped up at the next crossing with the Karl-Tauchnitz-Straße and the Martin-Luther Ring. Kim and I took the time to remake Kurt Hielscher's photo properly, but found out the leaves hindered the sight, so I just took a step forward which explains the just not one-on-one overlap.
From the other side of the building you'll get an idea of how huge the building actually is.
The New Town Hall in Leipzig was built between 1899 and 1905 and completed in 1912. With 1,708 rooms across roughly 65,870 m², it was the largest new town hall in Germany at the time. From the Neues Rathaus we moved on to the main square of the city to have lunch and see a littlebit more of the city.
The impressive Bundesverwaltungsgericht and its opposite building. You can see the 114 meters high tower of the Neues Rathaus lookingout over it.
On December 4, 1943, Leipzig was bombed by the Allied Forces and the New Town Hall got severely damaged. Restoration works started soon with first the plenary hall and the Ratskeller and was ready by 1949. During these bombings all raw materials by the hand of Kurt Hielscher was lost, as I was informed about in 2018 by Kurt Hielscher's grandson.
Into the city center with the stunning Marktplatz, where we had lunch on the terrace of Spizz.
Lunch at Spizz on the Marktplatz.
Marktplatz with the Altes Rathaus that houses the Stadtgeschichtliches Museum Leipzig.
Stunning passages in Leipzig.
The making of.... Today, Leipzig revealed itself to me as a place where the past and the eccentric present walk side by side, each making the other more vivid.
Below: View on the Alte Rathaus.
