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First documented in
1015, and endowed with city and market
privileges in 1165, the city of Leipzig has
fundamentally shaped the history of Saxony and
of Germany. Leipzig has always been known as a
place of commerce. The Leipzig Trade Fair, which
began in the middle ages, became an event of
international importance; especially as a point
of contact to the East-European economic bloc (Comecon)
of which East Germany was a member.
The
foundation of the University of
Leipzig in 1409 initiated the
city's development into a center
of German law and the publishing
industry, and towards being a
location of the Reichsgericht
(Supreme Court), and the German
National Library (founded in
1912). Johann Sebastian Bach
worked in Leipzig from 1723 to
1750, at the St. Thomas Lutheran
church, and Richard Wagner, the
composer, was born in Leipzig in
1813. Later in the same year,
the Leipzig region was the arena
of the Battle of the Nations. In
1913 a monument, the
Völkerschlachtdenkmal,
celebrating the hundred year
anniversary of this event was
finished.
The importance of the Trade Fair and the University to the creation of a vibrant urban life and city politics from the Reformation through the Nineteenth Century cannot be underestimated. Leipzig became a center of the German and Saxon liberal movements.
| Full Name | Zentralstadion (Central Stadium) |
| Built-Opened | 1956 |
| Capacity | 44,300 |
