Leipzig

Leipzig , city (1994 pop. 490,850), Saxony, E central Germany, at the confluence of the Pleisse, White Elster, and Parthe rivers.

Economy

One of Germany's major industrial, commercial, and transportation centers, it has many rail lines and two airports. Manufactures include textiles, electrical products, automobiles, machine tools, and chemicals. The city harbors major industries in heavy construction and engineering. The area is heavily polluted with sulfur dioxide from nearby coal-processing plants. Important international trade and industrial fairs have been held in the city since the Middle Ages.

Points of Interest

Noteworthy buildings include the Church of St. Thomas (late 15th cent.), which has housed the tomb of Bach since 1950; the Gewandhaus, built in 1884 to replace the earlier structure; the 13th-century Pauline Church; Auerbach's Keller (16th cent.), an inn in which a scene of Goethe's Faust is set; the old city hall (1558); the old stock exchange (1682); the Church of St. John (17th cent.); the large main railroad station; the former German supreme court building (which now houses an art museum); and the opera (1960). In addition to the university (est. 1409), the city has institutes of applied radioactivity and stable isotopes.

History

Originally a Slavic settlement called Lipsk, Leipzig was chartered at the end of the 12th cent. and rapidly developed into a commercial center located at the intersection of important trade routes. A printing industry, which later became important, was started there c.1480. The city was the scene of the famous religious debate between Martin Luther, Carlstadt, and Johann Eck in 1519. In 1539 it accepted the Reformation. Three great battles of the Thirty Years War (two at Breitenfeld and one at Lützen ) were fought near Leipzig.

The city was one of the leading cultural centers of Europe in the age of the philosopher and mathematician Leibnitz, who was born there in 1646, and of the composer Johann Sebastian Bach, who was cantor at the Church of St. Thomas from 1723 until his death. The Univ. of Leipzig (founded 1409) became one of the most important in Germany. In the 18th cent. Gottsched, Gellert, Schiller, and many others made Leipzig a literary center; the young Goethe studied there in 1765. The city's musical reputation reached its peak in the 19th and early 20th cent. Felix Mendelssohn, who died there in 1847, made the Gewandhaus concerts (begun in the 18th cent. in a former guildhouse and still continuing) internationally famous. Robert Schumann worked in Leipzig, Richard Wagner was born there in 1813, and the Leipzig Conservatory (founded by Mendelssohn in 1842-43) became one of the world's best-known musical academies.

The battle of Leipzig, Oct. 16-19, 1813, also called the Battle of the Nations, was a decisive victory of the Austrian, Russian, and Prussian forces over Napoleon I. On Oct. 16 the Prussians under General Blücher defeated the French under Auguste de Marmont at Möckern, near Leipzig. A peace offer by the vastly outnumbered French army was rejected on the following day while the Allies closed in. On Oct. 18 the French were driven to the gates of Leipzig, and most of their Saxon and Württemberg auxiliaries (but not the king of Saxony himself) passed over to the enemy camp. Leipzig was stormed on Oct. 19, and Napoleon's forces began their flight across Germany and beyond the Rhine. It is estimated that 120,000 men (of both sides) were killed or wounded in the battle. Allied losses were heavier than those of the French. The battle is commemorated by a large monument in the city.

Until World War II, Leipzig was the center of the German book and music publishing industry, and the center of the European trade in furs and smoked foods. The city (including the book-trade quarter) was badly damaged in World War II. In Oct., 1989, Leipzig was the site of the largest demonstration against the East German government since 1953; the demonstration was instrumental in the downfall of the Communist government and the subsequent reunification of Germany.

Leipzig City in e central Germany, at the confluence of the Pleisse, White Elster and Parthe rivers. It was founded as a Slavic settlement in the 10th century. In 1813, it was the scene of the Battle of the Nations. It was home to J. S. Bach for 27 years, and is the birthplace of Richard Wagner. It was East Germany's second-biggest city (after Berlin). The printing industry (founded in 1480) is still important. Industries: textiles, machinery, chemicals. Pop. (1999) 490,000.

Leipzig. Ger. city in Saxony with long tradition of sacred and secular music. St Thomas's Church became town church 1755. Several distinguished musicians were Kantor there, one of the finest being Johann Kuhnau, org. from 1684 and Kantor 1701–22. He was succeeded in 1723 by J. S. Bach who stayed until his death in 1750. Like Kuhnau, he became dissatisfied with standards of perf., but many of his church cantatas were written for the choir. His successors incl. J. A. Hiller (1789–1804) and Karl Straube (1918–40). The first opera written for Leipzig was N. A. Strungk's Alceste (1694). Telemann comp. at least 20 operas for Leipzig. The Schauspielhaus was built 1766 after which opera was regularly perf. It became the Stadttheater 1817. The Neues Stadttheater opened 1867. Lortzing was cond. of opera in Leipzig 1844–5; among his successors were Julius Rietz (1847–54), Anton Seidl (1878–80), Arthur Nikisch (1879–89), Gustav Mahler (1886–8), Otto Lohse (1912–23), Gustav Brecher (1923–33), Paul Schmitz (1933–51). Krenek's Jonny spielt auf (1927) and Weill's Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (1930) were f.p. in Leipzig. Opera house was destroyed by bombs 1943. After 1945 Leipzig was in East German (Communist) zone. Joachim Herz was dir. 1959–76. After Ger. reunification (1989), Udo Zimmermann became Intendant 1990 and mus. dir. was Lothar Zagrosek.

Leipzig's concert tradition began in 17th cent. In 1781 a new Gewandhaus (Cloth Hall) was built, enabling the Gewandhaus concerts to become the most important in the city, the first being given on 25 Nov. 1781, cond. by Hiller. Mozart gave a concert of his own works there 1789. Mendelssohn was cond. 1835–47. During his régime Bach's St Matthew Passion was revived and f.ps. were given of Schumann's 1st, 2nd, and 4th syms., Schubert's ‘Great’ C major sym., and Mendelssohn's 3rd sym. and vn. conc. Rietz was cond. 1854–60, Carl Reinecke 1860–95. Brahms cond. all his syms. in Leipzig and his vn. conc. had its première there 1879. New Gewandhaus opened 1884. Conds. were Arthur Nikisch (1895–1922), Furtwängler (1922–9), Bruno Walter (1929–33), Hermann Abendroth (1934–46). Gewandhaus was bombed 1943 and rebuilt 1978. Since 1946 conds. have incl. Franz Konwitschny (1949–62), Vaclav Neumann (1964–8), Kurt Masur (1970–98), Herbert Blomstedt from 1998.

Leipzig also has a radio orch., founded 1924. The Cons. was founded in 1843 through Mendelssohn's efforts and has remained one of the leading institutions of its kind. Leipzig is also the home of org.-builders, several mus. publishers, e.g. Breitkopf & Härtel, Hoffmeister & Kühnel, and C. F. Peters, and of mus. journals such as the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung (1798) and Neue Zeitschrift für Musik.