The largest city in the state of Saxony, Leipzig was formerly part of East Germany. It made history in 1989 when 70,000 people marched around the city in a peaceful revolution that triggered the end of the German Democratic Republic and cleared the way for re-unification.

Although change has come rapidly, Leipzig covets its rich artistic heritage. Felix Mendelssohn and Johann Sebastian Bach both lived here, and a festival still takes place in the city every May to honour the latter composer. Culture vultures are well served by concert halls, an opera house, cabarets, theatres and jazz cellars.

It is also a thriving commercial and industrial centre and home to the Leipzig Trade Fair building, a shimmering modern-day Crystal Palace built in 1996. Its new Central Stadium, where World Cup 2006 matches were played out, is another architectural wonder. It was poetically described by architect Michael Wiederspahn like so: "The contours of the roof remind you of a UFO, a beetle's armoured shell or an insect's wings, a futuristic gesture of a structure. It rises out of the shallows, undulates nearly 60 metres above the turf and arches over the stands, enveloping them in a shimmering, metallic membrane."

Rob Castell adds ...

Goethe praised his Leipzig in Faust as ‘a small Paris... it educates its people.’ The city will certainly attract those with an eye and an ear for culture, having been the home of both Bach and Mendelssohn, the former of whom is buried in the St. Thomas Church in the city centre. Leipzig also boasts a number of theatres, an opera house and several concert halls – a concert given by the Gewandhaus orchestra is a recommended treat. Otherwise, take in the aroma at the coffee museum inside the ‘Zum Arabischen Coffe Baum’ or wander along the ‘Southern Mile’ at night.