Leipzig, Rathaus

People come from all over the world to participate in the many fairs (Messe) held in Leipzig. The architecture of the Neue Messe (convention center) complex makes life easy for both exhibitors and trade fair visitors. For example, the Leipzig Book Fair, which is held in the Neue Messe buildings, is internationally renowned. In the heart of Leipzig, the Old Town Hall (1555) stands in the middle of the market place. It was badly damaged in World War II, and restored in the 1950s. Some people (most likely citizens of Leipzig), say this Rathaus, their City Hall, is the most beautiful in Germany.

When we first visited Leipzig in 1991, soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall, department store chains from the West were already renovating existing store buildings. Clerks, customers, and carpenters wandered among racks of clothes and piles of lumber, the clatter of jack hammers competed with the chime of cash registers. The customers were so happy to have such a store, they just weren’t inconvenienced by the construction work.

The line at the employment desk was longer than the lines at the cash registers.