Latest edition : 23 April 2022
It's not just the music that characterizes Leipzig. There is also pictorial art thanks to its high school of graphic arts. The "Leipzig School" is known in artistic circles around the world with artists such as Werner Tübke and Neo Rauch. Galleries in town like the GH2 give a nice overview.
But to take full measure of the emergence of contemporary art, which shows a completely different facet of Leipzig, head to its neighborhoods. Before the arrival of the factories, Lindenau-Plagwitz was a bucolic suburb. The cotton mill became the largest in Europe before closing permanently in 1993.
It has become a dilapidated, abandoned, polluted, squatted district. From the 2000s, the alternative scene began to take over the premises. Street artists find a great field of expression there.
The abandoned railway station has become the "citizen's station", shared gardens are laid out, a new form of housing is born.
As for the "Spinnerei", the former cotton mill, it is a perfect example of the successful rehabilitation of an industrial wasteland. The brick buildings now house more than 100 workshops and galleries.
Art in all its forms abounds west of Leipzig. The former power station now houses a center for digital art and culture with video installations, 360° projections and music. A technique that allows the visitor a real immersion in the heart of a work. Currently, it is the monumental work of Werner Tübke (1929-2004), “The beginnings of the civil revolution in Germany” which comes back to life. It took the artist 11 years to create this painting, which is the largest in Central Europe with a surface area of 14 by 123 metres. For 27 minutes, the spectator is immersed in the epic of the peasant war, vibrates over the utopias that fail…. A gripping experience.
Before returning to the city center there is one more important site to visit, the imposing Battle of the Nations monument erected to commemorate the battle of 1813, when Prussia, Austria, Russia and Sweden fought against Napoleon's army.
An audio guide also available in English, allows you to know everything about the monument erected between 1898 and 1913.
500 steps lead to the upper platform, an elevator allows you to cross just a few floors. But the panoramic view is worth it.
After the weight of history, it's time to find a little lightness! Our last evening in Leipzig takes us to the cabaret, the famous Krystallpalast, which was one of the most renowned variety theaters in Europe and which hosted artists like Josephine Baker. Young international artists, acrobats, singers and musicians are dragging visitors into a real whirlwind, which ultimately resembles my discovery of Leipzig!
