We came to understand a little more about Leipzig today, as Jurgen and Birgit drove us into town, with stops and explanations about what we were seeing. We then walked the inner town before ending at our ICE train to Frankfurt.
Leipzig in the 20th century was a heavily industrialized town, surrounded by coal mines. The coal, however, became largely depleted, and industry languished under the communist German Democratic Republic. Leipsig became a centre of agitation for removal of the communist regime, a movement that is now enshrined in its communal psyche. Following reunification, economic development restarted, following new channels divorced from polluting industry.
The most dramatic illustration of the old and the new can be found here in the form of clear and deep lakes that fill the south section of the city, plus one that is just by the suburb of Markranstadt. These are decommissioned coal mines, now allowed to fill with water. The depth can easily be 40 meters, and the lakes now are hubs for recreation. This is not a story of purposeful abandonment of polluting activity, but just a smart response to what came about anyway. One piece of evidence on this is that the electricity supply of Leipzig is still one or more coal fired plants, using fuel from remaining coal fields. However a quite high, and increasing, proportion of power is coming from wind and solar, and also the development of biomass.
Markranstadt is benefiting from this flooded open pit coal mine, whose waters are now a clear haven for recreational divers.
Despite it all, Leipzig still relies on coal power. The map shows the power plant and remaining mine. Kraftwerk is an electrical plant and tagebau means open pit mine.
But the ma also shows wind turbines. Some turbines are at the BMW plant north of town. The plant is making electric cars. There is also a large Porsche plant in the same vicinity.
Inside the city there was lots of evidence of times gone by, with many old brick factories, and Soviet era apartment buildings. However Jurgen brought us to see places where the old factories were being redeveloped into artists spaces, or to house new service based or otherwise clean industries. We also went to see some new apartment construction, pricey because of being located beside a river channel that offered kayaking and something of a water environment. The new construction, at least on the outside, did not look much different from the soviet stuff. I think the problem is that modern architecture, no matter who is doing it, does not compare well with much that has been done in the past.
We passed deeper into the city, past some of the monumental buildings, like the Hall of Justice, and found these to be very nice. Finally we parked at the train station. The train station is centrally located, making it a good starting point for a stroll through the town. And of course it would be a good ending point for getting completely out of town!
The station itself has take advantage of its location and has installed a fairly serious shopping mall beneath its main level. This is something we have also seen in other cities, such as at Montreal's Place Bonadventure/ Windsor Station. I guess one difference to us is that here in Germany the mall contains quality goods. Of course I noticed that in the bakery category, and tried to snap some farewell shots. One other shot was of some white "spargel", which we were only able to sample once on this trip. Jurgen made me feel "better" by pointing out that the spargel I was drooling over was not really fresh, being not local but product of Greece.
That McDonald's ad is not supporting my claims about high quality here very well!
This makes a good shot if you want to complain about stairs, but actually we think these guys did have a stair free path to the trains. Maybe they don't care!
Leipzig and Dresden played important roles in the ultimate demise of the communist regime, through large scale demonstrations. These demonstrations in Leipzig took place at various downtown locations, but were centred on the Nikolai church. Prayers for freedom here spilled out to the streets, such that many thousands ended up demonstrating there.
Inside the church there is a preserved poster, inviting people to prayers for freedom, every Monday at 5.
It means swords into ploughshares. Friedensgebet is "peace prayer".
The Nikolai church itself is elegant, with columns topped with green representations of rushes. Dodie also spotted a very active mister, but this of course was not for the plaster rushes, but rather to prevent the drying out of the interior woodwork.
One big claim to fame for Leipzig was that Bach lived here from 1723 until his death in 1750. He was in charge of music at the town's four big churches, including the Nikolai, which is why they have a bust of him inside.
The next church on our walk was a new one, inaugurated in 2009 and built on the site of the former Paulinerkirche, which had dated from 1231. Shockingly, the church was dynamited by the communist regime in 1968. As explained by Birgit, the university was then a centre of Marxist education, and it seemed inconceivable to the political powers to have a church on campus.
After some debate, the university replace the demolished church, with this.
Our grasp of Leipzig was put to the test as we took the elevator and ended at the 31st floor observation deck of the Panorama Tower. This used to be part of the university, but is now owned by Merrill Lynch. It was once the tallest building in Germany, but is now only 24th.
The view from the top gives an impression of the overall city, as well as the challenge of identifying places one has already been, on the ground. Of course there was Jurgen as guide, and he really knows all about the city.
Leipzig has some old buildings, but generally it looks quite new.
Descending from the tower, a little relieved - heights can be scary -, we finally walked into the square in front of the old city hall, where the Easter market was in full swing.
The market was focussed on old time crafts, and backed this up with a stage on which performers were playing medieval instruments. Many vendors had a touch of the medieval in what they were wearing, too.
There was a whole roster of medieval musical groups that were to appear on stage.
We continued back to the station, where Birgit and Jurgen so kindly stuck with us, helping with finding the track section and carriage, and standing by on the platform until our train pulled away. Dodie cried at this point. They are such a sweet couple, and wonderful friends.
On the way to the train we spotted a fire in a waste basket. Jurgen went and found a DB employee to put it out.
The fast ICE train was smooth and comfortable, and soon we were approaching Frankfurt. We mused about how suddenly we were back near the Rhein, near Koblenz and the Mosel, - our familiar haunts. But we realized it had no meaning, since it was just a waypoint in super fast transport. Still, when we crossed the Main river, we gasped "Ooh, the Main!".
Out of the train station, yes, there stood Frankfurt, with some of its signature tall buildings.
Anya had been concerned about our choice of a train station hotel, because the area by the station is quite scuzzy. Fortunately, we had not been quite so fortunate as to land exactly a place by the station, but rather had to walk about 1/2 km. That put us into a quiet kind of residential area.
Tomorrow is our last "included breakfast", but we are not expecting much from this extremely budget hotel. That ok, because it's time to wean ourselves from the European luxuries. Before long, I will be shopping for tortes in Costco!
Sharon PledgerSafe journey home Steve and Dodie! I will miss your journal. Hope all goes well once home for you and the family. No doubt, you will return to finish this trip. Thanks for taking us along! Reply to this comment 5 years ago
