Day 89: Leipzig

May 17, 2025

This is our day to tour around Leipzig on foot. But first, a special treat. Yesterday we wrote about those two boys from near Leipzig that came to stay at our farm. They were Marius and Christian, and it was about 20 years ago! Not only have they stayed our friends for that time, and their parents and other family too, but both boys have married and we now have one de facto grandchild from each! These are Troy and Ferdinand, and with their parents permission, they are making their Cycleblaze debuts here:

We hung around the room for a little extra time this morning, and I used this to prepare for trying to prod Booking.com to actually refund the money from the Belle Man, the hotel in Longevelle-sur-Doubs that was closed and had left us standing out in the cold. Booking said they had refunded the amount, but VISA showed no record of it. When I got to the bottom of it, I found that since our VISA card had earlier been compromised and cancelled, they had sent a replacement to Canada. Until that replacement would be activated, their online system was going to show us little about the account, but not such advanced facts as did Booking put our money back in. So I said to the man on the VISA "help" line -"that means that while we are out of the country and not able to access something you sent in the mail to Canada, we're screwed?" "Well, yeah" was his reply, worded a little more diplomatically. Incidentally, I was calling him in Canada using up international calling minutes, because "Skype" had helpfully morphed into "Teams", and Teams does not offer the service of calling an outside landline. It gives me the feeling that these big companies do not have our best intrests at heart. Where did I ever get the idea that they did?

(Well, with VISA, it could be from their slogans. Currently that is "Yes you can." - yeah, sure. But they have had many:

Life takes Visa.

Visa. All it takes

More than Money

Think of it as money

For things people do.

The future takes Visa.

Life flows better with Visa.

Makes the world go round.

Everywhere You Want to Be

Life is for living. Visa is there

You can have it the way you want it

Sometimes it makes all the difference

Your world is waiting, and Visa is there

Heart

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We started our tour of Leipzig at the train station. When we first came to Leipzig years ago, this was a source of quite some pride for Juergen, because the station is not only a large and efficient place for trains, but it was redeveloped with a three level shopping Promenade. The station is the largest in Europe, measured by floor area. It was one of Germany's busiest when it was destroyed in July 1944, but it was restored by 1955. After Reunification, it was redeveloped, and inaugurated in 1997.

That Promenade contains some very useful shops, bakeries, and food outlets and is a vibrant part of what has turned into a vibrant city.

We started at one shop , a branch of Le Crobag, which is a French multinational bakery with 52 shops in many countries. Within seconds of beginning to make our order, I could hear that the young woman behind the counter was speaking excellent English, and I commented on it. She said that she learned from Youtube, which she had been watching since an early age. We also found that she spoke French, Russian, and Ukrainian, as well as German and English, for she was Ukrainian. We found it very pleasant to speak to such an alert and personable young person, while hoping that there was no tragedy in that Ukrainian background.

With a Nussschnecke and Haise Chokolat in hand, we cruised along until we came to Saturn, which is the electronics shop, in competition with Media Markt. Naturally I wanted to go in and see what they had in cameras, as if I need another camera. But Dodie said "Not with this food in hand". I snapped that if I needed policing, then surely the store would provide that service, and did not need her. With that I stepped over the threshold, and a large, huge, man immediately approached and told me in German that I could not bring a drink inside. Dodie then had a jolly time with the man, explaining how I never listen (to her).

The thing about the man was that we both had a "Blink" experience and just liked him immediately. We walked on for a short bit, finished the hot chocolate, and returned. When we did, we found the man drinking something and had fun pouncing on him for a double standard. But he defended himself, pointing out that he was still technically on the other side of the threshold. From there we started chatting with the man, who turned out to be from Tunisia. He gave us a tourism rundown of his country and urged us to go see it.

In this way, our bike tour had allowed us to connect with someone from Ukraine and from Tunisia, and importantly, to make contact with two humans that we liked a lot and are very glad to have known, however briefly.

Leipzig is using these sleek streetcars. They congregate in front of the train station.

The station, with the sign for the shopping Promenade

Inside the station, for some reason, a basketball court had been set up.

And outside, also for no apparent reason, some men were having a three legged race.

Also for no reason that we could make out, police had brought out their collection of Mercedes vans, as if they were planning to arrest a pile of people. I, of course, was more concerned with wondering what it would take to have them mail me such a van to Canada.

Meanwhile, very high in the air, they were also hanging out with a chopper.

We couldn't think of any anniversary, or other reason the police might be on alert, and as we walked the city for next hours, we ran into no excitement of a police nature at all. Still, the chopper hung up there for well over an hour or two.

We walked a quite simple pattern, though the part of the city that seems to have been within the original wall. You can see it in the track above, starting and ending at the train station.

We walked by a park, along to the Opera, on Augustus Square. From there we could look at the 36 story city skyscraper (City-Hochhaus) with its bell tower, or maybe just bell sculpture on top. The slogan - Work Conquers All - seemed to come from some earlier era.

A right turn here took us onto Grimmaische Straße, which is one of the main pedestrian zones in Leipzig's city center and forms the east-west connection between Augustusplatz and the very famous St. Thomas Church.

As soon as we entered the street, we ran into what was to be one of many plaques recalling the events of Fall, 1989, when protests in Leipzig helped to bring about the end of the GDR. The one we first ran in to seems to be #12 in a series, but we certainly did not spot them all. They are very significant, though, because they document where in these streets some of the very significant events of the 20th century took place,

We see that in the present time, every Saturday one can go on a tour of the 1989 protest sites:

Also there are prayers for peace, at the Nikolai Church, where the 1989 protests were focused. Monday at 5, the sign says.

Despite all this. we and the other people out on this fine day can just enjoy the street and its beautiful buildings:

We did of course go into the Nikolai church, which is very beautiful, with its unique ceiling, and columns topped with fern-like plaster work.

We continue to see anti-war messages in Germany. An example is here, inside the church, asserting that God does not favour war. That, of course, has not always been the church's position, so it's great to see.

Back on the street, we ran into something truly authentic and representative. That is, a Bratwurst stand. The people were cooking official long white sausages over charcoal, and serving them on good buns, with semi-sharp mustard.

For future years, when we check back, we'll see the price was €3.90

Something that Leipzig is proud of is a series of shops in indoor arcades formed by roofing over between buildings. I found this not too earth shattering, though there was this nice decoration at one point:

Again back on the street, and with a lot more zip, was this street performer playing rhythmically on a selection of old pots. He also used a plastic jerry can to good effect for rhythm, and very much earned a donation. Meanwhile a man poked me in the elbow and solicited a donation into his paper cup. "Better learn to play the pots", I advised him.

Meanwhile we continued to stroll by impressive beautiful buildings:

And here, the entrance to another enclosed passageway.

Inside the passage, Auerbachs Keller is one of the oldest restaurants in the city. It was already established as a wine bar in 1525, but it attracted great fame when Goethe put it into his play Faust. In the play, Mephistopheles introduces Faust to earthly pleasures in the cellar. Today there are a number of different rooms, like the Cask Cellar and the Goethe Room, but the most with it is probably the Mephisto Bar.

Mephistopheles enchants students in the bar, in the statue shown below.

Nearby is the Market Square, the centre of the old city. This is where the fabulous Christmas Market is held, plus an Easter market, Music market, Wine Festival, and others.

Buildings at one end of the market square

Again back out in the street, we have a branch of Commerzbank. This one got our attention for the gold statues on the outside. Would we want an account in such a fancy bank (probably yes), or would we wish they would direct their money to lower service fees rather than golden statues?

We like this branch. Commerzbank is headquartered in Frankfurt.

But is this lady coated in clients' gold?

Now we came to St Thomas church. This one has a real claim to world heritage status, because of the famous people who have been involved here. The church dates from the 1100's, but there may be even earlier foundations underneath. Probably it got its big kick start in 1217, when someone donated a relic of Saint Thomas. The current tower was built in 1537. J.S. Bach directed the choir and taught at the school, until he died in 1750. Mozart on tour played the organ here in 1789, and Richard Wagner was baptized here in 1813. He later studied piano with the cantor Christian Weinlig. There is also a statue of Felix Mendelssohn outside. Mendelssohn lived and worked in Leipzig around 1835, and conducted much Bach music.

The back of St Thomas church. It was not super easy to find the entrance, at the front. OK, maybe that was obvious!

While walking around the church looking for the way in, we encountered an I.D. Buzz. We judged it too little for our kind of uses. This one is in use by traffic police.

A small Bach bust, but he is really big around here.

Just by the church entrance, the info panel below explained a lot about it, with English subtitles. As usual, we remarked that this was too much information for us, but a German man standing there too said he thought it was reasonable. He also talked about a Bach concert coming up on Monday, for which he had scored some discount tickets. He was really excited to be going.

Inside the church, Bach figures in the stained glass.

This prayer cross was installed September 4, 1989.

Here is Bach's tomb. Bach was initially at St John's church, which was destroyed in 1943. Bach's bones were found in the crypt, in 1949, and transferred here. This is not technically "his" church, but only his workplace.

The organ played by Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, et al, and the ceiling that would have been providing the acoustics.

A fun part of the walk was through the 'barefoot lane". This refers to Franciscan monks who would walk barefoot here, between market and their monastery. Today it is stuffed with restaurants. We found these tempting - with lots of spargel dishes, sauerbraten, and the like. We would have stopped, but never quite spotted a vacant table.

We found in Bamberg that you do not need fachwerk to create a beautiful street. The same is true in Leipzig. Here is a street that looks great as an ensemble, and that also has some individually attractive buildings.

The house at the end of the block is called Romanus House

Arriving now back at the station, we encounter one more of the historical plaques:

This turbulent Leipzig history now seems truly in the past. The optimism for the city that Juergen expressed some years ago seems to be carrying on. On the walking streets, things were vibrant and the atmosphere upbeat. And Leipzig has retained enough of its heritage to seemingly give it a strong foundation. This was our first more or less careful walk around, and we came away very impressed!

Today's ride: 8 km (5 miles)
Total: 3,281 km (2,038 miles)

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Laura SeiditaWhat a great tour! Thanks for taking us along with you. I enjoyed the memories of Germany and as rode along with you!
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4 days ago

Martin RuebenackerThank you for letting me, Martin participate from Speyer on, :-) I wosh you and Dodo a safe trip home. From Monday on we will be closer to you but much more south in Las Vegas doing the park tour but not with the bike. Will send you the Chagall pictures when returned from the US. Warmest regards Martin
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3 days ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Martin RuebenackerIf you read Desert Solitaire by Edward Abby, you will get a feel for the area. Abby writes about his time as a ranger in Arches Park, Arches is in Utah, 750 km from Vegas. Internet tells us there are 13 national parks "near" Los Vegas.
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3 days ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Steve Miller/GrampiesOn Amazon.de I found Desert Solitaire in English, French, Dutch, but not German?
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3 days ago