History

7th-9th First Slavic settlement near the confluence of the rivers Elster and Parthe.

1015 First mention of ''urbs Libzi'' in the Chronicle's of Bishop Thietmar von Merseburg.

around 1165 Margrave Otto the Rich grants Leipzig its city charter and market rights.

1212 Foundation of Augustinian Canons St Thomas.

 

1409 Foundation of the University of Leipzig.

1481 Marcus Brandis, a wandering printer from Delitzsch, prints the first book in Leipzig.

1497 Emperor Maximilan I grants the town imperial trade fair rights. In 1507 he confirms the rights and grants the ''Stapelrecht'', handling rights forcing passing traders to offer their goods for sale in the town.

 

1519 Disputation between Martin Luther and Dr. Johann Eck at Pleissenburg Castle.

1539 The reformation movement reaches Leipzig; Luther preaches at St Thomas's Church.

1555 - 56 The Old Weigh House and the Town Hall (now the Old Town Hall) are built in the market square by Hieronymus Lotter.

 

1632 Battle of Lützen: King Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden is killed in battle.

1650 The world's first daily newspaper is published in Leipzig.

1678 - 87 The stock exchange is built in Naschmarkt square.

1693 Opening of the first opera house on the Brühl promenade.

1723 - 50 Johann Sebastian Bach works as the towns musical director and choirmaster of St Thomas's Church in Leipzig.

1743 Birth of the ''Great Concerts'', the forerunners of today's Gewandhaus concerts, and of the Gewandhaus Orchestra, the oldest German civilian concert Orchestra.

1765 - 68 Johann Wolfgang Goethe studies at the University of Leipzig.

 

1813 Richard Wagner is born in Leipzig.
The Battle of the Nations is fought near Leipzig.

1825 The ''German Booksellers and Publishers Association of Leipzig'' is founded.

1826 The publishing company Brockhaus begins industrial scale book production.

1828 Anton Philipp Reclam founds a lending library and later a publishing house.

1835 - 47 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy works in Leipzig as the conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra.

1839 The first long-distance railway line is opened between Leipzig and Dresden.

1842 Construction of the Bavarian Railway Station.

1843 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy und Robert Schumann grnden in Leipzig das Konservatorium der Musik.

1846 Foundation of the Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig.

1858 Opening of the Museum of Fine Arts at Augustusplatz.

1868 Opening of the New Theatre at Augustusplatz.

1878 Ernst Pinkert opens the Leipzig Zoological Gardens.

1891 - 97 Reconstruction of the university building at Augustusplatz.

1894 The German Central Library for the Blind is founded in Leipzig.

after 1894 The Leipzig Fair is turned from a product fair into a samples fair.

1895 Inauguration of the Supreme Court of the German Reich.

1899 - 1905 The Pleissenburg Castle is demolished and the New Town Hall is built in its place.

1902 - 15 Construction of the Central Station.

1911 Opening of Leipzig Airport.

1912 Opening of the German National Library.

1913 Inauguration of the Monument of the Battle of the Nations and St Alexeis Russian Memorial Church.

1924 The Leipzig Station of MDR Central German Broadcasting goes on air for the first time.

1933 Nazi rulers stage the Reichstag Arson Trial at the Supreme Court.

1938 ''The Night of the Broken Glass'' marks the beginning of the end for more than 13,000 Jewish residents in the city.

1943 On 4th December 1943 Leipzig suffers its most severe air raids.

1945 US troops arrive in the city on 18th April; on 2nd July the Americans hand over control to the Soviet army.

1946 The University of Leipzig reopens. First trade fair after the war.

1953 Strikes and demonstrations against the communist East German government take place on 17th June.

1960 Opening of the New Opera House on the site of the New Theatre which was destroyed during the Second World War.

1968 Demolition of the University Church in the central Karl Marx Platz square, now Augustusplatz.

1975 Completion of the new buildings of Karl Marx University (todays University of Leipzig) on the site of the former University Church.

1981 Inauguration of the new Leipzig Concert Hall Gewandhaus.

1989 Prayers for Peace are held at St Nicolas Church. The Monday Demonstrations which started out along Leipzig's inner Ring Road after the prayers brought about the peaceful reunification of Germany.

1993 Celebrations for the 300th anniversary of the Leipzig Opera House, the 250th anniversary of the Gewandhaus Orchestra, and 150th anniversary of the Music Conservatory.

1996 Opening of the Leipzig New Fair exhibition centre.

1997 Reopening of the Central Station with the Hauptbahnhof Promenaden a modern shopping and service centre.

1999 To commemorate the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Peaceful Revolution, the Forum of Contemporary History opens in Leipzig on the 9th October.

 

2000 Opening of a new runway facilitating intercontinental flights at Leipzig/Halle Airport. Opening of the media city Leipzig.

2002 Opening of the new Porsche plant in Leipzig.

2005 Leipzig is elected as the German bid city for hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012.

by 2005 A new BMW plant is constructed in Leipzig.