Monday 18 January 2016

The best practical city guide to see Leipzig, Germany

By Josie Le Blond, freelance journalist based in Berlin

Leipzig is Germany’s boom-town. Last year, the city’s population went up by 12,000, a rise of 2% taking the number of residents over 550,000 for the first time since reunification. Many were newcomers arriving with dreams of a near-empty, artistic paradise, buzzing with a do-it-yourself entrepreneurial spirit. A place where almost anything is possible.

There’s plenty of room to do it. In the old western industrial quarter of Plagwitz, for example, rows of empty factories wait to be transformed into studios and exhibition spaces along the lines of the sprawling Baumwollspinnerei gallery complex, which this summer celebrates its 10th birthday. Western Leipzig’s latest industrial metamorphosis is theKunstkraftwerk. Once a crumbling, unsafe ruin, the former power station has been revamped into a mighty installation space now attracting experimental artists from all over the globe.

But with all the recent buzz – referred to sardonically by locals as “hypezig” – some areas are struggling to keep up with the pace of change. Plagwitz, long plugged as the beating heart of the city’s underground art scene, is said to be losing some of its edge. “Plagwitz has been the in area for years, but things have already moved on,” says art project manager Angela Straube-Bornberg. She says those disillusioned with Plagwitz now look to the city’s wilder, undeveloped eastern district. “The students all live there now. There are galleries and wild parties and projects everywhere.” ....... keep reading ......  http://bit.ly/2kPznB9



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