ESCAPADE TO LEIPZIG
One-Day Trip From Berlin
You want to escape for a day from the agitated Berlin life? We have the little cheap tips for you!
Our next suggestion is a day in Leipzig, the musical beating heart of Sachsen, 170km away from Berlin, 2h by bus, around 20€ return trip, departure from Berlin ZOB station with the Flixbus company. The arrival in Leipzig is near the main place. Don’t forget your student card to benefit from the attractive prices for the visits! And beware, in Germany, most of the museums are closed on Monday, and are closing rather early (as well as the churches).
First begin with the main place Augustusplatz where two important concert halls stand: the Neues Gewandhaus with a Water allegory fountain before and the Opera (built by the East German regime, as you can see by the architecture). You will find the first “skyscraper” of the town as well, the Krochhaus, that has on its top two Moors ringing the hour.
Then, when you enter in the historical neighbourhood, there are a lot of little passages with interior courts of Art Deco style and shopping arcades: Mädlerpassage, where Goethe immortalised the tavern Auerbach in the theatre play Faust, or Specks Hof, Strohsack, Steibs Hof, Jägerhof.
On the market place (Markt), there is the old city hall (Altes Rathaus), with the old stock market and a statue of Goethe. The street Katharinenstrasse has very beautiful buildings with traditional architecture.
Don’t miss the beautiful Saint Nicolas church with its pastel pink and green pillars and ceiling. You will find Bach's grave because he was cantor of the church and ran the Saint Thomas school that used to be next the church. There is his statue in front of it, and organists are frequently playing his pieces. There is also a museum next to the church dedicated to Bach which is absolutely amazing (price of the entry: 6€).
Take a rest at the Café Kandler next to the church and try the specialty of the city, which are Leipziger Lerchen, little cakes with marzipan.
Finally, go to the new city hall (Neues Rathaus), where you can clim on top of the belfry between 11am and 14pm.
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If you are passionate by classical music, you should go to the house of Mendelssohn (price of the entry: 6€) and of Schumann (price of the entry: 3,5€). There is even a guided walk suggested by the town to discover the musicians and their houses or memorials of the city by following the silver waves Notenspur on the pavement, with stations where you can listen to their music with your phone (Mendelssohn, Schumann, Grieg, Wagner, Bach…).
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If you are more in the mood for pictorial arts, there is the Beaux Arts museum where there are a lot of paintings from German masters (Cranach, Friedrich, Beckmann). There is also the Grassi museum, specialised in decorative arts, ethnography and music instruments.
