Leipzig Audio Tours

Leipzig has a habit of producing world-historical events in its quiet, methodical way. Johann Sebastian Bach was cantor at the Thomaskirche here from 1723 until his death in 1750. Richard Wagner was born here in 1813. Goethe set the cellar scene of Faust at Auerbach's Keller in the Mädler Passage, an arcade that still exists and still serves wine where Faust reputedly drank. On 9 October 1989, seventy thousand people gathered for a Monday demonstration at the Nikolaikirche and walked peacefully through the streets in what became the decisive moment of the East German revolution, happening without a single shot fired.

The city's musical identity has outlasted all its politics.

The Gewandhaus Orchestra, founded in 1743, is one of the oldest concert orchestras in the world. The Thomaner choir, the school choir associated with the Thomaskirche, has sung continuously for over 800 years. Leipzig is also home to the oldest trade fair in the world, dating to the 12th century, and still hosts the Leipzig Book Fair each March, which brings the German-language publishing industry to the city for four days of readings, debates, and queues.