Leipzig, gafapasta territory
1 and 2. PROVIDE AT THE ENDS
Let's be honest. In Leipzig, on average, you don't eat well. Or at least, a Spaniard of 1.70 meters and 13% body fat does not eat well. For this reason, it is best to look for places where you can enjoy a different atmosphere and thus, at least, take a good anecdote home. These two recommendations are also two geographical extremes.
The first is the Auerbachs-Keller , one of the oldest taverns in Europe known . It all started when a physician and doctor from his famous university named Heinrich Stromer from Auerbach opened a bar for students. The fact that a teacher decides to set up a place for the drunkenness of his students may seem counterproductive, but our dear Heinrich was convinced that wine is a wonderful prophylactic against various ailments.
Auerbachs Keller, antiquity turned into a tavern
The place was popularized to the extreme by Goethe , number one fan of late-night revelry here. In fact, in his Splendor , the famous German writer placed here the first of the stops of the different trips in which Mephistopheles guided Faust. An amazing statue of both welcomes every customer at the entrance, located in the Mädler Passage . Next to it are the stairs that lead to the basement where this special place is located that is waiting for the 100,000,000th diner in its history.
Goethe statue at the entrance to Mädler Passage
If the old brewery is below street level, the 4 restaurants in the **Panorama Tower** are located about 140 meters high . Almost nothing. It has that kick of being in the heart of the city and being a balcony from which to look out over the city and get views of the famous augustusplatz . Of course, as long as you respect the weather, something miraculous in these latitudes.
View of Leipzig from the Panorama Tower
3 and 4. THAT INDESCRIPTABLE EASE FOR ART
If anything in Leipzig resisted wars, occupations and brainwashing, it was the art . His Academy was, has been and is one of the most famous in the world and in recent years the city has insisted on becoming infected with its glitter. So in 2004 it opened with fanfare and uproar the new building of the Museum of Fine Arts , known as the MDBK , a large glass prism that houses the best of international contemporary art.
New Museum of Fine Arts
But as if this were not enough, the new millennium also brought with it a new reuse of the industrial areas that were close to the city. Thus arose the Spinnerei , he he old spinning mill that is today a space for art, exhibitions and scholarship life. A true factory where art is produced: from the artists' easels to the galleries where they exhibit.
The old spinning mill, now converted into a cultural center
Before yarn, today culture
5. MURALS
Saving distances, Leipzig has a bit of Berlin . It was precisely in this city that popular protests against the GDR regime began. Demonstrations without organizations behind them, born instantly from the citizens and which inspired the fall of the Berlin Wall a month later. Leipzig is full of icons that recall both World War II and the communist era and popular uprisings, but the most striking are the gigantic murals that occupy entire buildings remembering these acts.
Almost like in Berlin
6,7 and 8 CAPITAL OF MUSIC
It is impossible to disassociate Leipzig from classical music because of some illustrious neighbors like Bach, Mendelssohn or Wagner. Far from unleashing here a whole symphony of reasons and geographical points for mythomaniacs, it is necessary to highlight three special places. First of all, the Church of Santo Tomas , headquarters of one of the most recognized children's choirs on the planet. A choir conducted by Bach himself , whose mortal remains rest inside.
The Gewandhaus It has everything that can be asked of a concert hall: enviable acoustics (it was said that the best in the world) and a century-old orchestra that knows how to improve itself every year. Too bad that the current futuristic design of its lines is neither futuristic nor monumental.
On the other side of the Augustusplatz is the other musical temple, that of the ** Opera House **. Same ingredients as the orchestra, but also the same drama. Lots of history, different venues and a surprising interior with its almost 1,500 seats. However, from the outside it appears to be nothing more than a neoclassical building without any grace. The umpteenth blunder of the GDR.
The Leipzig Opera House and the Panorama Tower
9. THE CHURCH THAT IS NOT A CHURCH
Without moving from Augustusplatz, the third most surprising building on this large esplanade looks like the modern version of a church. In fact, it even has a name for it: Paulinerkirche . But if you cross its doors, what you find is a headquarters of the university of this city. Everything has an explanation. Back in the 70s, the local government decided to demolish one of the most beautiful churches in the city to undertake the extension of the university buildings. When democracy and sanity returned, it was decided that said building It would be built in the same way as the old temple, in a way to vindicate the German culture . In fact, in the new layout of the place a space has been reserved for prayer, yes, without distinction of religion or creed.
It is not a church. Although it was
10,11 and 12 IS NOT MILAN, BUT ALMOST...
One problem: it rains a lot here and we want to buy. One solution: creating large passageways that emulate the Milanese galleries with shops of all kinds, although all of them have an old-fashioned aftertaste. The most monumental and spectacular? Note 3: The Mädler, the Königshaus and the Messehof ; all of them peculiar with grandiose stores, not very globalized and very curious.
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Interior of the Mädler gallery