Editing Leipzig (section)

==History==
{{For timeline}}
{{See also|History of Leipzig|History of the Jews in Leipzig}}
===Origins===
{{See also|Margraviate of Meissen|Electorate of Saxony}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2022}}
[[File:Leipzig 1632.jpg|thumb|Leipzig in the 17th century]]
Leipzig was first documented in 1015 in the chronicles of Bishop [[Thietmar of Merseburg]] as ''{{lang|la|urbs Libzi}}'' ({{lang|la|Chronicon}}, VII, 25) and endowed with city and market privileges in 1165 by [[Otto II, Margrave of Meissen|Otto the Rich]]. [[Leipzig Trade Fair]], started in the [[Middle Ages]], has become an event of international importance and is the oldest surviving trade fair in the world. This encouraged the growth of the [[Leipzig merchant bourgeoisie]].

There are records of commercial fishing operations on the river [[Pleiße]] that, most likely, refer to Leipzig dating back to 1305, when the [[Margrave]] Dietrich the Younger granted the fishing rights to the church and convent of St Thomas.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.neue-ufer.de/leipzig/pleisse_geschichte_fischerei.asp |title=Pleißemühlgraben: Geschichte der Fischerei |publisher=Neue-ufer.de |access-date=26 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402161141/http://www.neue-ufer.de/leipzig/pleisse_geschichte_fischerei.asp |archive-date=2 April 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

There were a number of [[monastery|monasteries]] in and around the city, including a [[Franciscans|Franciscan]] monastery after which the [[Barfußgäßchen]] (Barefoot Alley) is named and a monastery of Irish monks ({{lang|de|Jacobskirche}}, destroyed in 1544) near the present day {{lang|de|Ranstädter Steinweg}} (the old ''{{lang|la|[[Via Regia]]}}'').

The [[University of Leipzig]] was founded in 1409 and Leipzig developed into an important centre of German law and of the publishing industry in Germany, resulting, in the 19th and 20th centuries, with the [[Reichsgericht]] (Imperial Court of Justice) and the [[German National Library]] being located here.

During the [[Thirty Years' War]], two battles took place in {{lang|de|[[Breitenfeld, Leipzig|Breitenfeld]]}}, about {{cvt|8|km|mi|0|abbr=off}} outside Leipzig city walls. The [[Battle of Breitenfeld (1631)|first Battle of Breitenfeld]] took place in 1631 and [[Battle of Breitenfeld (1642)|the second]] in 1642. Both battles resulted in victories for the Swedish-led side.

On 24 December 1701, when [[Franz Conrad Romanus]] was mayor, an oil-fueled [[street light]]ing system was introduced. The city employed light guards who had to follow a specific schedule to ensure the punctual lighting of the 700 lanterns.

===19th century===
[[File:Battle of Leipzig by Zauerweid.jpg|thumb|[[Battle of Leipzig]], 1813]]
The Leipzig region was the arena of the 1813 [[Battle of Leipzig]] between [[Napoleonic France]] and an allied coalition of [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]], [[Russian Empire|Russia]], Austria and Sweden. It was the largest battle in Europe before the [[First World War]] and the coalition victory ended [[Napoleon]]'s presence in Germany and would ultimately lead to his first exile on [[Elba]]. The [[Monument to the Battle of the Nations]] celebrating the centenary of this event was completed in 1913. In addition to stimulating German nationalism, the war had a major impact in mobilizing a civic spirit in numerous volunteer activities. Many volunteer militias and civic associations were formed, and collaborated with churches and the press to support local and state militias, patriotic wartime mobilization, humanitarian relief and postwar commemorative practices and rituals.<ref>Katherine Aaslestad, "Cities and War: Modern Military Urbanism in Hamburg and Leipzig during the Napoleonic Era." ''German History'' 35.3 (2017): 381–402.</ref> While over half of the [[Kingdom of Saxony]] was formally ceded to Prussia, Leipzig remained part of [[Frederick Augustus I of Saxony|King Frederick Augustus I]].

When it was made a terminus of the first German long-distance railway to [[Dresden]] (the capital of Saxony) in 1839, Leipzig became a hub of Central European railway traffic, with [[Leipzig Hauptbahnhof]] the largest [[terminal station]] by area in Europe. The railway station has two grand entrance halls, the eastern one for the [[Royal Saxon State Railways]] and the western one for the [[Prussian state railways]].

In the 19th century, Leipzig was a centre of the German and Saxon liberal movements.<ref>{{cite EB9 |wstitle = Leipsic |volume= XIV |last1= Muirhead |first1= James Fullarton |author1-link= James Fullarton Muirhead | pages = 429–431 |short=1}}</ref> The first German [[List of Labour Parties|labor party]], the [[General German Workers' Association]] (''Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiterverein'', ADAV) was founded in Leipzig on 23 May 1863 by [[Ferdinand Lassalle]]; about 600 workers from across Germany travelled to the foundation on the new railway. Leipzig expanded rapidly to more than 700,000 inhabitants. Huge {{Lang|de|[[Gründerzeit]]}} areas were built, which mostly survived both war and post-war demolition.
[[File:Leipzig um 1900.jpg|thumb|Augustusplatz with [[Leipzig Opera]] House, {{Circa|1900}}]]

===20th century===
{{See also|History of Leipzig from 1933 to 1939|Bombing of Leipzig in World War II|University of Music and Theatre Leipzig}}
[[File:Neues Rathaus Leipzig nach1905.jpg|thumb|left|[[New Town Hall (Leipzig)|New Town Hall]] of Leipzig, built in 1905]]

With the opening of a fifth production hall in 1907, the [[Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei]] became the largest [[cotton mill]] company on the continent, housing over 240,000 spindles. Yearly production surpassed 5&nbsp;million kilograms of yarn.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spinnerei.de/the-heady-early-days.html |title=The heady early days |website=spinnerei.de |language=de |last=Müller-Stahl |first=Karoline |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190612012317/http://www.spinnerei.de/the-heady-early-days.html |archive-date=12 June 2019}}</ref>

During [[World War I]], in 1917, the American Consulate was closed, and its building became a temporary place of stay for Americans and [[Allies of World War I|Allied]] refugees from [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]], [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]] and [[Empire of Japan|Japan]].<ref name=usem>{{cite web|url=https://de.usembassy.gov/leipzig-history/|title=Brief history|website=U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Germany|date=18 April 2018|access-date=7 November 2022|archive-date=6 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006175121/https://de.usembassy.gov/leipzig-history/|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the 1930s and 1940s, music was prominent throughout Leipzig. Many students attended [[University of Music and Theatre Leipzig|Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy College of Music and Theatre]] (then named Landeskonservatorium.) However, in 1944, it was closed due to [[World War II]]. It re-opened soon after the war ended in 1945.

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On 22 May 1930, [[Carl Friedrich Goerdeler]] was elected mayor of Leipzig. He later became an opponent of the [[Nazi Regime|Nazi regime]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gdw-berlin.de/en/recess/biographies/index_of_persons/biographie/view-bio/carl-friedrich-goerdeler/?no_cache=1 |title=German Resistance Memorial Center – Biographie |last=Center |first=German Resistance Memorial |website=www.gdw-berlin.de |language=en |access-date=3 May 2018 |archive-date=26 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126032830/https://www.gdw-berlin.de/en/recess/biographies/index_of_persons/biographie/view-bio/carl-friedrich-goerdeler/?no_cache=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> He resigned in 1937 when, in his absence, his Nazi deputy ordered the destruction of the city's statue of [[Felix Mendelssohn]]. On [[Kristallnacht]] in 1938, the 1855 [[Moorish Revival]] [[Leipzig synagogue]], one of the city's most architecturally significant buildings, was deliberately destroyed. Goerdeler was later executed by the Nazis on 2 February 1945.

Several thousand forced labourers were stationed in Leipzig during the Second World War.

Beginning in 1933, many Jewish citizens of Leipzig were members of the [[Gemeinde (Germany)|Gemeinde]], a large Jewish religious community spread throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In October 1935, the Gemeinde helped found the Lehrhaus (English: a house of study) in Leipzig to provide different forms of studies to Jewish students who were prohibited from attending any institutions in Germany. Jewish studies were emphasized and much of the Jewish community of Leipzig became involved.<ref name="Willingham">Willingham, Robert, and Crew, David F. ''Jews in Leipzig: Nationality and Community in the 20th Century'', 2005, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. Pgs. 1–148</ref>

Like all other cities claimed by the Nazis, Leipzig was subject to [[Aryanization (Nazism)|aryanisation]]. Beginning in 1933 and increasing in 1939, Jewish business owners were forced to give up their possessions and stores. This eventually intensified to the point where Nazi officials were strong enough to evict the Jews from their own homes. They also had the power to force many of the Jews living in the city to sell their houses. Many people who sold their homes emigrated elsewhere, outside of Leipzig. Others moved to Judenhäuser, which were smaller houses that acted as ghettos, housing large groups of people.<ref name="Willingham"/>

The Jews of Leipzig were greatly affected by the [[Nuremberg Laws]]. However, due to the [[Leipzig Trade Fair]] and the international attention it garnered, Leipzig was especially cautious about its public image. Despite this, the Leipzig authorities were not afraid to strictly apply and enforce anti-semitic measures.<ref name="Willingham" />

On 20 December 1937, after the Nazis took control of the city, they renamed it Reichsmessestadt Leipzig, meaning the "Imperial Trade Fair City Leipzig".<ref name="Rolf Jehke"/> In early 1938, Leipzig saw an increase in [[Zionism]] through Jewish citizens. Many of these Zionists attempted to flee before deportations began.<ref name="Willingham" /> On 28 October 1938, [[Heinrich Himmler]] ordered the deportation of Polish Jews from Leipzig to Poland.<ref name="Willingham" /><ref>"Nazi Germany", ''Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook'', XLII 1997, 167. Fred Grubel and Frank Mecklenburg "Leipzig: Profile of a Jewish Community during the first years of Nazi Germany", ''Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook'', XLII 1997, 167</ref> The Polish Consulate sheltered 1,300 Polish Jews, preventing their deportation.<ref name=dw>{{cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/pl/70-lat-temu-polski-konsul-pokrzy%C5%BCowa%C5%82-plany-nazist%C3%B3w/a-3752931|title=70 lat temu polski konsul pokrzyżował plany nazistów|website=dw.com|access-date=7 November 2023|language=pl|archive-date=7 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107200005/https://www.dw.com/pl/70-lat-temu-polski-konsul-pokrzy%C5%BCowa%C5%82-plany-nazist%C3%B3w/a-3752931|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 9 November 1938, as part of [[Kristallnacht]], in [[Gottschedstrasse (Leipzig)|Gottschedstrasse]], synagogues and businesses were set on fire.<ref name="Willingham"/> Only a couple of days later, on 11 November 1938, many Jews in the Leipzig area were deported to the [[Buchenwald concentration camp|Buchenwald Concentration Camp.]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ushmm.org/online/hsv/source_view.php?SourceId=30769 |title=Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database – Leipzig Jewish Community Collection. |website=www.ushmm.org |language=en |access-date=30 April 2018 |archive-date=26 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126123007/https://www.ushmm.org/online/hsv/source_view.php?SourceId=30769 |url-status=live }}</ref> As [[World War II]] came to an end, much of Leipzig was destroyed. Following the war, the [[Communist Party of Germany]] provided aid for the reconstruction of the city.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Leipzig-Germany |title=Leipzig {{!}} Germany |work=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=30 April 2018 |language=en |archive-date=27 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527122316/https://www.britannica.com/place/Leipzig-Germany |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1933, a census recorded that over 11,000 Jews were living in Leipzig. In the 1939 census, the number had fallen to roughly 4,500, and by January 1942 only 2,000 remained. In that month, these 2,000 Jews began to be deported.<ref name="Willingham"/> On 13 July 1942, 170 Jews were deported from Leipzig to [[Auschwitz concentration camp]]. On 19 September 1942, 440 Jews were deported from Leipzig to [[Theresienstadt concentration camp]]. On 18 June 1943, the remaining 18 Jews still in Leipzig were deported from Leipzig to Auschwitz. According to records of the two waves of deportations to Auschwitz there were no survivors. According to records of the Theresienstadt deportation, only 53 Jews survived.<ref name="Willingham"/><ref>{{Cite book |title=Chronik der Juden in Dresden |last=Diamont |first=Adolph |pages=104–106, 109}}</ref>

[[File:Mahnmal Gedenkinstallation 2021.jpg|thumb|Memorial at the site of the Abtnaundorf massacre]]
During the [[German invasion of Poland]] at the start of [[World War II]], in September 1939, the [[Gestapo]] carried out arrests of prominent local [[Polish people|Poles]],<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cygański|first=Mirosław|year=1984|title=Hitlerowskie prześladowania przywódców i aktywu Związków Polaków w Niemczech w latach 1939–1945|journal=Przegląd Zachodni|language=pl|issue=4|page=54}}</ref> and seized the Polish Consulate and its library.<ref name=dw/> In 1941, the American Consulate was also closed by order of the German authorities.<ref name=usem/> During the war, Leipzig was the location of five [[List of subcamps of Buchenwald|subcamps]] of the [[Buchenwald concentration camp]], in which over 8,000 men, women and children were imprisoned, mostly Polish, Jewish, Soviet and French, but also Italian, Czech and Belgian.<ref name=ab>{{cite web|url=https://www.aussenlager-buchenwald.de/|title=Buchenwald war überall|website=aussenlager-buchenwald.de|access-date=7 November 2023|language=de|archive-date=29 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129150934/https://www.aussenlager-buchenwald.de/|url-status=live}}</ref> In April 1945, most surviving prisoners were sent on [[Death marches during the Holocaust|death marches]] to various destinations in Saxony and [[Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945)|German-occupied Czechoslovakia]], whereas prisoners of the Leipzig-Thekla subcamp who were unable to march were either burned alive, shot or beaten to death by the Gestapo, [[SS]], ''[[Volkssturm]]'' and German civilians in the Abtnaundorf massacre.<ref name=Thekla>{{cite web|url=https://www.aussenlager-buchenwald.de/details.html?camp=49|title=Leipzig-Thekla|website=aussenlager-buchenwald.de|access-date=7 November 2023|language=de|archive-date=13 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013050202/https://www.aussenlager-buchenwald.de/details.html?camp=49|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=lb>{{cite web|url=https://liberation.buchenwald.de/en/otd1945/the-abtnaundorf-massacre|title=The Abtnaundorf Massacre|access-date=7 November 2023|archive-date=7 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107202810/https://liberation.buchenwald.de/en/otd1945/the-abtnaundorf-massacre|url-status=live}}</ref> Some were rescued by Polish [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced laborers]] of another camp; at least 67 people survived.<ref name=Thekla/><ref name=lb/> 84 victims were buried on 27 April 1945, however, the total number of victims remains unknown.<ref name=Thekla/><ref name=lb/>
[[File:Fotothek df roe-neg 0002629 002 Trümmerbeseitigung.jpg|thumb|left|Leipzig after bombing in the Second World War]]

During World War II, Leipzig was [[Bombing of Leipzig in World War II|repeatedly struck]] by [[Strategic bombing during World War II|Allied bombing raids]], beginning in 1943 and lasting until 1945. The first raid occurred on the morning of 4 December 1943, when 442 bombers of the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) dropped a total amount of almost 1,400 tons of explosives and incendiaries on the city, destroying large parts of the city centre.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://english.leipzig.de/services-and-administration/history/ |title=History |website=english.leipzig.de |language=en |access-date=2 May 2018 |archive-date=10 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010155546/https://english.leipzig.de/services-and-administration/history/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This bombing was the largest up to that time. Due to the close proximity of many of the buildings hit, a firestorm occurred. This prompted firefighters to rush to the city; however, they were unable to control the fires. Unlike the [[Bombing of Dresden in World War II|firebombing of the neighbouring city of Dresden]], this was a largely conventional bombing with high explosives rather than incendiaries. The resultant pattern of loss was a patchwork, rather than wholesale loss of its centre, but was nevertheless extensive.

The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Leipzig in late April 1945. The U.S. [[2nd Infantry Division (United States)|2nd Infantry Division]] and U.S. [[69th Infantry Division (United States)|69th Infantry Division]] fought their way into the city on 18 April and completed its capture after fierce urban action, in which fighting was often house-to-house and block-to-block, on 19 April 1945.<ref>Stanton, Shelby, ''World War II Order of Battle: An Encyclopedic Reference to U.S. Army Ground Forces from Battalion through Division, 1939–1946'' (Revised Edition, 2006), Stackpole Books, p. 78, 139.</ref> In April 1945, the Mayor of Leipzig, SS-''[[Gruppenführer]]'' [[Alfred Freyberg]], his wife and daughter, together with Deputy Mayor and City Treasurer Ernest Kurt Lisso, his wife, daughter and ''[[Volkssturm]]'' Major and former Mayor Walter Dönicke, all committed suicide in Leipzig City Hall.

The United States turned the city over to the [[Red Army]] as it pulled back from the [[line of contact]] with Soviet forces in July 1945 to the designated occupation zone boundaries. Leipzig became one of the major cities of the German Democratic Republic ([[East Germany]]).

Following the [[End of World War II in Europe|end of World War II]] in 1945, Leipzig saw a slow return of Jews to the city.<ref name="Willingham"/><ref>Ausschuß der Deutschen Statisker, P 136-142. In Lothar Mertens, ''Davidstern unter Hammer und Zirkel: Die Jüdischen Gemeinden in der SBZ-DDR und ihre Behandlung durch Partei und Staat 1945– 1990''. (Haskala, 18) Hildesheim, 1997.</ref> They were joined by large numbers of [[Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950)|German refugees who had been expelled from Central and Eastern Europe]] in accordance with the [[Potsdam Agreement]].<ref>Naimark, Norman M. (1995). ''The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, 1945–1949''. Cambridge: Belknap Press. p. 149.</ref>

[[File:VölkerschlachtdenkmalLeipzig1.jpg|thumb|right|Monument to the Battle of the Nations]]

In the mid-20th century, the city's trade fair assumed renewed importance as a point of contact with the [[Comecon]] Eastern Europe economic bloc, of which East Germany was a member. At this time, trade fairs were held at a site in the south of the city, near the [[Monument to the Battle of the Nations]].

The planned economy of the German Democratic Republic, however, was not kind to Leipzig. Before the Second World War, Leipzig had developed a mixture of industry, creative business (notably publishing), and services (including legal services). During the period of the German Democratic Republic, services became the concern of the state, concentrated in [[East Berlin]]; creative business moved to [[West Germany]]; and Leipzig was left only with heavy industry. To make matters worse, this industry was extremely polluting, making Leipzig an even less attractive city to live in.<ref name="TheProtoCity.com-2014">{{Cite web |url=http://theprotocity.com/leipzig-back-growth-everyone/ |title=Leipzig: Back to Growth, but Not for Everyone |date=25 August 2014 |website=TheProtoCity.com |language=en-US |access-date=26 October 2019 |archive-date=29 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029074413/http://theprotocity.com/leipzig-back-growth-everyone/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Between 1950 and the end of the German Democratic Republic, the population of Leipzig fell from 600,000 to 500,000.<ref name="Power-2016">{{Cite web |url=http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/67845/1/casereport107.pdf |title=Leipzig City Story |last=Power |first=Anne and Elineen Herden |date=May 2016 |website=LSE Housing and Communities |access-date=26 October 2019 |archive-date=21 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121160900/http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/67845/1/casereport107.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

In October 1989, after prayers for peace at [[St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig|St.&nbsp;Nicholas Church]], established in 1983 as part of the peace movement, the [[Monday demonstrations in East Germany|Monday demonstrations]] started as the most prominent mass protest against the [[Government of East Germany|East German government]].<ref>David Brebis (ed.), ''Michelin guide to Germany'', Greenville (2006), p. 324.</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8297630.stm |title=The day I outflanked the Stasi |publisher=BBC |date=9 October 2009 |access-date=9 October 2009 |archive-date=2 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120802122227/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8297630.stm |url-status=live }} + video.</ref> The [[reunification of Germany]], however, was at first not good for Leipzig. The centrally planned heavy industry that had become the city's specialty was, in terms of the advanced economy of reunited Germany, almost completely unviable, and closed. Within only six years, 90% of jobs in industry had vanished.<ref name="Power-2016" /> As unemployment rocketed, the population fell dramatically; some 100,000 people left Leipzig in the ten years after reunification, and vacant and derelict housing became an urgent problem.<ref name="Power-2016" />

Starting in 2000, an ambitious urban-renewal plan first stopped Leipzig's population decline and then reversed it. The plan focused on saving and improving the city's attractive historic downtown area and particularly its early 20th century building stock, and attracting new industries, partly through infrastructure improvement. However, the renewal has led to [[gentrification]] of parts of the city and has not arrested the decline of Leipzig-East.<ref name="TheProtoCity.com-2014" /><ref name="Power-2016" />

===21st century===
{{multiple image
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| image1            = Bundesverwaltungsgericht_2,_Leipzig.jpg
| width1            = 280
| caption1          = [[Federal Administrative Court of Germany]]
| image2            = Universität Leipzig - Paulinum – Aula und Universitätskirche St. Pauli (Juli 2012).JPG
| width2            = 265
| caption2          = The {{convert|153|m|ft|abbr=on}} high [[City-Hochhaus Leipzig]] and the [[Augusteum (Leipzig)|Augusteum]] of the [[University of Leipzig]]
}}

Leipzig is an important economic centre in Germany. Since the 2010s, the city has been celebrated by the media as a hip urban centre with a very high quality of living.<ref name="Michael Fabricius-2015">{{cite news |url=https://www.welt.de/print/welt_kompakt/print_wirtschaft/article141518027/Leipzig-ist-die-Boom-Stadt-Deutschlands.html |title=Leipzig ist die Boom-Stadt Deutschlands |author=Michael Fabricius |date=27 May 2015 |work=DIE WELT |access-date=8 March 2017 |archive-date=5 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180505055001/https://www.welt.de/print/welt_kompakt/print_wirtschaft/article141518027/Leipzig-ist-die-Boom-Stadt-Deutschlands.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.handelsblatt.com/panorama/reise-leben/hypezig-leipzig-mutiert-zur-szenemetropole/8880718.html |title= "Hypezig": Leipzig mutiert zur Szenemetropole |publisher=Handelsblatt |date=3 October 2013 |language=de |access-date=21 September 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190921082255/https://www.handelsblatt.com/arts_und_style/lifestyle/hypezig-leipzig-mutiert-zur-szenemetropole/8880718.html?ticket=ST-5727629-F0tdWDY9E1ofoMNJ0NAc-ap2 |archive-date=21 September 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lvz.de/Mitteldeutschland/News/Ueber-18-000-neue-Jobs-in-Sachsen-Leipzig-boomt-am-meisten |title=Mehr Beschäftigte – Über 18 000 neue Jobs in Sachsen – Leipzig boomt am meisten – LVZ – Leipziger Volkszeitung |last=LVZ-Online |website=www.lvz.de |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409045712/http://www.lvz.de/Mitteldeutschland/News/Ueber-18-000-neue-Jobs-in-Sachsen-Leipzig-boomt-am-meisten |archive-date=9 April 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It is often called "The new Berlin".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.berliner-zeitung.de/berlin/leipzig-vs--berlin--natuerlich-ist-leipzig-das-bessere-berlin--6599924 |title=Leipzig vs. Berlin: "Natürlich ist Leipzig das bessere Berlin" |first=Marcel |last=Burkhardt |newspaper=Berliner Zeitung |access-date=26 June 2017 |archive-date=2 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602214855/http://www.berliner-zeitung.de/berlin/leipzig-vs--berlin--natuerlich-ist-leipzig-das-bessere-berlin--6599924 |url-status=live }}</ref> Leipzig is also Germany's fastest growing city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lvz.de/Leipzig/Lokales/Prognose-zur-Bevoelkerung-Warum-Leipzig-frueher-als-gedacht-600.000-Einwohner-haben-wird |title=Wachstum – Prognose zur Bevölkerung: Warum Leipzig früher als gedacht 600.000 Einwohner haben wird – LVZ – Leipziger Volkszeitung |last=LVZ-Online |website=www.lvz.de |access-date=4 September 2016 |archive-date=22 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522101852/https://www.lvz.de/Leipzig/Lokales/Prognose-zur-Bevoelkerung-Warum-Leipzig-frueher-als-gedacht-600.000-Einwohner-haben-wird |url-status=dead }}</ref> Leipzig was the German candidate for the [[2012 Summer Olympics]], but was unsuccessful. After ten years of construction, the [[Leipzig City Tunnel]] opened on 14 December 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bild.de/regional/leipzig/city-tunnel/city-tunnel-eroeffnet-33842252.bild.html |title=City-Tunnel eröffnet: Leipzig rast durch die Röhre |work=BILD.de |date=14 December 2013 |access-date=14 December 2013 |archive-date=22 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522101854/https://www.bild.de/regional/leipzig/city-tunnel/city-tunnel-eroeffnet-33842252.bild.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Leipzig forms the centrepiece of the [[S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland]] public transit system, which operates in the four German states of [[Saxony]], Saxony-Anhalt, [[Thuringia]] and [[Brandenburg]].