Our recent visit to Leipzig

Although we have been back for a while, I have only just got around to sorting my photos and getting this page together. Since we have been back we seem to have been really busy on the house renovation project. We went to visit  daughter C in Leipzig where she is working for a while. Leipzig is not a city that would have been at the top of our list for a visit, but as C is out there we thought we must visit her and have a look around - so we went out for a long weekend and found it is a great place.

Just look at these beautiful roofs in the city centre - the architecture is quite stunning - more photos later… (sorry I missed the tops of the pictures - still experimenting with Picmonkey)

We flew to Berlin and drove down to Leipzig through an incredibly flat arable landscape. The weather was beautiful, quite warm and sunny for this time of the year - in fact it was good all the time we were there. We had booked an apartment to stay in quite close to where C is living, in a typical old stone built apartment block. We were on the first floor and walked through a tiled foyer and up a wide wooden stairway to a beautiful wooden and glass front door. The apartment, once inside, was actually quite modern looking as it had been refurbished, but it still had the elegance of high ceilings and lots of light flooding into the rooms. There was a lot of building work going on in the area around us, as many of the old buildings were being done up - there was also a lot of graffiti on the walls of buildings in the suburbs.

Unfortunately C was ill while we were there, she had picked up a virus, so was unable to take us out and show us around the city and countryside, but we spent the evenings together. It was so lovely to see her, if only for a few days, especially as she was not feeling well.  She gave us a list of things we should go and see and do, so with my limited German language we set off on our first day to have a look around the city centre. It was a warm sunny day, so we decided to walk into town through the parks rather than use the very efficient tram system. We took a very scenic route, as we got a little lost at one point, but it was such a lovely day and just nice to be out in the fresh air.

Nearer the city centre, the first huge building we came across was the Reichsgencht, completed in 1895 as a court house, later a museum and since refurbishment in 2002 now the Federal Administrative Court of Germany.

Then across the road into a mainly pedestrian area was the new town hall - Neues Rathaus

One place I wanted to visit was Thomaskirche, where Johann Sebastian Bach was Kappelmeister from 1723 until his death in 1750 and where his remains are buried. We could hear music coming from inside the church so wandered in to listen to a rehearsal for the Friday evening concert. The Church is really lovely, quite simple in design - apparently it has the steepest church roof in Germany above the internal vaulted ceiling, and there are two church organs.

There is a statue of Bach which stands next to the church

We then wandered on to the Markt Platz, and there was a Market - a farmers market - lots of lovely stalls selling fruit, veg, fish, meat, sausages, and lovely spring flowers - with buskers adding to the atmosphere. The Markt is a large area with some fine buildings around it. I couldn't really take photos as the market was in the way but the roof lines of the buildings were amazing.

After a late lunch at a street cafe we walked on to find Nikolaikirche. This is Leipzig's largest Church and was a starting point for the peaceful revolution in October 1989 which led to the fall of the Berlin Wall,  every Monday since 1982 the church holds peace prayers.

Then we moved on to Augustusplatz to see the Opera House (C gave me this photo) This is a new building - only 50 years old - C has since had a very enjoyable evening at the Opera.

Another striking feature of Augustusplatz is this University building, reconstructed on the site of the original University and a former church Paulinerkirche. 

We then walked back to our apartment, a slightly more direct route this time along the roads. 

The next day we ventured a little out of the city, first calling to visit the Volkerschlachtdenkmal. A huge monument completed in 1913 to commemorate the 100 anniversary of the Battle of the Nations.

It commemorates Napoleons defeat at Leipzig against coalition armies of Prussia, Russia and Austria. It is an amazing building which has recently been cleaned and refurbished for the 200th Anniversary of the battle in 2013. 

The inside is cavernous, there are several levels and some 500 steps to the very top and a viewing platform. The door is guarded by this massive statue which represents Archangel Michael and is 12 meters high (39ft). Once inside the crypt there are eight statues of fallen warriors each next to smaller statues - the 'guards of the dead'. It was too dark for my camera to take photos here.

On the next floor there are four statues which represent bravery, faith, sacrifice and fertility, and beautiful stained glass windows. Each statue is 9.5 meters tall (31 ft).

Then the dome at the top is covered with simple depictions of horses and soldiers …..

….. and then out onto the viewing platform at the very top where the 360 degree view is quite stunning, the photo below is looking back to the city.

It really is worth visiting if you are ever in Leipzig.

After our visit we drove out to one of several lakes just south of the city. These lakes were former open cast mines and now have been made into a wonderful amenity for the local people, and as it was the weekend it was busy with families and friends cycling, walking and sailing.

The lake we visited is called Cospudener See. We had a snack at one of the many places to eat and then went for a walk and managed to catch this beautiful sunset over the lake.

The following day we went further afield and drove out to an area SE of Dresden called Little Switzerland. It is a hilly area for rock climbing and walking and now is a National Park, designated in 1990 to protect the character of the range of hills. It is in the Elbe valley and is part of the Elbe sandstone mountains. A very beautiful area, and such a contrast from the very flat landscape that we had seen so far in Germany.

We visited Bastei, one of the more famous tourist attractions.  We set off on a walk which took us down through the sandstone in a narrow gorge, down….

….and down - all very safe marked walking - but I was thinking with all this down there is going to be a big up at some point!

Looking back up to the sky

eventually coming out into a valley bottom, 

and looking up at some of the climbing that the area is famous for. I took quite a few photos of climbers to show daughter M as she climbs. 

Then the walk up hill began, all well graded paths but steep! However the views were so amazing that you had a good excuse to stop and look for a while!

Then to the Bastei rock formation which is high above the River Elbe, and what a fantastic view of the area. 

The Bastei area is also famous for a bridge which was constructed to link several of the rock formations, originally constructed in wood, but now built in sandstone. This allows you to walk high in the peaks way off the ground. This is looking back at the bridge….

….and this is looking down from the bridge!

and again a lovely sunset to end our visit to this area.

Next day was packing up and saying our goodbye to C, who was beginning to feel a little better by now. Then the drive back to Berlin and home again.

We had a good time, enjoyed visiting a different city and some of the countryside - and of course spending time our daughter C!