Leipzig – a city of science

The city of Leipzig has a number of internationally renowned scientific institutions. The University of Leipzig, founded in 1409, is more than 600 years old and one of the oldest in Europe. The Nobel Prize winner in Physics Werner Heisenberg and the Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry Wilhelm Ostwald taught here – Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Gotthold Ephraim Lessing were students in Leipzig. Today, Leipzig has six universities of applied science and about 150 institutes and clinics, which includes the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, and the Bio City Leipzig. The scientific institutions of the city provide plenty of reasons for holding conferences. In the last years Leipzig has more and more become a popular location for first-class conventions, held in venues such as the `Alte Handelsbörse` where the 11^th IFRRS will take place (see map), the Congress Center Leipzig where one of the largest veterinary conference in Germany is being organized every second year, or numerous convention and conference hotels.

Leipzig – a city of trade and fair

The city was granted market rights in 1165 and imperial trade fair rights in 1497. Its former trade fair buildings and arcades, and above all its cosmopolitan atmosphere, bear witness to Leipzig’s eventful history as a city of trade. After German Reunification in 1990, Leipzig faced new challenges as an exhibition centre. Today, the new Leipzig Trade faire specialises in made-to-measure trade shows. The city provides many things with unique characteristics. There are places to wander, a shopping paradise, places of art and culture or architectural gems - Leipzig’s unique arcades, courtyards and trade fair palaces. For about 500 years they have dominates Leipzig’s city centre. Their history is closely connected to Leipzig’s development into an up-and-coming trade and fair city. Other European cities have examples of passages with shops too, but only Leipzig has such a closed system in the city centre. The city of Leipzig feels especially obliged to this unique feature of city planning so the historical passages and alleyways are not only preserved, but new ones are also being built. There are also countless event locations available for tasteful evening programmes, each with its own distinct style.

Leipzig – a city of music

The city’s rich musical heritage includes the Gewandhaus Orchestra – and the St. Thomas’ Boys Choir which looks back on a proud musical tradition of almost 800 years. Among the many great names in musical history who lived and worked in the city in the past were Johann Sebastian Bach, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Clara and Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner, Edvard Grieg, Albert Lortzing, Gustav Mahler and Hanns Eisler.