Leipzig.

Leipzig has been a city of music and ideas for centuries. Johann Sebastian Bach directed the choir at the Thomaskirche (St. Thomas Church) and wrote much of his sacred music there; the Bach Museum sits opposite. The Gewandhaus Orchestra and Leipzig Opera continue this musical tradition. In 1989, the Nikolaikirche became a gathering point for the peaceful protests that helped bring down the East German government, an event still marked in the city's public memory.

Beyond its historic core, Leipzig has grown into one of Germany's most active centres for contemporary art. The Spinnerei, a former cotton mill in the Plagwitz district, now houses galleries and studios. Nearby, the Karl-Heine-Kanal runs past converted warehouses and waterside cafés. The university, one of the oldest in Germany, keeps the population young and the city's cultural life changing. Leipzig's old market square, lined with baroque and Renaissance buildings, remains the centre of daily life, connecting the city's musical past with its restless present.