Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [153]
Leipzig-Halle airport is 18km to the north of the city (Click here).
Costing over €570 million, the City Tunnel Leipzig will greatly improve public transport links when it opens in 2010. The north–south tunnel from the Hauptbahnhof to southern suburbs will carry intercity trains and a new S-Bahn service, the latter connecting the airport with the Neue Messe, the Hauptbahnhof and four newly excavated city-centre stations.
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Information
BOOKSHOPS
Hugendubel ( 01801 484 484; Petersstrasse 12) Three floors of books, including foreign-language novels.
Lehmanns Buchhandlung ( 3397 5000; Grimmaische Strasse 10) Great selection of English-language titles.
Ludwig ( 2684 6600; Hauptbahnhof) English paperbacks, glossy mags and day-old international press.
DISCOUNT CARDS
Leipzig Card (1/3 days €8.90/18.50) Free or discounted admission to attractions, plus free travel on public transport. Available from the tourist office and most hotels.
EMERGENCY
Police ( emergency 110)
Police headquarters ( 9660; Dimitroffstrasse 5)
INTERNET ACCESS
Copytel.de ( 993 8999; Grimmaische Strasse 23; per hr €1; 9am-10pm daily)
Intertel Café ( 462 5879; Brühl 64; per hr €2; 10am-10pm)
Webcafé (Reichsstrasse 16-18; per hr €1.50; 10am-10pm)
LAUNDRY
Maga Pon ( 9607 922; Gottschedstrasse 11; wash/dry €3.80/1.80) Laundry or hip cafe? You decide.
Schnell und Sauber (Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse 76; wash €3)
LIBRARIES
Bibliotheka Albertina ( 973 0577; Beethovenstrasse 6; ) Beautifully restored university library, good for periodicals and foreign-language books.
Deutsche Bücherei (German National Library; 227 10; Deutscher Platz 1; ) The largest library in Germany, with 13.5 million volumes in a fabulously restored building.
MEDICAL SERVICES
Emergency Doctor ( 192 92; 24hr)
Klinikum St Georg ( 90900; Delitzscher Strasse 141) Take tram 16 to this hospital.
Universitätsklinikum Leipzig ( 971 09; Liebigstrasse 20) Hospital and clinic.
MONEY
ReiseBank (Lower Level, west hall, Hauptbahnhof; 9am-10pm Mon-Fri, 9.30am-8pm Sat, 1-6pm Sun)
POST
Post Office Augustusplatz ( 9am-8pm Mon-Fri, 9am-3pm Sat)
Post Office Hauptbahnhof ( 9am-10pm Mon-Sat, 1-7pm Sun) Situated at the western end, lower level.
TOURIST INFORMATION
Leipzig Tourist Service ( 710 4260; www.lts-leipzig.de; Richard-Wagner-Strasse 1; 9.30am-6pm Mon-Fri, 9.30am-4pm Sat, 9.30am-3pm Sun)
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Sights
ZEITGESCHICHTLICHES FORUM
Opened in 1999, the excellent Zeitgeschichtliches Forum (Forum of Contemporary History; 222 00; Grimmaische Strasse 6; admission free; 9am-6pm Tue-Fri, 10am-6pm Sat & Sun) depicts the history of the GDR from division and dictatorship to fall-of-the-Wall ecstasy and post-Wende blues. Highlights include the actual sign from Checkpoint Charlie, film clips showing Berliners looking on in stunned dis-belief as the Wall goes up and a mock-up of a GDR-era living room. However, don’t get so engrossed by the exhibits that you trip over a piece of the Berlin Wall as you head for the exit.
STASI MUSEUM
In the GDR the walls had ears, as is vividly documented in this museum ( 961 2443; www.runde-ecke-leipzig.de; Dittrichring 24; admission free; 10am-6pm daily) on the all-pervasive power of the Ministry for State Security (Stasi for short), the country’s secret police. It’s housed in the former Leipzig Stasi headquarters, in a building known as the Runde Ecke (Round Corner). The all-German displays on propaganda, preposterous disguises, cunning surveillance devices, Stasi recruitment among children, scent storage and other chilling machinations reveal the GDR’s all-out zeal when it came to controlling, manipulating and repressing its own people.
NIKOLAIKIRCHE
Leipzig’s largest church, the Nikolaikirche (St Nicholas Church; 960 5270; 10am-6pm), has Romanesque and Gothic roots, but now sports an amazing classical-style interior with palm-like pillars and cream-coloured pews. More recently, the church played a key role in the nonviolent