Visiting Leipzig City History Museum – 10 Best Things To See

Best Things To See In The Leipzig City History Museum

The Setting – The Altes Rathaus

The building housing the two main exhibitions of the Museum, the Old Town Hall, is a magnificent Renaissance period building, begun around 1556. It’s also a superb setting for a Museum, and when you open a (comparatively) small door and step into such a beautiful main room (Festsaal), it makes an enormous impression on you. We knew it would be pretty special – but this?

The first floor covers the history of Leipzig from the Middle Ages to the Battle of Leipzig (also called the Battle of the Nations) in 1813. 

The Festsaal (Ballroom)

This is the spectacular first room where you enter the Museum. It’s over 40 metres long, and one of the first things you see is a vast scale model of the city from 1823. It measures 25 square metres, and has been used as a reference point for restorers rebuilding the city, particularly in the aftermath of World War Two.  You can press buttons to illuminate certain buildings, something my son loved to do.

The walls are lined with two rows of portraits. The upper row is of historic Saxon rulers, including Margraves of Meissen and the Electors of Saxony who assumed rule in the 15^th century. The lower row of portraits is of city magistrates, some of whom also became mayors of Leipzig.

Origin of Leipzig Room

You pass beneath the Pfeiferstuhl (Minstrels’ Gallery) into what was the working (as opposed to ceremonial) part of the Altes Rathaus. This is one of the first rooms you come to, which tells the story of Leipzig’s beginnings. It was originally a Slav city, dating back possibly to the 8^th century. 

Leipzig grew as it was at the junction of two major trans-Europe trading routes – the Via Regia and Via Imperii. The city was documented for the first time in 1015, and its city charter in 1165 was its formal foundation.

Reformation Room

This is one of the most intriguing rooms in the whole exhibition. Leipzig is close to many important sites associated with the Reformation, including Wittenberg, where Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church, and Eisleben, where he was born.

One of the main draws in the Room is the painting of Martin Luther holding a Bible. It’s by Lucas Cranach the Younger, whose father (the Elder) had painted Luther many times.  The painting is an impression as opposed toa portrait, created in 1579, over 30 years after Luther’s death. You can also see the wedding ring of Luther’s wife, Katharina von Bora, in the Reformation Room.

It’s also well worth taking a close look at the pulpit in the corner of the Room. This was made in 1586, and was used in one of Leipzig’s lost churches, the Johanniskirche. This was the first Purpose-built Protestant church in Leipzig, but was destroyed in the Second World War.

The Treasury

At the other end of the Festsaal, the Treasury is one of the oldest parts of the building, pre-dating the 1550s rebuild by over 70 years.

It’s where important charters and deeds are held, as well as a hoard of coins, gold, silver and medals is kept.

The curious collection of spoons in the image above were presented by members of the Kramermeister (Merchants Guild). Each had to donate two spoons when applying to join the Guild, and these are among the originals given by Leipzig merchants.

The Second Floor Time Tunnel

The second floor is set out differently, with a ‘time tunnel’ running the length of the building. Eight sections, each devoted to a specific period between 1813 (the Battle of Leipzig) and the present day.

Weimar Republic

The section on the Weimar Republic is fascinating as, for the city and Germany as a whole, it was a time of horrendous downs but also a brief period of heady prosperity.

The exhibit documents the ‘galloping inflation’ when vast amounts of money were printed, only for it to devalue everyone’s savings. People had to go the shops with a wheelbarrow of banknotes to buy a few small groceries.

After this crisis, a boom followed in manufacturing and technology, only to end after a few years due to the knock-on effects of the 1929 Wall Street Crash, the Great Depression that followed, and the Nazis’ rise to power.

Leipzig In The GDR

The exhibition also covers everyday life in the GDR as well as the beginnings of the Wende, the fall of Communism which is also being called the Peaceful Revolution in Germany these days.

The section on everyday life includes a recreated East German kitchen, complete with all the GDR brands that disappeared after the Communist regime fell. It also covers organisations like the Pioneers, which East German children were expected to join.

And of course it includes a section on the Stasi, the secret police who closely monitored every citizen in the country, ruthlessly suppressing even the faintest whiff of dissent against the state.

The 1989 Protests

The story of the 1989 demonstrations that were the beginning of the end of the East German regime is one of the most powerful exhibits in the Museum.

You’re suddenly confronted by lines of figures in full riot gear, which is what the protesters would have seen every week. My son stood face to face with them, and was amazed when I told him that they didn’t attack the demonstrators. ‘If they didn’t use violence,’ he asked,’then what power did they have over them?’ A pertinent question indeed.

I was also delighted to see a clip from BBC Breakfast from October 1989. I watched this clip when it was broadcast during my freshers’ week at university, and this was the moment I realized that the Communists might not be around for much longer. And so it proved.

Leipzig Children’s History Museum

The Children’s History Museum is less than five minutes’ walk from the Altes Rathaus, at Böttchergässchen 3. The exhibition is on the first floor.

It’s all about interaction here, with an emphasis on playing games and dressing up in period costumes, which we all did. We had great fun for an hour or so.

Where Is The Leipzig City History Museum

The main branch of the Museum is in the Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus) on the Markt square in the centre of Leipzig. Its address is Markt 1, 04109 Leipzig.

The Children’s Museum can be found a few minutes’ walk away from the Markt on Böttchergässchen 3.

How To Get to Leipzig City History Museum

The City History Museum is very easy to reach. It’s a few steps away from the Markt U-Bahn (underground) train, which is on the blue U1 and red U2 lines.

Bus 89 also runs there from the Hauptbahnhof (main railway station).

Otherwise, the historic centre of Leipzig – the Mitte district – is small and compact, and easy to walk around. The Altes Rathaus, the home of the Museum, is only a 10-15-minute walk from the Hauptbahnof.

For the Children’s Museum, walk north from the Markt up Katharinenstrasse, turn right at Böttchergässchen, and continue to the end of the street. It’s on the left, just before the corner with Reichstrasse.

Leipzig City Historical Museum Opening Times

The Museum is open Tuesdays to Sundays and public holidays from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm. As is the case with most museums in Europe, it’s closed on Mondays.

And admission is free.

Where To Stay In Leipzig

**** – Hotel Fregehaus – beautiful townhouse with courtyard from the 16th century, rebuilt in the early 18th century, with stunning modern interiors

**** – Vienna House Easy by Wyndham – great location across the street from a park in one direction, and the main station (Hauptbahnhof) in the other

*** – Motel One Leipzig Nikolaikirche – good reliable chain hotel in great location close tomost of the main Leipzig sights

Other Things To Do In Leipzig

Leipzig is an outstanding city to visit, somewhere the three of us warmed to greatly over the weeks we spent there.

Music lovers should head for the Bach Museum Leipzig, in a townhouse close to where he taught as church choirmaster for 27 years. It’s the most comprehensive museum on the composer in the world, and includes several of his original manuscripts and the only known portrait of him – by Elias Gottlob Haussmann – to be painted during his lifetime.

Just across the street from the Museum, the Thomaskirche Leipzig is where he was Kantor from 1723 to 1750.  A famous statue of him stands outside the church, and he is also buried in the chancel of the church. The choir that he conducted, the Thomanerchor, was founded in 1212, and is still very much active. They usually sing at the 9.30 am service on Sundays, and also give short motet performances (tickets are just €3.00) in the Thomaskirche at 6.00 pm on Fridays and 3.00 pm on Saturdays.

The other famous church in the city is the Nikolaikirche Leipzig, a five-minute walk across the Markt and along Grimmaischerstrasse.  The Gothic hall church was remodelled in the 18^th century, giving it its distinctive interior with pink pillars sprouting palm fronds to support the floral-patterned vault.

But it’s best-known for the weekly prayer meetings held there from 1982 onwards. These gradually grew into large peaceful street protests in 1989 which the Communist authorities let pass rather than crack down violently.  Within a month of the largest demonstration, the Berlin Wall was down.

There is plenty more Communist-era history to uncover in Leipzig. Just around the corner from the Nikolaikirche, the Augustusplatz is one of the best places to see Communist architecture in Europe. It’s surrounded by several Leipzig landmarks, including a Brutalist concert hall, the Socialist Realist-inspired Opera House and a rare GDR skyscraper.

For more on the history of East Germany, I strongly recommend the Stasi Museum Leipzig, a few minutes’ walk from the City History Museum. Housed in the Runde Ecke (Round Corner) building on Dittrichring which was the Stasi (State secret police) headquarters, it gives you a huge insight into how this insidious organization worked, terrorizing the country’s population for four decades.

Visiting Leipzig City History Museum – Final Thoughts

I hope you have enjoyed this guide. The City History Museum is one of the best of its kind in Germany – I rate it up there with my favourite, the Hamburg City History Museum. 

For more ideas on things to do in the city, check out my guide to spending One Day In Leipzig, which handily covers the main sights within 24 hours.

If you’re looking for further inspiration, take a look at my guide to the best places to visit in eastern Germany. This covers everywhere from the Baltic to the Czech and Polish border, and almost as far west as Hamburg. Also take a look at my guide to the best places to visit on the River Elbe, which includes Dresden, Meissen and Torgau.

And check out my article on the best day trips from Leipzig for yet more ideas for places to visit in Saxony and the surrounding regions.