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Hauptbahnhof Area
Sightseeing
Leipzig’s historic center is compact and best explored on foot. The area is flat and, once inside the ring road area, traffic is light. Most sights are within easy walking distance from the main station.
Hauptbahnhof Area
Leipzig’s Hauptbahnhof (Central Station), Willy-Brandt-Platz 7, with 26 platforms, is the largest terminus in Germany. The building dates from 1915 and was restored to its original condition in the 1990s. It is colossal: the front façade is almost 300 m (960 feet) long and the huge glass roof larger than three soccer fields. Back in 1915, it served the Saxon and Prussian railway companies together but separately, meaning the facilities are doubled, from waiting rooms to grand staircases. With 150 shops and restaurants, it is also the largest shopping center in town. All major buses and trams depart from Willy Brandt Platz in front of the station.
Close by, at Sachsenplatz, a huge glass cube 34 m (110 feet) high is due to become the new location of the Museum der Bildenden Künste (Fine Arts Museum), one of the world’s great collections of European art. Highlights include early German and Dutch works, Dutch art of the 17th century, Italian art from the 15th to 18th centuries, and German art from the 18th century to the present. The new gallery was due to open early in 2004 but work is way behind schedule. In the meantime the 140 most important works are on display in the Handelshof, Grimmaische Straße 1-7.
Across the road in Katherinenstraße are a few surviving Baroque houses. The most interesting is the Romanushaus (1704), at the corner with Brühl. It was built by the mayor Romanus, who financed its construction with uncovered notes and spent over four decades in Königstein jail as punishment for this and other cases of corruption. At No 11 is the Fregehaus, which belonged to a rich banker. It is based on a 16th-century building but was reconstructed in the early 18th century. In contrast to these, the huge Communist-era apartment blocks and second-hand shops in the area remind you that this is very much a living city and not a purely tourist destination.
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