Leipzig (German: , ) is, with a population of over 513,082, the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany.

Origins

Leipzig's name is derived from the Slavic word Lipsk, which means "settlement where the lime trees stand".

First documented in 1015 and endowed with city and market privileges in 1165, Leipzig has fundamentally shaped the history of Saxony and of Germany. Leipzig has always been known as a place of commerce. The Leipzig Trade Fair, which began in the Middle Ages, is the oldest remaining trade fair in the world. It became an event of international importance.

The foundation of the University of Leipzig in 1409 initiated the city's development into a centre of German law and the publishing industry, and towards being a location of the Reichsgericht (High Court), and the German National Library (founded in 1912). The philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was born in Leipzig in 1646, and attended the University of Leipzig from 1661–1666.

The nineteenth century

The Leipzig region was the arena of the Battle of the Nations, which ended Napoleon's run of conquest in Europe, and led to his first exile on Elba. In 1913 the Völkerschlachtdenkmal monument celebrating the centenary of this event was completed.

A terminal of the first German long distance railway to Dresden (the capital of Saxony), in 1839, Leipzig became a hub of Central European railway traffic, with the renowned Leipzig Central station, the largest terminal station by area in Europe.