The OECD has published the PISA 2025 study, entitled ‘Ready for the Future?’, and the results for Germany answer this question with a ‘No’. So here we go again with analyses, research, finger-pointing and half-baked reforms. However, it is not as though no one had warned of the problems in the education system. For years, […]
Although the outcome of the Saxony-Anhalt state election was a recurring theme in all the speeches delivered on Tuesday evening at the Heilandskirche in Plagwitz, the Leipzig Alliance of the Greens do not wish to remain in its shadow. All the speakers made it clear: we want a Green Lord Mayor, and that person will […]
Chancellor Friedrich Merz is a heavyweight when it comes to communication – that is how he sees himself. He tries to push his agenda down the people’s throats with his verbal bludgeon and is then surprised that they do not love him wholeheartedly. Now his CDU has suffered a historic defeat in the Saxony-Anhalt election, […]
The headline refers to the time it took for the city council to discuss and vote on a proposal that had been drawn up with broad participation from the city’s community. A section of Georg-Schumann-Straße in Leipzig, between Chausseehaus and Böhmestraße – approximately 600 metres in length – is to be upgraded. As part of […]
It could have been so simple if all the parties represented on Leipzig City Council, as well as the city administration, were to work and debate in a proper manner. Often, however, this does not happen; pointless discussions take place simply to put forward views that have nothing to do with the issue at hand. […]
On 12 June 2026, ProtestFlügel Leipzig marched through Leipzig for the third time, holding stop-offs at the Sachsenbrücke and the Federal Administrative Court, before reaching the closing concert at the Bach Festival on the Marktplatz. The demands from the cultural and climate movements were handed over to the Lord Mayor on 2 September. As befits […]
What opportunities do independent candidates and those put forward by smaller parties have to present their issues to the electorate during the election campaign? This question arises not only in the current mayoral election campaign in Leipzig. Here at the LZ, we’ve made it simple for ourselves. We are conducting interviews with all candidates across […]
Number 12 on the list of candidates so far for the office of mayor of Leipzig is finally a woman once again, bringing the proportion of women among the candidates to 1/6, or around 16.7 per cent. On 22 August, Anne Giulia Giermann was confirmed as a candidate for the mayoral election at the nomination […]
The ‘Gutes Leben Leipzig’ festival will take place for the second time from 12 to 20 September 2026. What sort of festival is it, when was the first one, and what can the people of Leipzig expect there? These are questions that many people who missed the first festival in 2025 are likely to be […]
The proportion of women standing in the forthcoming election for the new mayor currently stands at 10 per cent of the candidates; this has not changed even following the announcement of The Greens candidate. With Wolfram Günther, not only is another political heavyweight entering the fray, but also another native of Leipzig. Although this is, […]
The Leipzig Children’s Night Race, now in its 22nd year, returned to the newly refurbished velodrome on 14 August 2026. Following the 2025 race at the old exhibition centre – which proved a success despite the unfamiliar venue and change of time – it wasn’t just the organizers who were delighted. The audience and participants […]
On Friday, 14 August, the shop windows at Kolonnadenstraße 9 were still being cleaned when I happened to walk past and spotted the poster. That morning, my colleague Benjamin had written in his daily ‘Hallo Leipzig’ column that a gallery was opening there, and now I was standing right in front of it. On the […]
Residents at Alte Salzstraße 143–155 and Mannheimer Straße 145–158 were quite taken aback when, during the 31st calendar week, a stretch of approximately 80 metres of pavement near Alte Salzstraße 155 was marked with signs reading ‘No stopping from 3 August / accident’. 3 August arrived; over the course of the week, gravel was unloaded, […]
The summer of the ‘50 Years of Grünau’ anniversary year is slowly drawing to a close. The Schönau Park Festival marks the traditional highlight of Grünau’s cultural summer. This year, the festival takes place from 21 to 23 August, and once again there are plenty of events in store for visitors. It all kicks off […]
It is said that Napoleon Bonaparte ordered trees to be planted along the country roads so that his marching troops would have shade. When his generals objected, pointing out that the trees would take 20 years to grow tall enough for that purpose, he is said to have replied: “All the more reason to start […]
At a time when not only Germany but the whole of Europe is suffering from heat and water shortages – or rather, drought – it would be better if some ministers would simply keep their mouths shut. Light-hearted remarks may sometimes bring a smile to people’s faces, but they are often inappropriate. At the moment, […]
The pension reform is casting its shadow – and by that we mean its downsides – and much of the criticism stems from the plan to abolish the ‘full pension for those with particularly long insurance records’, also known as the ‘pension at 63’. The East German CDU minister-presidents, trade unions and, in particular, the […]
Last week, it was announced that the ‘Jobcentre on Site’ is now also offering consultation hours at the Heizhaus building, Alte Salzstraße 59 – right next to the Grünauer Allee S-Bahn station. We thought this was a good time to look into the matter; even though the Leipzig Jobcentre’s project isn’t entirely new, there are […]
Water levels at historically low levels, not only in German rivers such as the ‘Father Rhine’, At the start of July 2026, the topsoil at a depth of 20–30 cm in most regions of Germany is showing dry to very dry conditions, and the amendment to the EEG is set to raise the ‘corn cap’. […]
In early 2027, Leipzig will elect a new Lord Mayor – this time a genuinely new candidate, as the incumbent is no longer eligible to stand. The field of candidates is slowly taking shape, though with just one female candidate out of nine, the proportion of women is, unfortunately, very low. The Humanist Party (PdH) […]
How on earth did Friedrich Merz come up with the idea of appointing the current Secretary-General of the CDU – who is completely inexperienced in health policy – as Health Minister of all people? The answer is obvious: Merz doesn’t need a health policy expert; he wants a loyal enforcer of his austerity policy. Perhaps […]
What’s going on up there? That’s what many residents of Grünau – and not just those on the corner of Alte Salzstraße and Stuttgarter Allee – must have been wondering over the past few months. People were hard at work using a large external lift, painting a mural on the gable wall. From the start […]
The way we use language is slowly becoming a real issue. For years, people have been campaigning to ensure that road traffic accident reports do not say ‘The car veered off the road’, but rather ‘The driver lost control of his car’. Similarly, the popular phrase ‘the car failed to give way’ would be correctly […]
On 24 September 2026, Peter Thiel, the Trump supporter and co-founder and chairman of Palantir Technologies, will receive the 2026 Axel Springer Award in Berlin. According to Axel Springer SE’s own description, the prize is awarded to: “Outstanding individuals who are particularly innovative, create and transform markets, shape culture and assume social responsibility.” The list […]
“Well, to be honest, all this constant nagging, all this constant whingeing, all this badmouthing, all this talk of our country falling apart. I’m allowed to say this on occasions like this. I’m simply fed up with it.” So said Friedrich Merz in his summer interview with Diana Zimmermann of ZDF. This was in response […]
A turnout of 20,000 people had been forecast for the closing rally and the main march of this year’s CSD in Leipzig; according to our estimates, this figure was indeed reached. Augustusplatz was already well filled at 11.00 am – that is, at the start of the event – and the crowd continued to grow. […]
“At the end of 2023, there were around 1.8 million people living with dementia in Germany. The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. In 2023, around 400,000 people aged 65 and over were newly diagnosed with dementia. Around two-thirds of them are looked after and cared for at home by relatives. As a […]
If you need an appointment at one of Leipzig’s citizen service centres, you often need to be prepared for a long wait and a great deal of patience. As a rule, you have to book the appointment online or arrange one by telephone via the citizen helpline. The latter applies mainly to older people and […]
Point 32 in the reform package put forward by the CDU/CSU and SPD coalition is likely to herald the end of the Freedom of Information Act (IFG) in its current form. Once again, people’s access to information about government and administrative actions is set to be made more difficult. This will also have implications for […]
The coalition’s reform package, presented with great fanfare, comprises a total of 34 points; one point in particular is the subject of much debate, and we have already written about it. In addition to the abolition of sick notes issued by telephone and the obligation to take sick leave from the first day of illness, […]
Ever since Friedrich Merz appeared on camera on 2 July and announced: “We are abolishing sick notes issued over the phone and introducing the requirement to submit a certificate of incapacity for work from the first day of illness”, there have been many conflicting signals. There is talk of “sensible solutions” from Klingbeil and of […]
Leipzig’s street trees, particularly those planted in recent years, are suffering from the drought; the heatwave of the last few weeks in particular has taken its toll on them once again. The ‘Leipzig gießt’ initiative has been running since 2020, with the aim of saving the street trees. The “Leipzig gießt” app has been available […]
There is a certain irony in the fact that two city councillors – one from the BSW and one from the AfD – have jointly tabled a motion with the misleading title ‘Pilot project: Voluntary driving licence exchange’. The title is misleading because, as you know, old driving licences – the grey and pink ones, […]
The 50th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone for the Leipzig-Grünau housing estate is being marked in Leipzig with various exhibitions and other events. On 1 June, for example, a ceremony took place on the square in front of the PEP in Grünau-Mitte, the KOMM-Haus is hosting the exhibition ‘When Grünau was still […]
One could plagiarise a sentence by Friedrich Merz – with a slight tweak. It would then read: “No working population before us has ever had to endure anything like this.” Of course, this only applies to the period after 1950 and to the territory of the former Federal Republic. Such mistrust of the hard-working people […]
Now that the major heatwave has, for the time being, come to an end, is it really necessary to talk about New Year’s Eve and the fireworks? Yes, it is necessary! It will be just as necessary to talk about heat protection in early January 2027. If issues are only raised when they are pressing, […]
In case readers are unfamiliar with the term ‘pigeon chess’, here is one of the usual explanations: “Arguing with ignorant people is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter how well you play chess, the pigeon will knock over all the pieces, poo on the board and strut about as if it had won.” […]
If you’re from Leipzig and visit the Kolumba Museum in Cologne, you might well find a book by the Buchkinder Leipzig on display alongside a Warhol in one of the exhibitions. Yes, Kolumba collects the works of the Buchkinder and lists the association, under ‘Artists’, as ‘monographic focal points that particularly define Kolumba’. The works […]
There was no ‘Strack-Zimmermann moment’ at the CDU Leipzig nomination meeting on 23 June. The candidate for the 2027 mayoral election was to be chosen at the Alte Handelsbörse. As announced on 2 June, the district executive committee had proposed Michael Weickert, the parliamentary group leader on Leipzig City Council, and the general meeting endorsed […]
Leipzig Grünau is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year; the WBS-70 block of flats at Liliensteinstraße 19–39, of which number 29 forms part, was built 40 years ago. This can be seen on one of the ground-floor panels, stripped of paint and wallpaper, from the manufacturer’s mark. Now, with the Nucleus Living housing demonstrator, new […]
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