Alan Tovar Prado, the owner of the Mexican restaurant ‘Gallo Negro’ in Leipzig-Plagwitz, had organised a discussion evening entitled ‘Local Politics, Global Minds Leipzig’ with Wolfram Günther, the Green Party’s candidate for Mayor of Leipzig. We spoke to Alan beforehand and were curious to see how such an evening would unfold. On Thursday, 22 October, […]
Most art lovers are probably familiar only with the typographic works of the Leipzig-based artist Hans (Hans-Olaf) Bote. The other side of his oeuvre – his paintings – is currently on display at the akanthus gallery in Leipzig’s Westwerk. The exhibition, entitled ‘Im Land der Tugend’ (In the Land of Virtue), can be seen in […]
Unfortunately, it is no longer common in Germany for informal discussions with politicians to take place in small groups. Alan Tovar Prado, an entrepreneur from Leipzig, is reviving this old tradition. Under the slogan “Local Politics, Global Minds Leipzig”, he is once again hosting an event at his restaurant, Gallo Negro, at Karl-Heine-Straße 70 on […]
Why, given the results of the last three state elections, is the talk currently focused solely on Berlin? The CDU in particular – which was ousted from the state parliament in MVP and has also shrunk to near-insignificance in the other states – would have plenty of reasons to question its election results. Instead, it […]
Behind the Baroque façade on Magdeburg’s Cathedral Square, the newly elected State Parliament of Saxony-Anhalt convened for a special session on 14 October 2026. Was this special session, for example, about how the AfD-dominated state parliament should respond in future to economic and social problems in Saxony-Anhalt? Was it about a strategic direction for economic […]
The role of electricity grids and energy storage systems in the increased use of wind and solar power is surely undisputed. The former are needed to transport electricity from where it is generated to consumers, whilst the latter must store any surplus electricity generated until it is needed. That’s a simple way of putting it; […]
The communal breakfast at the Neustädter Markt in Leipzig, a tradition dating back over 20 years, was due to take place on 28 June 2026 but was cancelled due to the extreme heat. On 11 October, the time had finally come: the Bürgerverein Neustädter Markt e.V. extended an invitation, and the ever-energetic Ralf Kohl seized […]
Now that the AfD has also put forward a candidate, Ralf Kohl is the fifteenth contender for the post of Lord Mayor of Leipzig for the next seven years. Although that isn’t quite accurate – as will become clear later in the interview – Ralf Kohl wants to become ‘Oberbürger’ (Senior citizen); after all, the […]
Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar: Zum deutschen Artikel. On 30 September and 1 October 2026, the East German Energy Forum (ODEF) took place in Leipzig for the fifteenth time. No, it was not a ‘green’ event; it was organized by the Association of Business Organizations in Eastern Germany and Berlin, under the […]
The city budget for 2027/28 is likely to be a balancing act. On the one hand, savings must be made, as Torsten Bonew, the councillor responsible for finance, emphasized when presenting the budget to the city council. On the other hand, the political groups and the advisory boards entitled to submit proposals must prevent new […]
How can we increase the resilience of Germany’s energy supply, and how can we become independent of imports? What role does grid expansion play, and how can battery storage systems contribute? These and other questions were discussed at the 15th East German Energy Forum. The discussions were often controversial, but that is a good thing; […]
The glory days for the women’s first team of the Leipzig table tennis club Leutzscher Füchse 1990 e.V. – which played in the first Bundesliga from 2012 to 2017 and in the 2nd Bundesliga South until 2023 – seemed to be over. Following their relegation to the Third Bundesliga South at the end of the […]
The older people amongst us, including the author, still remember the power cuts in the winter of 1978/79; there were various causes at the time. One of them was that, in Leipzig for example, the supply of coal to the power stations broke down. People living in older buildings were lucky, as there was town […]
One could also have written ‘Aircraft manufacturing is back in Saxony’ or something similar; however, in times like these, the author felt that jobs were more important. Nevertheless, the return of aircraft manufacturing to Saxony is remarkable, and not just from a historical perspective. This was also made clear in the remarks made by various […]
Leipzig’s city coffers are largely empty; the city has to finance many services through cash-flow loans, and the mayor responsible for finance has presented an austerity budget. Naturally, none of this is a reason for the political groups on the city council to table their amendments to the 2027/28 two-year budget. The deadline for submissions […]
This makes Prof. Getu Abraham the 13th candidate in the field for the 2027 mayoral election – or perhaps the 14th, should Ralf Kohl, as he has announced, go on to officially declare his candidacy. Assuming there are thirteen candidates, there are still 11 men and only 2 women. Nine of them have already been […]
The press conference held by the Saxony Business Association on 22 September in Leipzig really whetted the appetite for taking part in the 15th East German Energy Conference. On 30 September and 1 October, East German business associations are organising this forum and have invited not only their members but also a large number of […]
Energy, energy sources and their pricing have been a hot topic of conversation for some time now – and not just since the war in Iran. There are constant calls, particularly from business circles, for rapid – ideally immediate – reductions in energy prices, and politicians often respond in a confused manner, as is currently […]
The Saxony State Sports Federation had announced the 16th edition of the 50plus State Sports Games for 19 September 2026, and from 9.00 am the table tennis players began arriving at the Fuchsbau, the home ground of the Leutzscher Füchse. The Leutzscher Füchse were hosting the tournament for the third time and, as the tournament […]
Firstly, in this case it really is referred to as ‘excessive workload’; the term ‘overtime’, which is probably what most people have in mind, is defined differently from a legal perspective. The case of Frank Post, a civil servant headteacher at a primary school in Lower Saxony, has implications that affect many teachers across the […]
On 16 September 2026, the Dutch foundation SOMI (Stichting Onderzoek Marktinformatie) announced, at a joint press conference with the Leipzig-based law firm Spirit Legal in Berlin, that it was bringing a class action against Snap Inc., the company that operates the Snapchat platform. The plaintiffs state: “The action is directed against fundamental flaws in the […]
Sven Morlok has been a member of Leipzig City Council again since 2014, having previously represented the FDP there from 2004 to 2009. In the intervening years, he was a member of the Saxon State Parliament and a minister in the Free State’s government. He understands the formalities of council work like no other and […]
The second edition of the ‘Gutes Leben Leipzig’ festival is in full swing. Since it kicked off on 11 September, there have already been a number of events organised by partners, and there is still plenty to experience right up until 20 September. Things got underway at 10.30 am on Friday, with Mayor Heiko Rosenthal […]
A few days ago, to the uninitiated, it looked as though it would be some time yet before LEMO could move into the ‘Alte Post’ on Stuttgarter Allee. Piles of building materials lay both in front of the building and on the scaffolding, and work was in full swing. However, that changed quickly. By 9 […]
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, […]
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