Hello Leipzig: This is how Friday 23 October 2026 kicks off the weekend

Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar: Zum deutschen Artikel.

Regular services are finally back: two diversions for public buses in the city centre will come to an end this weekend. The Krystallpalast Varieté takes you back to the rock ‘n’ roll 1950s, whilst the theatre is focusing on a darker era, bringing a play about repression in the GDR back to the stage. Commemorative events mark two racist murders that shook Leipzig and must never be forgotten.

End of bus diversions

Two long-standing diversions on public transport are due to end today. According to Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe (LVB), bus routes 79, 173 and 175 are affected. At the Connewitz S-Bahn station in the south of Leipzig, the bus turning point on Klemmstraße has been closed since 24 August due to construction work. This is due to the construction of a new charging station. As a result, route 79 has been running from the K.-Jungbluth-Straße stop to Connewitzer Kreuz and back from there. The stop located directly at the turning point at Connewitz S-Bahn station could not be served whilst the works were underway.

According to the latest traffic update from the LVB, this restriction is due to end tonight at 11.59 pm. This means that regular service to the turning point will resume from Saturday. Regardless of this, route 79 is expected to remain affected by a further diversion in the Brahe-Straße area until 30 October.

In Taucha, in the district of North Saxony, a bus diversion is also coming to an end. Due to the closure of Schloßstraße, routes 173 and 175 have been running on an alternative route since 12 October. Towards Taucha, at ‘An der Bürgerruhe’, buses were diverted from Geschwister-Scholl-Straße. The ‘Rathaus’ and ‘Leipziger Straße’ stops were omitted during the closure. According to LVB, this restriction will also end tonight at 23:59.

Commemorating victims of right-wing extremist violence

This weekend, Leipzig is commemorating two victims of racially motivated violent crimes. The events mark the 30th anniversary of the death of Achmed Bachir and the 16th anniversary of the death of Kamal Kilade. The first memorial rally will take place today at 5 pm on the corner of Karl-Liebknecht-Straße and Schletterstraße. It was there that Achmed Bachir was murdered by two neo-Nazis on 23 October 1996 at the age of 30. The asylum seeker, who was originally from Syria, had been trying to come to the aid of female colleagues who were being harassed in a greengrocer’s in Leipzig’s Südvorstadt district when he was stabbed to death.

The racist motive behind the crime was only officially recognised years later. On Saturday, 24 October, a rally will begin at 4 pm at the memorial stone in the C.-W.-Müller-Anlage, opposite Leipzig Central Station. It was there, near the station, that Kamal Kilade was attacked and fatally injured on the night of 24 October 2010. He was 19 years old. In the subsequent criminal proceedings, the Leipzig Regional Court recognised the racist motive of the main perpetrator (as reported by the LZ). The memorial stone has commemorated the young man since 2013.

Both events thus not only mark the anniversaries of two acts of far-right violence, but also draw attention to society’s response to racist crimes and the public remembrance of their victims.

Theatre against forgetting

They were a brutal means of politically re-educating children and young people and have left their victims traumatised to this day: the ‘Jugendwerkhöfe’ (youth work camps), which served as penal institutions within the GDR’s education system. At the Schauspiel Leipzig today at 8 pm, the revival of the documentary theatre piece ‘Last Stop Torgau. A Cold Embrace’. At the Diskothek venue (Bosestraße 1), Regine Dura and Hans-Werner Kroesinger explore this particularly repressive chapter in GDR history.

At the heart of the production is the ‘Torgau Closed Youth Work Camp’, which was regarded as a particularly feared institution within the GDR’s residential education system. Drawing on historical documents and the memories of former residents, the theatre piece traces how young people were supposed to be moulded to conform to societal norms through strict discipline, forced labour and physical and psychological violence. It also examines the long-term effects of these experiences on the lives of those affected.

According to reviews published by the theatre, rather than a sweeping dramatic re-enactment of the abuses, the production relies primarily on personal testimonies and a restrained portrayal.

Regine Dura and Hans-Werner Kroesinger, who have been developing theatre projects together since 2000, had already addressed the history of regional opecoke mining at the Schauspiel Leipzig in 2020 with the production “Brennende Erde”. ‘Letzte Station Torgau. Eine kalte Umarmung’ premiered on 11 March 2023 and is now returning to the programme. The cast includes Paulina Bittner, Christoph Müller, Samuel Sandriesser, Teresa Schergaut, Nicolas Streit and Paula Winteler. Jonas Marc Anton Wehner is responsible for the live music.

According to the theatre, tonight’s performance is already sold out, although tickets returned at short notice may be available at the box office. Anyone who was unable to get tickets for tonight will have another chance to see the play on Sunday, 8 November, at 8 pm. It’s best to book by telephone (0341 / 12 68 168) – or secure tickets online HERE.

Rockabilly fever at the Varieté

A new production, “PETTICOAT – The Rockabilly Varieté”, opens today at 8 pm at Leipzig’s Krystallpalast Varieté (Magazingasse 4). Running until 13 March 2027, the show takes the audience back to 1950s America. The setting is the fictional “Danny’s Diner” on Route 61 in 1956. Rock ’n’ roll, live music, dance, comedy and acrobatics capture the spirit of that era. Urs Jäckle is the director and artistic director. The production was created in collaboration with DAKE Event.

Claudia Scharf and Marilia Zumpano are responsible for the choreography, whilst Daniel Vargas is the musical director. Elisabeth Schiller-Witzmann designed the costumes and Elena Köhler the set. The cast includes, amongst others, comedian Myriam Sutton, pole-balancing artist Valeria Macaggi Chaparro, speed juggler David Severins, dancer Lulu L’Amica, the trapeze duo V&A and singer Arne Hinz.

The performance, which lasts around two hours including an interval, takes place regularly on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 8 pm. On Saturdays, performances are at 5 pm and 8 pm; on Sundays, at 3 pm and 6 pm. Additional dates are scheduled for November and December, including further Friday performances at 5 pm, as well as Tuesday performances and Christmas shows in December.

The premiere and the current Saturday and Sunday performances are sold out; a few tickets are still available for 26 October. Tickets are still available for the other shows. The full programme with all dates and ticket sales information is available ONLINE HERE.