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Every day it bore the weight of thousands of cars, yet nobody took any notice of it. Now a small bridge near the Auensee is being demolished. At the Bach Monument, the well-attended free concerts are entering their final round; two cinemas are bringing the island of Hiddensee to Leipzig – and the city’s waste management department is refurbishing its advice centre, whilst promising to maintain waste collection services for the people of Leipzig.
Farewell to a silent servant
Small and unassuming, it spans the equally inconspicuous Bauerngraben, which winds its way through the Leutzsch section of the
. Around 20,000 vehicles cross the ‘Brücke am Forsthaus’ every day as they turn off at ‘Villa Hasenholz’ onto Gustav-Esche-Straße
, coming from the west, to reach Leipzig-Wahren
.
Beneath the dense foliage and in the shade of the mighty trees all around, the tiny structure is well camouflaged. Hardly any of the travellers even realise they are driving over a bridge. Yet all this hiding has been to no avail. Two years ago, the city declared it to be in an ‘unsatisfactory’ condition. The result is that the bridge over the quiet little stream near Auensee
must be demolished.
A fate that also awaits the Georg-Schwarz bridges
within sight. As part of the massive construction project to dismantle and rebuild this route over the railway tracks, there will be digging, excavating and new construction taking place in the surrounding area too. A temporary diversion around the mini-bridge is already in use. From today, the utility lines connected to it will be rerouted. Once this is done, the excavator will arrive, its relentless shovel already looming menacingly.
Leipzig’s least well-known bridge is soon to be dug away. Photo: Benjamin Weinkauf
The overall project in the vicinity of the Alfred-Kunze Sports Park is estimated to take a total of 6 years to complete, with an investment of 100 million euros. However, the hope of staying within this budget seems as unrealistic as the brave little bridge’s hope that nobody would ever notice it.
The major construction site at the Georg-Schwarz bridges is set to last a total of six years. Photo: Benjamin Weinkauf
City cleaning services continue despite construction work
The advice centre “täglich rausgeputzt – Unser Laden fürs Beraten” run by Stadtreinigung Leipzig (Markgrafenstraße 5) will be closed to the public from today until Saturday 29 August 2026 inclusive. The temporary closure is due to refurbishment work. As a result, face-to-face advice will not be available at the centre during this period.
However, the City Cleaning Service’s Service Team will remain available by telephone during the closure (0341 6571–111 from Monday to Friday between 8 am and 6 pm, and on Saturdays from 10 am to 2 pm). Enquiries can also be made by email to serviceteam@srleipzig.de.
Appointments for the collection of bulky waste and electrical waste can still be booked online HERE via the City Cleaning Service’s website whilst the refurbishment works are taking place. Once you have entered the collection location, you can select available dates and then a time on the booking pages. The standard charges apply.
A charge of 25 euros per collection applies for the collection of up to 4 cubic metres of bulky waste placed in front of the property or on the pavement. If the bulky waste is to be collected from inside the flat or from the property, a collection of up to 4 cubic metres costs 50 euros. For a large electrical appliance left outside the property, the fee is 14 euros per appliance. The disposal of bulky waste and electrical appliances at a recycling centre is free of charge for eligible households in Leipzig.
As the advice centre at Markgrafenstraße 5 is closed whilst the work is being carried out, tokens for chargeable services cannot be purchased there this week. The City Cleaning Department refers customers instead to Geithainer Straße 60 and the other known sales points within the city. The City Cleaning Department provides an overview of sales points, organised by postcode and searchable, on its website HERE.
From 31 August, the centre will be open as usual from Monday to Friday, 10 am to 6 pm, and on Saturdays from 10 am to 2 pm.
An island comes to the city
It was and remains a place of longing, the cradle of myths, a haven for dropouts: the Baltic Sea island of Hiddensee. Documentary filmmaker Annekatrin Hendel has observed life on the island for years and, from June 2024 to July 2025, shot a documentary in black and white and CinemaScope that promises to link Hiddensee’s present with a century of German history. In her newly released film, she combines historical footage with newly shot material.
One of the protagonists has a special connection to the island: Christian ‘Flake’ Lorenz, who also composed the film’s score, was part of the alternative music scene in the GDR with the band Feeling B. The group played clandestine punk concerts on the beach at Hiddensee, eyed suspiciously by the border guards stationed there, but ultimately tolerated. Historical footage of these events can be seen in the film.
Following its world premiere at the Munich Film Festival, the film celebrated its local debut at the ‘Prager Frühling’ cinema bar (Haus der Demokratie) at the weekend. Anyone who was unable to get tickets now has the chance, from today, to see the film – which runs for a good two hours – at further screenings.
The film can be seen at the “Prager Frühling” cinema bar today at 2 pm, on Wednesday 26 August at 2.45 pm, and on Saturday 29 August at 4 pm. Further screenings will follow on Saturday 5 September at 4 pm and on Tuesday 15 September at 2 pm.
The Passage Kinos on Hainstraße are screening the film today at 3.45 pm and 6.30 pm, on Tuesday 25 August at 4 pm and 6.30 pm, and on Wednesday 26 August at 4 pm.
Annekatrin Hendel’s work has repeatedly been nominated for and won major awards. As early as 2004, she received a nomination for the German Film Award for *Zur Zeit verstorben*. Her documentary *Vaterlandsverräter* won her the Peace Film Prize at the Osnabrück Film Festival in 2011 and, two years later, was awarded the Grimme Prize in the ‘Information and Culture’ category.
In 2012, the production “Mein Leben – Die Fotografin Sibylle Bergemann” (My Life – The Photographer Sibylle Bergemann) received a Grimme Prize. The DEFA Foundation has honoured Hendel’s documentary work twice with the Heiner Carow Prize: “Fünf Sterne” received it in 2017, followed by “Schönheit & Vergänglichkeit” in 2019. A further nomination for the German Film Award came in 2021: “SPACE DOGS” in the documentary film category.
Summer is drawing to a close, at least musically
The popular Monday ‘Concerts at the Bach Monument’ continue until 31 August. A series of events that delights both music lovers (free admission!) and local restaurateurs (culturally-minded guests). The ‘Trio Sphera’ has announced a programme of music from various eras, cultures and traditions for this evening.
Under the theme ‘The Joy of Discovery’, violinist Adam Markowski, a member of the MDR Symphony Orchestra, cellist Michael Peternek of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and pianist Mediha Khan to works from different eras and cultural backgrounds, juxtaposing various forms of musical expression. In this way, they aim to make audible the connections between different traditions that may at first seem far apart.
The trio seeks to combine musical quality with curiosity and openness, and their concert offers a journey of discovery through different musical worlds. The venue at the Bach monument by St Thomas’s Church provides a fitting setting for this. The audience is invited to immerse themselves in a variety of timbres, musical encounters and new connections.
The concert begins at 7 pm. The best way to reach the Thomaskirche courtyard is by any S-Bahn train stopping at Markt, and by tram line 9 or bus line 89.
To round off this year’s ‘Concerts at the Bach Monument’, the vocal ensemble SoaVI will be performing next Monday. It was founded in 2022 by students on the Historical Singing and Classical Singing courses at the ‘Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’ University of Music and Theatre in Leipzig.
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