Hello Leipzig: Here’s how Tuesday 15 September 2026 begins

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An interesting ruling on political extremism is expected at the Regional Court. The Museum of Local History is addressing a closely related, serious issue. Housing costs are a concern for the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, IG Metall is organising a barbecue for foreign workers – and commuters are facing significantly longer journey times on the A72.

Rush-hour traffic is set to be heavy

From this morning, motorists at the Leipzig motorway junction must prepare for restrictions and, in all likelihood, traffic jams. On the A72, in the northern section of the junction, one lane in each direction will be closed from 7.30 am. According to Autobahn GmbH, the revised traffic arrangements are scheduled to remain in place until Saturday, 26 September, at 4.00 pm.

This is due to the closure of a central reservation crossing that had been set up for the ongoing construction work. Whilst this work is underway, traffic in both directions will be channelled past the work site via a single lane in each direction. The restriction is part of a major refurbishment project on Leipzig’s motorway network. Between the Leipzig-Neue Harth and Leipzig-Südost junctions, Autobahn GmbH is resurfacing the carriageway in the direction of Dresden over a stretch of around 7.2 kilometres from April to December 2026. In addition, safety barriers are being replaced and nine bridge structures are being repaired.
The construction work will generally be carried out whilst traffic continues to flow. For safety reasons, the speed limit within the construction zone is 80 km/h. Autobahn GmbH estimates the cost of the entire refurbishment project at approximately 15 million euros. This figure relates to the entire project between Leipzig-Neue Harth and Leipzig-Südost, and not solely to the lane reduction on the A72 which begins today. The restriction, which begins today at 7.30 am, coincides with the morning rush hour and may cause disruption, particularly for commuters.

Housing is also becoming a tight squeeze

Rising rents and increasing housing costs are not only putting a strain on people’s wallets but also on their mental wellbeing, leading to anxiety and growing poverty. This issue is the focus of a public event organised today by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Leipzig. Under the title “Join the discussion! – Home under pressure”, the Foundation is hosting an interactive round-table discussion from 6.00 pm to 8.00 pm at its Saxony regional office at Burgstraße 25, 04109 Leipzig. Admission is free.

According to the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, places are still available; online registration is possible today during the day. Those interested are automatically registered upon enquiry; no further notification will be sent.

As well as examining the costs, the event will also explore the political and social avenues for change. This is not solely about the assessments of the invited experts and politicians. The event is designed as a dialogue and aims to incorporate the experiences, ideas and views of the attendees. Topics for discussion include which conditions on the housing market are perceived as fair and where changes are necessary. As a basis for the debate, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation refers to the City of Leipzig’s ‘Housing 2025’ monitoring report. The report was published on 31 March 2026 on the city’s Leipzig Information System. According to data cited by the Foundation from the report, rents rose by 29 per cent between 2020 and 2024. 41 per cent of households in Leipzig spend more than 30 per cent of their income on housing costs. For 19 per cent of households, this proportion is already over 40 per cent.

Taking part in today’s round-table discussion are Dirk Panter, Member of the Saxon State Parliament; Prof. Dr Thomas Lenk, former Director of the Saxony Centre of Excellence for Municipal Infrastructure; Ines Senftleben, architect and representative of the Saxon Chamber of Architects, and Dr Mario Hesse from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Leipzig. The event will be moderated by Leipzig-based journalist and media consultant Wolfgang Brinkschulte.

Trade union hosts barbecue for guests

They are indispensable to the so-called ‘labour market’ – and they are our neighbours and fellow human beings: workers who have come to us from abroad. IG Metall Leipzig is inviting them today from 4 pm to an international barbecue for migrant workers in the garden of the Volkshaus. Through this event, the trade union aims to create opportunities for discussion about working and living conditions. According to IG Metall, the event is also intended to help overcome language barriers and strengthen ties between workers.

There will be staff on hand who speak Spanish, English, Arabic and Polish. The barbecue thus combines a social gathering with discussions on topics relating to the world of work, integration and trade union organisation. To help with planning, it would be helpful if you could register quickly online HERE this morning.

Museum commemorates Leipzig’s victims

A panel discussion this evening at the Old Town Hall will mark the opening of the exhibition ‘The Unspoken Dead: Victims of Right-wing Violence in Leipzig since 1990’. The exhibition commemorates nine people killed by right-wing violence in Leipzig since 1990 and examines a further suspected case. At the same time, it traces how society and politics have dealt with the crimes and their victims.

‘Right-wing violence is not a marginal phenomenon,’ states the Leipzig Museum of City History. According to its figures, various initiatives in Germany have recorded at least 224 fatalities resulting from right-wing violence since 1990. As well as the background to the attacks, the Leipzig exhibition also examines prejudice against those affected and their bereaved families, as well as the depoliticisation and trivialisation of such cases.

Representatives of the Anti-Racism Initiative Group, who were involved in the original exhibition developed in 2013 and are now also contributing to its revised version, will speak on the panel at the opening. Admission to the event, which begins at 6 pm, is free; advance registration at stadtmuseum@leipzig.de is encouraged but not required for attendance.

The exhibition itself can be viewed from tomorrow, 16 September, until 31 October 2026 at the Old Town Hall. It is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00 to 18.00. Admission to the exhibition is also free of charge.

Verdict expected in extremism trial

A verdict is expected today at the Leipzig Regional Court in the appeal trial against a former accountant at Magdeburg University Hospital. The 56-year-old defendant is alleged to have unlawfully accessed sensitive personal data and addresses and passed on information to individuals from the far-left extremist milieu (as reported by the LZ).

In early February, the Magistrates’ Court had sentenced her to one and a half years’ suspended imprisonment for aiding and abetting grievous bodily harm in two cases, one of which was in conjunction with trespass. Both the defendant and the prosecution lodged appeals. The case concerns two attacks that remain unsolved to this day, which investigators attributed to the far-left extremist milieu and, presumably, to the group associated with Lina E.

On 30 October 2018, the neo-Nazi Cedric S. was beaten up by a group in Wurzen and seriously injured. On 3 November 2019, two unidentified individuals attacked a 34-year-old estate agent in her flat in Leipzig. According to the prosecution, the defendant is alleged to have used her work-related access to population register data for research purposes prior to the offences and to have passed on the information obtained.

The defence disputes that the searches attributed to the defendant enabled or facilitated the attacks; they also claim there is no evidence that she passed on any addresses. The defendant herself has not yet commented on the allegations.

Our reporter Lucas Böhme will report on the outcome of the appeal proceedings shortly.