Hello Leipzig: Here’s how Wednesday, 2 September 2026, gets off to a start

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Almost inconspicuous, situated in front of the Alte Messe, lies nothing less than the memory of our entire nation. Even many residents of Leipzig are unaware of this – something that could be changed today. LZ reveals how. The railway builds and tinkers – and anyone who wants to uncover one of this city’s ugly secrets must get out the broom today.

Long live the old building!

Germany’s memory may be old, but it can still celebrate its birthday! Exactly 110 years after the inauguration of its historic building in Leipzig, the German National Library is hosting a special open day today. From 9 am to 6 pm, guests can explore the history and architecture of the building – as well as areas that are not normally easily accessible – free of charge.

A total of five guided tours are planned. The first, at 9 am, is ‘Hidden Places: A guided tour of the hidden corners of the German National Library’. Meeting point: museum foyer, German Book and Writing Museum (new building to the left of the main building). Participants will gain a behind-the-scenes insight into the building, which comprises more than 600 rooms.

At 11 am, a guided tour through the listed historic building and the modern extension will begin in the foyer of the historic building. ‘Hidden Places’ will be offered a second time at 1 pm, again starting from the museum foyer. At 4 pm, two further tours will start there simultaneously, so visitors will have to choose between the two options: “The Architecture of the German National Library Through the Ages” traces the architectural development from Oskar Pusch to Gabriele Glöckler. At the same time, DNB Director Johannes Neuer will be leading a tour of the building entitled ‘Building for Eternity’. No additional tour fee is specified for the anniversary tours.

The original building was constructed between 1914 and 1916 under the supervision of Building Councillor Karl-Julius Baer, based on designs by the architect Oskar Pusch. The main façade facing Deutscher Platz measures around 120 metres, and the original structure is approximately 22 metres high. Pusch had already planned with a view to the library’s constantly growing collection and the resulting need for additional space. The subsequent extensions, including the fourth extension designed by Gabriele Glöckler and opened in 2011, illustrate how the site has changed since then.

Even 110 years after its inauguration, lack of space remains a pressing issue: the Leipzig storage facilities of the German National Library are once again approaching their capacity limits. A fifth extension with around 17,000 square metres of usable floor space is therefore planned. It is intended to provide space for a further 35.5 million items, or 148 kilometres of shelving. The total cost is currently estimated at 156 million euros; the Bundestag has yet to decide on the funding.

The commemorative event thus focuses not only on the opening on 2 September 1916, but also on the future of a library site whose collections are constantly growing. This, in turn, forms part of its statutory mandate. Media works published in Germany since 1913 must be collected, catalogued, bibliographically recorded and permanently preserved by the library; in addition, this includes, amongst other things, German-language media works published abroad, translations of German-language works and foreign-language publications about Germany.

The collection now comprises not only printed material but also digital publications. Anyone authorised to distribute or make publicly available a media work subject to legal deposit who has their registered office, a permanent establishment or their principal place of residence in Germany is, in principle, subject to the statutory legal deposit obligation.

The aim is to preserve the published cultural heritage in the long term and make it accessible to the general public – and with every new publication, the space required by the National Library grows accordingly.

Don’t head into town tonight

Once again, it’s a reminder for night owls! Because not every familiar journey follows the usual route. Passengers on the RE 50 Leipzig–Riesa–Dresden regional express service should expect disruption in eastern Leipzig from this evening onwards.

Due to engineering works between Borsdorf (Sachs) and Leipzig Central Station, six trains will not stop at Leipzig-Engelsdorf during the night leading into Thursday. According to the detailed engineering information, the changes will apply from today, 2 September, at 9.45 pm, until Thursday, 3 September, at 4 am. Only the RE 50 trains 16537, 16539, 16501, 16534, 16536 and 16538 are affected. This means that not all services on the line will omit this stop that night.

Replacement bus services have been arranged for passengers. Passengers are advised to take particular care when checking connections, as the changes may not appear in the regular electronic timetables. The Oberelbe Transport Association expressly warns: “Please note that the effects of this timetable change are not currently taken into account by the timetable enquiry service.” The affected RE50 line is operated by DB Regio AG Südost. The transport announcement cites “construction work between Borsdorf (Sachs) and Leipzig Central Station” as the reason.

Deutsche Bahn generally provides an official overview of timetable changes due to construction work for Saxony and recommends, amongst other things, that passengers monitor the latest changes via the DB Navigator.

Truly fascinating

This little journey follows in some big, dark footsteps. Taking part requires no magic, just a punctual booking. Anyone wishing to take part in the city tour “Women’s Daily Life and the Witch Hunts in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period” on Friday has only today left to reserve one of the much sought-after tickets.

The guided tour, led by Christiane Dietering and Christine Rietzke from the Working Group on the Re-examination of Witch-Hunts at the Sociocultural Centre for Women’s Culture in Leipzig, begins on 4 September at 4 pm by the fountain in the Nikolaikirchhof and ends at 6 pm. The focus is on the everyday lives of women in the Middle Ages, the brutal witch hunts that took place over centuries, and regional and wider historical contexts.

Under the guiding principle ‘…and what has accompanied us from that time right up to the present day’, the tour will also address misconceptions about the period that persist to this day. The working group is engaged in a long-term project examining the witch hunts in Leipzig and Saxony, the injustices committed during this period, and the question of rehabilitating women and men who were murdered whilst innocent.

Participation in the tour costs 8 euros, or 6 euros for concessions. For registration, contact details and enquiries, please contact Frauenkultur Leipzig at hallo@frauenkultur-leipzig.de.