Hello Leipzig: This is how Wednesday, 28 October 2026 begins

Drivers are advised to take particular care when travelling on the motorway from this evening onwards: roadworks are causing closures! As part of DOK Week, two Leipzig-based productions are hoping to secure funding for their next project; alongside many other issues, the City Council is today also discussing the former ‘Neue Szene’; and at 6 pm at the MdbK, the focus is on painting and morality: how should we deal with looted art?

Stay alert on the motorway

Extensive road resurfacing works are due to begin this evening on the A9 towards Nuremberg, between the Schkeuditzer Kreuz junction and the Leipzig-West/Merseburg junction. From 7 pm, at the Großkugel junction, both the slip road towards Nuremberg and the exit for vehicles coming from Berlin or the Schkeuditzer Kreuz will be closed. At the same time, traffic on a stretch of motorway approximately 2.3 kilometres long will be gradually reduced to a single lane.

From 8.00 pm until 8.00 am the following morning, only one lane will be available. The affected section is 2.28 kilometres long, beginning approximately two kilometres past the Schkeuditzer Kreuz and ending roughly five kilometres before the Leipzig-West/Merseburg junction. During the works, the hard shoulders will also be closed; the maximum speed limit is therefore 80 km/h.
During the night from Thursday to Friday, the closures and lane reductions will be repeated at the same times: The junctions will be closed from 7 pm to 8 am; on the main motorway, two lanes will initially be available until 8 pm, and thereafter only one lane will be available until 8 am on Friday morning.

These night-time restrictions are not scheduled to take place during the day. The works are due to be completed on Friday morning. A full closure of the A9 motorway is not planned.

Leipzig filmmakers hope for ARD funding

A decision on funding for a new documentary film production will be made today at the 15th ARD TopDocs competition. Three projects have been shortlisted from 52 entries and will present their concepts from 1 pm at CineStar (Petersstraße). The competition offers a total of 300,000 euros gross for film production.

Two Leipzig-based production companies are among the finalists. Hoferichter & Jacobs are entering with “The Incredible Story of Moorhuhn”. The documentary explores the development of the computer game and its significance for pop culture, the economy and contemporary history. LOOKS Film from Leipzig is entering the competition with “He Is the 0.00001%”. The project tells the story of the richest man in East Germany against the backdrop of German reunification.

The third entrant is i&u Studios from Cologne with “The Missing Billionaire”. It centres on the mysterious disappearance of a billionaire and the subsequent takeover of his company by his brother.

The finalists will present their projects via a trailer to an eight-member jury chaired by ARD Editor-in-Chief Oliver Köhr. The jury will then decide on the winner by majority vote in a closed-door deliberation. The jury chair’s vote counts double. The result is due to be announced later today.

The competition is open to as yet unproduced documentary films or series with a total running time of at least 75 minutes and forms part of the industry programme at the DOK Leipzig documentary film festival.

City Council discusses a new lease of life for the “Neue Szene”

Many theatre-goers still recognise the building as the Schauspielhaus’s second venue, formerly known as the “Neue Szene” or, more recently, “Skala”. At its meeting today, the City Council is considering the specific future of the building. The cost of modernising the historic building complex into a “House of Festivals” is currently estimated at 17,331,850 euros.

Of this, 6,950,000 euros is to come from the Free State of Saxony and 4,950,000 euros from the federal government. The city’s share of the funding amounts to 5,431,850 euros. Through the refurbishment, Leipzig aims to create a shared venue for several cultural organisers. The listed building is set to house offices, conference rooms, catering facilities, a ticket office and an artist’s flat.

Plans also include an event hall for up to 365 people, which is to be used primarily by the Jazzclub Leipzig. Other intended users include DOK Leipzig, euro-scene Leipzig and the Leipziger Literarische Herbst. Six years ago, the city council had already addressed the future of the building in principle. In August 2026, the city presented its further renovation plans. The cost estimate takes into account around 1.13 million euros for construction cost inflation and 500,000 euros for the equipment required to run the venue. In mid-October, the Saxony Regional Directorate announced that the credit authorisation for the ‘Haus der Festivals’ sub-project, as part of the International Festival Landscape for the Independent Arts Scene, had been approved (document available to the LZ).

According to the current timetable, detailed design work is due to begin in October 2026, with construction work scheduled to start in November 2027. Completion is scheduled for September 2030, with the venue due to open in December 2030. LZ had already reported on the project and its funding on 20 August 2026, citing the Department of Culture. The building currently stands empty; only the ground floor houses the Skala, a venue for the independent arts scene, whose name also serves as a reminder of the building’s last use as a theatre stage.

Today’s council meeting begins at 2 pm; it is open to the public and will also be livestreamed. Anyone wishing to attend in person can find a seat in the visitors’ gallery. Admission is free. The full agenda for the council meeting, including all other proposals, questions and votes, is available online HERE.

Murder, Power and Painting

How should museums deal with works of art that were confiscated from Jewish owners during the Nazi era? Experts will be discussing this today from 6 pm at the Museum of Fine Arts, Leipzig (MdbK). The public event, ‘Four Walls Full of Art: Between Restitution and the Culture of Remembrance’, is organised in collaboration with the Leibniz Institute for Jewish History and Culture – Simon Dubnow. Admission is free; no registration is required.

The panellists are Prof. Dr Alina Gromova from HTWK Leipzig, Prof. Dr Meike Hopp from the German Centre for Lost Cultural Property in Magdeburg and the University of Cologne, Dr Monika Tatzkow from Berlin, and Junior Professor Dr Lucy Wasensteiner from the University of Bonn. The discussion will be moderated by Prof. Dr Jörg Deventer from the Dubnow Institute and Dr Ulrike Saß from the MdbK.

The discussion will focus on the legal and moral issues surrounding the restitution of looted art, as well as the responsibility of museums towards persecuted Jewish collectors and their descendants. The discussion will also focus on provenance research – which examines the origins and previous ownership of artworks – and its significance for the culture of remembrance.

The event is being held to mark the exhibition ‘Four Walls Full of Art. Jewish Families and their Collections in Leipzig’, which runs until 31 January 2027. It displays works from the former private collections of eleven Jewish families from Leipzig and documents their cultural engagement, the Nazi persecution they endured and the loss of their art collections.

At 5 pm, the museum is offering a separate guided tour of the exhibition. It costs 12 euros, or 6 euros with a concession, and is not included in the free panel discussion.