by Bindiya Verma

What’s in a nickname? Well, if you’re a city competing for investment, quite a lot.

The City of Music. City of Books. Creative City. City of Culture. City of Freedom. Media City. The City of the Peaceful Revolution. These are all epithets associated with Germany’s fastest-growing city … Leipzig.

Deep foundations
Just an hour south of the German capital, Leipzig has also been described as being ‘cooler than Berlin and more hip than Munich’ by Lonely Planet; and ‘Cool kid town’ by The New York Times. These aren’t marketing slogans dreamed up by economic developers though. They each have deep foundations in the make-up of the city and are the reason why it’s such a hotspot for tech and creative businesses.

Leipzig’s creative roots range from classical composers and conductors such as Bach, Wagner, Schumann, Mendelssohn and Mahler. At perhaps the other end of the scale, Wave-Gotik-Treffen is the biggest gathering of gothic music bands and fans in the world!

Repurposed
Tech companies from Shoreditch to Soho will feel at home in Leipzig. Stunning workplaces in refurbished iconic buildings; repurposed industrial warehouses and a genuine creative community. This vibrant cluster in the Leipzig Region includes 4,500 media and creative companies employing 44,000 people.

Diverse
The collaboration in the creative ecosystem in Leipzig is exemplified by Spinlab, one of Europe’s top ranking tech accelerator programmes which partners with HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, and a diverse partner portfolio of over 25 corporations and research institutions.

An abundance of creative talent is what is driving companies to move to Leipzig. A major university city that attracts students from across Germany and beyond, Leipzig’s average age is markedly lower than other major German cities. Leipzig has been called ‘one of the best cities In Germany for expats‘.

Trading
The region is famed for its cosmopolitan and friendly nature. Leipzig has been an important trading city since at least the 12th century. An international mindset and open-mindedness are part of the city’s character. More than one in ten people here have an international background and there are over 1,200 Brits and 1,500 Americans in Leipzig. With Lancaster University being the first British university to open a campus in Germany, there’s no shortage of young English-speaking talent.

Creative cluster
Leipzig’s media and creative industries cluster has seven areas of focus:

  • digital technologies
  • printing and publishing
  • broadcasting and film
  • arts and music
  • advertising and PR
  • architecture and design
  • trade shows and services.

Media City Leipzig is a major attraction for companies in this sector and is the largest production complex for film, TV, radio and stage in Central Germany and home to more than 90 media-related companies.

The Leipzig Region is also home to a thriving art scene with its colourful gallery and studio landscape located around the old Leipzig cotton mill, the Spinnerei, a 10 hectare large former cotton factory of over one hundred artist studios.

Major player
With a focus on digital art, Kunstkraftwerk Leipzig is the first permanent museum in Germany entirely dedicated to digital and multimedia arts. With immersive exhibitions, digital installations and events – including a Banksy Exhibition in 2022 – it is the hotspot for creatives and art lovers based in a former power station dating back to 1900.

The region’s sporting credentials are on the rise thanks to the city’s famous RB Leipzig football team but success is not limited to grass. Thanks to eSports, Leipzig is a major player in gaming too.

Bindiya Varma is UK representative of Invest Region Leipzig
www.invest-region-leipzig.com