Starting 28 August: 8 days of Leipzig industrial heritage
There are two events that draw attention to Leipzig's industrial heritage: The Industrie|Kultur|Festival #8 primarily takes a look at the artistic-creative use and sustainable industry and focuses on both well-known companies as well as small and unfamiliar locations. Embedded in the festival are the Days of Industrial Heritage, with their tried-and-tested thematic routes inviting visitors to discover the industrial past.
The best way to get a general idea of Leipzig's industrial heritage and its interconnections is to book a guided tour on a historic e-carriage. Along the way, the tour covers everything from the industrial pioneer Dr Carl Heine, who shaped the face of Leipzig's western suburbs with his namesake canal, to manufacturers' villas and the city's oldest mail-order house, to the Niemeyer Sphere attached to a historicist brick factory.
Once again, ERIH sites are involved. The Brown Coal Processing Museum in the „Herrmannschacht“ Briquette Factory, for example, will be bringing the lignite industry to life: appearance, smell, transport and processing of bulk material into solid briquettes are all part of the exciting guided tour. The Museum of Printing Arts, on the other hand, revives several centuries of printing and media history with some 100 fully functional machines.
Traditionally, factory tours are highly popular. Be it a foundry, a ball and roller bearing plant, a power station, the production of light rail and trams or tours of the transparent laboratory and tank depot of the largest cell bank in German-speaking Europe: it's here that modern factories open their doors for a close-up look behind the scenes.
Since Leipzig's industrial heritage is part of Central Germany, some of the event venues are located in Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. As always, registration for specific offers and activities can be made via the official website of the event.