Leipzig

Leipzig is one of Germany's most exciting cities right now — a place that managed to avoid the extreme gentrification of Berlin and Hamburg while developing a thriving arts, music and cultural scene. The Saxony city was the centre of the peaceful revolution that brought down the East German government in 1989, and that history of civic courage gives it a particular energy and self-confidence. Bach spent the last 27 years of his life in Leipzig, and the Bach Museum (in the house where he lived) is excellent. Mendelssohn and Wagner were also born here; the Gewandhaus Orchestra is one of the world's oldest and finest symphony orchestras. The Thomaskirche, where Bach was choirmaster, still sings Bach's music regularly. The Museum of Contemporary Art (Museum der bildenden Künste) is excellent, and the Spinnerei — a former cotton mill converted into Leipzig's answer to Berlin's art gallery districts — houses dozens of studios and galleries. The Marktplatz and the extraordinary Mädlerpassage — an art nouveau indoor arcade housing the original Auerbachs Keller, where Goethe set a scene in Faust — are city-centre highlights. Leipzig is significantly more affordable than other major German cities, which has attracted a large creative community. The Monday demonstrations of 1989, which precipitated German reunification, are commemorated at the Nikolaikirche. An excellent base for day trips to Weimar, Wittenberg and Dresden.