Leipziger Messe: A High Tech Trade Fair Rooted in the Middle Ages

Leipzig is a very old trading city. It was in 1497 that Kaiser Maximilian the First granted the City of Leipzig the privilege of holding trade fairs. That great tradition of hosting major trade shows endures to this day at the Leipzig Fair or “Leipziger Messe”.

During the Cold War, Leipzig was the largest venue in the world for trade shows between the East Bloc and the West. But since German reunification, the Leipziger Messe has faced stiff competition for international trade fair cities such as Hanover and other West German cities. According to Joseph Rahmen, Executive Vice President of Leipziger Messe GmbH, the company has decided to focus increasingly on markets and products that are produced in Eastern Europe over the next five years where Leipziger Messe has historic trade relationships.

Leipzig’s modern trade fair center is located at the northern edge of the city.

In 1990 with both city and state support, the Leipziger Messe opened a magnificent new facility just outside of town that features five interconnected exhibition halls of 20,500 square meters each. The heart of the complex is The Glass Hall that is directly linked with each of the five exhibition halls and with the Congress Center Leipzig.

The Leipziger Messe has established itself as an important component of the local ecoomy. In 2000, there were 28 trade fairs involving over 10,000 exhibitors. When the various congresses, concerts, special events and conferences are added in, the total number of visitors reached 1.7 million.

Upcoming fairs in 2002 include the Leipziger Fair Auto Mobil International, the Games Convention (digital interactive games), the Central German Handicrafts Fair, and the famous Leipzig Book Fair. And if the Saxon cities of Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Riesa are successful in being selected as host of the 2012 Olympic Games it is easy to foresee that the Leipziger Messe complex would serve as a world class sports arena for the event.—