page_title: Leipzig
section_title: Name
hierarchical_section_title: Leipzig / History / Name
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Kupferstich 20,5 x 32cm aus Theatrum Europaeum, Bd.II (1637), Ansicht aus Südost.
context_page_description: Leipzig is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. With a population of 600,000 inhabitants as of 2019, it is Germany's eighth most populous city as well as the second most populous city in the area of former East Germany after Berlin. Together with Halle, the largest city of the neighbouring state of Saxony-Anhalt, the city forms the polycentric conurbation of Leipzig-Halle. Between the two cities lies Leipzig/Halle Airport.
  Leipzig is located about 160 kilometres southwest of Berlin in the Leipzig Bay, which constitutes the southernmost part of the North German Plain, at the confluence of the White Elster River and two of its tributaries: the Pleiße and the Parthe. The name of the city as well as the names of many of its boroughs are of Slavic origin.
  Leipzig has been a trade city since at least the time of the Holy Roman Empire. The city sits at the intersection of the Via Regia and the Via Imperii, two important medieval trade routes. Leipzig was once one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing.
context_section_description: The name Leipzig is derived from the Slavic word Lipsk, which means "settlement where the linden trees (British English: lime trees; U.S. English: basswood trees) stand". An older spelling of the name in English is Leipsic. The Latin name Lipsia was also used. The name is cognate with Lipetsk (Липецк) in Russia and Liepāja in Latvia.
  In 1937 the Nazi government officially renamed the city Reichsmessestadt Leipzig (Imperial Trade Fair City Leipzig).
  Since 1989 Leipzig has been informally dubbed "Hero City" (Heldenstadt), in recognition of the role that the Monday demonstrations there played in the fall of the East German regime – the name alludes to the honorary title awarded in the former Soviet Union to certain cities that played a key role in the victory of the Allies during the Second World War. The common usage of this nickname for Leipzig up until the present is reflected, for example, in the name of a blog for local arts and culture, Heldenstadt.de.
  More recently, the city has sometimes been nicknamed the "Boomtown of eastern Germany", "Hypezig" or "The better Berlin" and is celebrated by the media as a hip urban centre for its vital lifestyle and for its creative scene with many startups.
caption: Leipzig in the 17th century
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