Land: Saxony
Situation and characteristics
The city of Leipzig, long famed for its trade fairs, lies in the Saxon Lowland at the junction of the Weisse Elster and the Pleisse. Situated as it was on important trade routes, the town developed, after being granted the privilege of holding fairs, into a
considerable commercial town, the leading city in Saxony after Dresden. It also became a center of art, culture and learning. Its importance as a center of the book trade is shown by its old-established publishing houses, its major libraries, including the German Library (Deutsche Bücherei) and the German Central Library for the Blind, its International Book Fairs and annual exhibitions of the finest books of the year, its College of Graphic and Book Art and its large printing and publishing houses.