ABSTRACT
Scaffolding and cranes foreshadow economic development and a bright future for the city known throughout the centuries for its culture and its trade fairs. In Leipzig much emphasis is placed on local “community culture”, culture that develops at the grass-roots level. This broad definition of culture has great political, economic, and sociological resonance. Several important anniversaries in 1993 drew attention to the important role culture played in Leipzig’s past. In contrast, the rest of the cultural landscape, particularly community culture, has been badly shaken. Few cultural institutions in the world can exist on box office revenues alone. There has always been a close relationship among federal, state, and city governments and cultural institutions in eastern and western Germany. The Cultural Council of Leipzig is the city’s public arm for culture. One of the more difficult issues that Leipzig faces is deciding how much to spend on “high culture” and how much on other cultural activities.
