TAn artist-painted building in Karli.(Photo: Jens Schwarz/LAIF/Redux)

Leipzig Instead of BerlinBy Jess Holl Published Oct 25, 2013

hough Berliners snidely refer tothe small city to the south as

Hypezig, most will admit that itreally does feel like Berlin did ten yearsago, thanks to a recent flood of youngpeople (many straight from university)drawn to its thriving art scene,insanely cheap rents, and undergroundparties in converted departmentstores. The once rather bleakpostindustrial town is now boomingwith an innovative culinary scene:Local favorites include the rusticvegetarian Zest (BornaischeStrasse542319126), Fleischereis ornatebutcher shop turned bistro (Jahnallee

236257848),and Chinabrenners spicy Sichuan in the up-and-coming Plagwitzneighborhood (Giesserstrasse184927715). Among a stream of crowd-drawingfestivals are the centuries-old Leipzig Book Fair (taking place in March) and thesummertime Bachfest (named for Leipzigs most famous son), not to mentionregular word-of-mouth open-air parties in the citys many parks and abandonedindustrial sites.

Population: 530,000 DistancefromBerlin: About a 75-minute train ride. WheretoStay: $:ElsterLofts 29minimally furnished apartments (from$95apartmentleipzig.de) sit on the

sunny side of the canal in Plagwitz. $$: AltConnewitz (from$106altconnewitz.de) optimally locates you in Connewitzs Karli bar district, nicknamed forits central artery, Karl-Leibknecht-Strasse. $$$:TheSteigenbergerGrandhotelHandelshof(from$170steigenberger.com), housed in a former exposition centerfrom the early 1900s, is perfect for more traditional sightseeing; Bach is buried innearby St. Thomas church.

AKnstlersParadiseSimilartowhathappensifyouspendenoughtimeinBerlinsKreuzbergandPrenzlauerBergneighborhoods,ifyouhangaroundinLeipzigsPlagwitzorLindenaudistricts,itcanseemlikeeveryoneisanartistorgallerist.SincethefalloftheBerlinWallandthebirthoftheNewLeipzigSchoolofpainters,thecitysartscenehasbeensteadilygrowing,nowspawningasecondgenerationofgalleriesthat,liketheirpostGDRpredecessors,areintroducingnewGermanartiststotheworld.Here,twogalleryownersoneestablished,oneemergingpointoutwheretofindLeipzigsaesthetes.

OlderGuard:GerdHarryLybkeIn 1983, Lybke covertly began a gallery in his apartment, when it was still againstthe law to do so in the GDR. After the fall of the Wall, Lybke went on to open Eigen+ArtLeipzig(Spinnereistrasse7,Hall59607886), accumulating aninternational roster of artists and introducing New Leipzig School painter NeoRauch to the New York art scene.

(Photo: Courtesy of Kunstraum Ortloff/SaschaHerrmann (Wir Belohnen Sie, 2011))

TheBaumwollspinnerei(Spinnereistrasse74980200) is an expansiveformer cotton-spinning-mill complex that, since the early nineties, has united thecitys artists and other creative types. There are eleven galleries and institutions(including mine) showing the major Leipzig-trained and based artists. Be sure tostop by ASPNGalerie (9600031aspngalerie.de), run by Arne Linde, who was onboard from the beginning of the art scene in Leipzig and who represents a freshroster of artists, like Jochen Plogsties and Grit Hachmeister. GalerieKleindienst(4774553galeriekleindienst.de) represents New Leipzig School painter ChristophRuckhberle, as well as other artists who work in a range of media, like Nadin MariaRfenacht, whose recent show featured a mix of photography and collages.

NewerGuard:KatrinKlietschKlietsch, an urban-studies Ph.D. candidate at the Bauhaus-University Weimar,opened KingsizeGallery(Grnewaldstrasse19kingsizegalerie.com) in 2010and still runs it out of an unrenovated storefront near the city center, representingartists like Jana Engel, Andreas Enrico Grunert, Carsten Tabel, and Paule Hammer.

The WeisscubeGalerie (MainzerStrasse74045068), located in anactual white cube in the backyardgarden of a Bauhaus villa, creates adialogue between so-called outsiderartists, including those withpsychiatric disorders, and already

established artists like Enrico Meyer, who often curate the shows. Ortloff(Jahnallee73ortloff.org) shows mostly contemporary art, from text-basedinstallations to graphic design, photography, and sculpture. The artists shown herelike Georg Weissbach, Ralf Hauenschild, and Sebastian Nebeare often graduatesof the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig. In 2009, the gallery launched Ortloff

Records, an electronic-music label that only does limited-edition pressings,partnering with local Kann records for their distribution. The opening parties hereare famously good.

PartyinaPensionThenightlifesceneinBerlinisaboomingindustry,butinLeipzig,thevibeisfarmoreDIY,withthecityseeingariseofanythinggoesmultipurposespaces.Herearethreetocheckout.

By day, Kafic(KarlTauchnitzStrasse9111408120) is a caf and contemporary-art gallery. Come sundown, it turns into a concert venue that hosts international actsand live electronic music in a cozy, living-room-like setting.

NochBesserLeben(MerseburgerStrasse259757330), located in the ber-cool Plagwitz neighborhood, functions as a music venue, bar, and hostel. If you showup too late to fit inside the intimate performance space on the second floor, theresplenty of room at the bar below. And if youd rather not pay for the cab ride home,book one of its seven rooms for around $25, and you could be sharing a communalbathroom with the band.

KaufhausHeld(DemmeringstrasseatMerseburgerStrasseheldleipzig.de) isan over-26,000-square-foot former department store that a group of artist friendstook over in September, after the buildings owners okayed them to use the space forart. So far, this has included everything from a standard art show to a young-fashion-designer showcase and a few impromptu electro dance parties (which folksusually find out about the day of via Facebook). The crew plans to host live concertsin the stores former restaurant.