It is a heartwarming success story. The huge open-caste coal mines which once blighted the surrounding countryside are now lakes, with watersports and beaches. Big names like BMW, DHL, Porsche and Amazon have relocated to the city’s hinterland. New e-commerce is springing up in the former manufacturing district where heavy industry once dominated, and there’s a whole new community of hipster artists in town, earning the place the nickname of the ‘new Berlin’.

Leipzig’s biggest issue holding back its tourism, and one which also faces neighbour Dresden too, is the near complete lack of direct flights (Leipzig has an inconveniently-timed three times a week service from Ryanair). Both cities have decent airports, which is part of the problem. If there was just one airport, mutually shared, airlines would be able to consolidate. As it is, the market is sufficiently divided to make both unviable. Mercifully, Berlin is a 70 minute train ride away.

Anyway Leipzig, with its huge Monday demonstrations, was instrumental in the demise of the GDR, but there are still pleasantly idiosyncratic slices of GDR-ness visible. In the Plagwitz area of former factories now turned to designer workspaces and start-ups, I came across the Lebensmittel A Prinz cornershop, a true relic from another era. Nothing fancy here, just incredibly good value: hot drinks (including Bruhe mit Ei – stock with an egg in it) all for 80 cents; fish rolls for €1.30, ham and cheese for €1.50, beer for 55 cents a litre and of course sweet east German Rotkäppchen sekt for €4.10. Not forgetting the jelly bananas. All served by stout, no-nonsense ladies in floral housecoats, to a constant stream of workmen in overalls.

It was good to see that the past hadn’t been entirely swept away, and there is still a niche for an honest old-fashioned business at an honest price.

I first became interested in the illusion of painting as a child. I started to do a lot of drawing, and acquainted myself with the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, whose mastery of perspective I still find breathtaking. As a young man I studied architecture in Dresden and then painting in Berlin, and one of my first jobs was the design for an exhibition about historic panorama paintings of the 19th century. As part of that I recreated a historic panorama depicting Rome, and we reproduced it in huge size for the exhibition.

Then in 1995, during German reunification, there were big discussions about Berlin and the rebuilding of central places such as Potsdamer Platz and Alexanderplatz. I did four panoramas that showed how these and other places would eventually look, and the project was a huge success as ‘normal’ people now could understand what was being discussed.

Later a great opportunity came my way: I wanted to do a panorama of Mount Everest on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its first successful climb, and I heard that Leipzig in Saxony, where I had spent my youth, had an old disused gasometer. They let me restore it, and do my ‘Everest 360°’ inside. It was a great success, and I followed it with ‘Rome CCCXII’, and that’s how the whole thing started.

Dresden was next, and then another in Leipzig, and then in Berlin, and our first export panorama, at Rouen in France. The latest to be developed is the ‘Luther 1517’ panorama which just opened this October, in a new specially built setting in Lutherstadt Wittenberg, the focus of the 500th anniversary celebrations for 2017. In the immediate future there’s a new Leipzig panorama opening in January, and we are working on several more in the next ten years.

Over the last few years I’ve found that the panorama concept attracts a wide range of people, more than just classical museum goers. The impact of having the image all round you is effectively one of total immersion, in a space of time, emotion, thought and memory.

More information on the Asisi homepage.

Two years ago I read an article about how Germany is spending too much on infrastructure. Airports were mentioned. Apparently, every city has a nice new one, and I can confirm that the ones at Leipzig-Halle and Dresden are excellent.

The article also criticised the number of water theme parks being built. Not being much of a fan of theme parks I rather agreed with the tone, suggesting that money could be better spent elsewhere. Once I started thinking about it though, I realised they also meant the Sommerbad or Freibad, those outdoor open air swimming pools that are a feature of many German towns. Many of those in the east, where we go on holiday, have been rebuilt in recent years. In my opinion, this is taxpayers money very well spent.

I want to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to councils in Germany for building and maintaining these places – they are wonderful. A few years ago we went to a spectacular Sommerbad in Zeitz (about 50km from Leipzig) complete with slides and fountains, but I want to pay a special tribute to a much smaller one further east in Rochlitz.

Rochlitz is a quiet town on the river Zwickau and it has the most wonderful Freibad not far from the river. Set in well-kept grounds with trees and flower beds, the unpretentious buildings are spotlessly clean and well maintained. The same goes for the large swimming and diving pool. There is small pool for tiny children and parents and other sports facilities nearby. Also plenty of grass for picnics and seating with tables around the pool.

We have been visiting this part of Germany for ten years now and usually go to the Rochlitz Freibad several times each year. The kiosk serves home-made ice cream – pear and elderflower are favourites – and snacks and drinks. It is a great value place to relax and spend the day in and out of the pool.

We were shocked to read last year that a few weeks before our visit, the Zwickau river had burst its banks and flooded the lower part of the town and the pool. Many local people rallied around the indomitable Schwimmeister Andreas, to clean out all the mud, repair the damage and restore the pool and its surroundings to their former glory. The people there are right to treasure this fantastic place, we are privileged to visit. Long live public support and investment in pleasures we can all enjoy!

It’s tempting to concentrate on the city of Leipzig’s grand cultural and musical heritage and simply to start name-dropping, since some of the world’s most eminent musical figures and institutions are part and parcel of the city’s history: Bach, Wagner, Mendelssohn, Schumann, the Gewandhaus Orchestra and the St Thomas’ Boys Choir. However, as important as all these most certainly are, 21st century Leipzig is a city that merges a number of ingredients into a very appealing urban cocktail (and lots of hidden treasures) – such as easy-going street life, innovative leisure ideas, impressive art nouveau and Renaissance architecture, plentiful green spaces plus a genuine fondness by the inhabitants for their city that is pleasingly evident in everyday life.

Just over an hour south of Berlin, locals call Leipzig ‘LE’, sounding like ‘LA’ in German. Fortunately, this is where the similarity with the US megalopolis ends since Leipzig has a proper city centre made for walking and exploring, whilst LA does not.

This is a city with a history that dates back more than 1,000 years and is still extremely buzzing. After Leipzig’s big birthday bash for the city’s 1000th anniversary in 2015, one might think the party is over but far from it: the city of books and music is as lively as ever and each year offers a calendar full of festivals and events.

The historical centre inside the so-called Ring which follows the old town fortification covers one square kilometre and is a maze of wide pedestrianised zones, small cobble-stoned lanes and a whole network of courtyards, passages or arcades and palatial trade fair halls, one of Leipzig’s stand-out features.

Much of the original city plan dates back a mere 500 years, when the distinctive city passages were built to save horse-drawn carriages from having to reverse in the courtyards and are closely connected to the city’s history as a trade hub. There are now 30 of these arcades, 20 of them originals, housing small shops, boutiques, cafés and restaurants. The old ones have been beautifully restored such as Mädler Passage, a splendid walkway featuring the famous Auerbach’s Keller which was immortalised in Goethe’s Faust. Barthels Hof, the last remaining trade courtyard from the trade fair period in the 18^th century, has a stunning Renaissance facade, the oldest surviving one from a Leipzig residence, and in Specks Hof, the oldest remaining passage, three colourful atriums feature murals and paintings by contemporary artists.

Welcome to LE where classic culture and street life meet

A walk around Leipzig’s city centre will also automatically lead to some of the aforementioned musical powerhouses. There’s the Bach Museum opposite St Thomas’ Church where the composer served as cantor from 1723 to 1750, the Mendelssohn House, the only remaining private residence of the composer, or the Gewandhaus Orchestra.

Leipzig was able to transform and reinvent itself after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and one example of creative reinvention is the Spinnerei, a former cotton mill that is now a thriving artist community with galleries and artists’ workshops, most notably that of internationally renowned Neo Rauch, a key figure of the so-called ‘New Leipzig School’.

Another example of new uses for old industry is the Panometer, where Berlin-based panorama artist and architect Yadegar Asisi creates monumental 360-degree panoramas inside a former gasometer. The current exhibition (until 15 January 2017) is called  ‘Leipzig 1813 – in the turmoil of the Battle of the Nations’, and after that, a Titanic panorama will feature.

Apart from a very lively restaurant and bar scene with about 1,400 establishments including almost 400 with al fresco seating (or, a Freisitz, as they say in town), Leipzig also offers some attractive outdoor features: a maze of canals within the city that includes a water route from an inner city marina to Lake Cospuden outside town. ‘Route 1’ with a length of 11 km takes canoeists and paddlers along park landscapes and past late 19^th century villas to the Leipzig New Lakeland recreation area about 10km south of the city, a system of lakes that developed from former opencast mines.

Further waterways interconnect Leipzig with the whole of the New Lakeland, and that along with surrounding villages and countryside is now all being promoted as a region, and not just as a city. And there’s a new four-part Leipzig Region brand logo to go with the enlarged profile, representing the castles and history of surrounding Burgenland, the lakes and waterways of Lakeland, the nature experiences of the local heathland, and finally of course the city itself.

Leipzig seems to do it all with ease.

–        The temperature is ideal for cycling, and this is a nation that knows how to treat its cyclists well. Long distance cycle routes are well documented in the German Tourist Board’s ‘Discover Germany by Bike’ brochure, which unfortunately doesn’t have an online presence. Particularly recommended routes are the top half of the Danube, from Donaueschingen to Ulm, and the vineyard-lined Mosel between Bernkastel and Zell. But there’s lots more.

–        It’s also a good time for walking in the mountains, particularly at leaf-change time. There are great forest trails, for example, in the Pfälzer Wald in the Rheinland-Pfalz region (nearest airport Frankfurt) or in the Bayerischer Wald (nearest airport Nuremberg).

–        Germany’s vineyard regions will be celebrating the end of the season. There are wine festivals everywhere, including a big Grape Harvest Festival in Neustadt on the German Wine Road (nearest airport Frankfurt), at the beginning of October, when wine queens from various wine growing regions come together to elect the German Wine Queen

–        Museums and galleries, which have been ticking over through the summer, unveil their big autumn shows. In Berlin, for example, the Faces of the Renaissance exhibition at the Bode Museum features portraits by the likes of Ghirlandaio, Botticelli and Da Vinci. It runs until November, and is expected to attract big numbers.

–        It’s a good time to try a new city. Ryanair is launching a new route to Leipzig, particularly good for cutting edge arts and grand opera, on 3^rd November. Lufthansa has been operating an under-publicised route to Dresden for a while now, and the city is about to open a new and controversial military history museum, designed by Daniel Libeskind.  And the otherwise sedentary northern city of Bremen (also Ryanair) is about to reveal its lively side with the Freimarkt, a massive celebration which lasts for two weeks from mid-October, with parades, fairground and lots of open-air music.

–        Beer season is upon us. It is, of course, Oktoberfest time. But you don’t have to go to Munich. Stuttgart’s Cannstatter beer festival which starts at the end of September is meant to be the nation’s second largest. There are others, particularly the festival at Straubing and the Bergkirchweih at Erlangen, but they’ve already taken place, so for those you need to plan ahead for next year.

German life is not complete without a piece of good cake, accompanied by a cup of coffee. The endearing tradition of sitting down for Kaffee & Kuchen in the afternoon simply needs to be explored by every visitor. No matter where you go, be it big city or small town, you’ll find an abundance of cafés.

They come in different styles to suit all kinds of tastes. The proper old-fashioned ones where you’re bound to end up sitting amidst a collection of female pensioners having their Kaffeeklatsch (get-together for a gossip over coffee and cake). These ones often have the best cakes, by the way. Or the more contemporary version for younger crowd who are still not too cool to appreciate some lovely sweets. Fact is, Germans need their cafés. It’s part of their life and a social fixture just like the pubs in Britain. By the way, every café is also a good lunch or dinner option if you’re not after a proper restaurant experience. They all feature a selection of either snacks or more elaborate dishes.

Here are a few café suggestions in the east:

Barcomi’s Deli, Berlin

Great cakes and gateaus in lovely location in the Sophie-Gips-Höfe (courtyards) in Berlin Mitte near Hackesche Höfe. Bagels also come recommended. Coffee roaster on site. The Sophie-Gips-Höfe feature an interesting variety of architectural styles ranging from a red brick factory, some Biedermeier houses plus contemporary architecture.

Barcomi’s Deli, Sophienstrasse 21, Berlin, 10178 Berlin, www.barcomis.de

Cafe Grundmann, Leipzig

Stylish Leipzig cafe with Vienna coffeehouse atmosphere. The in-house bakery produces delicious cakes, cookies and Stollen. Watch out for the eccentric waiter.

Cafe Grundmann, August-Bebel-Strasse 2, 04275 Leipzig, www.cafe-grundmann.de

Kaffeehaus Riquet, Leipzig

Rather touristy traditional Leipzig cafe. However, the enormous choice of cakes, gateaus and coffees is impressive.

Kaffeehaus Riquet, Schuhmachergäßchen 1, 04109 Leipzig, www.riquethaus.de

Zum Arabischen Coffe Baum, Leipzig

“Coffee temple” and second oldest café in Europe (consequently, to be found in many a Leipzig travel guide as a recommendation). On several floors visitors can indulge in a wide choice of cakes and special Leipzig sweets plus lots of different types of coffee. Plus coffee museum on site.

Zum Arabischen Coffee Baum, Kleine Fleischergasse 4, 04109 Leipzig, www.coffe-baum.de

Telegraph, Leipzig

Far less opulent than the traditional coffee house types above, the Telegraph has a slightly intellectual appeal and more minimalist style. Perfect to while away an afternoon with a newspaper. Apart from daily prepared cakes, the café’s menu also features dishes such as bouillabaisse that comes highly recommended. Or try the hot pear juice with fresh ginger.

Telegraph, Dittrichring 18 – 20, 04109 Leipzig, www.cafe-telegraph.de

Click here for  more information on Leipzig’s unique coffee house culture