Strategically located at the intersection of two of Europe’s oldest trade routes, Leipzig has been a centre of trade and industry since Roman times. As a result, the Leipzig region can look back on centuries of history as an outstanding pan-European centre of commerce and growth. One important reason for this is its unique location in central Germany, at the heart of Europe. Critical long-distance trade routes from northern to southern and eastern to western Europe meet in Leipzig. On this foundation, an excellent trimodal infrastructure for road, rail and air traffic has developed over time. Due to this unique selling point, the location now functions as a major international transhipment hub. DHL, for example, deliberately operates one of its three global hubs here, its largest worldwide.
Free space – open developments
Compared to other top locations in Germany and Europe, the booming economic region of Leipzig has a decisive competitive advantage: it still has space to grow. The city is far from reaching its full capacity. As a planned city of over a million inhabitants, Leipzig still offers plenty of building land in the region’s heart – and some of it in prime locations. In addition, there are extensive brownfield sites on old industrial sites available for revitalisation and new land development. These include charming Wilhelminian factory complexes in the Graphisches Viertel or Plagwitz and huge sites at the Eutritzscher Freiladebahnhof and Bayerischer Bahnhof, where the city is creating entire new districts. The supply of space in the wide areas on the periphery of the city and the two new districts is even more abundant. All in all, the Leipzig region offers perfect location conditions with a wealth of attractive sites of all shapes and sizes for your business to settle and grow. Whether for offices, laboratories, industry or logistics, in existing buildings or on greenfield sites, Leipzig has a site that will meet your requirements.
Up to 30%
investment grants for settlement projects
Over 16%
population growth since 2005
Over 100 areas
with more than 10,000 m² available
24/7 cargo hub
at Leipzig/Halle Airport
40,000 students
at 11 universities in the region
35%
employment growth since 2005
Whether for offices, laboratories, industry or logistics, in existing buildings or on greenfield sites, the Leipzig Region has a site that will meet your requirements.
Unique infrastructure powering innovative logistics solutions
One important reason for the Leipzig Region’s popularity and growth is its unique location in central Germany, at the heart of Europe. Due to this unique selling point, the location now functions as a major international transhipment hub. DHL, for example, deliberately operates one of its three global hubs here, its largest worldwide.
Leipzig/Halle Airport is Germany’s second-largest cargo airport and one of the top four cargo hubs in Europe. The airport acts as a beacon around which numerous national and international companies from the logistics, manufacturing production and E-Commerce sectors have already settled and continue to settle. A goods traffic centre supplements the air traffic at the intersection of the transport axes from Scandinavia to Southern Europe and from the Benelux to Central and Eastern Europe.
Four congestion-free motorways provide access to almost all major European economic areas in less than ten truck hours.
Europe’s largest railway terminus, Leipzig’s central railway station, is the intersection of the high-speed lines Berlin-Munich and Dresden-Frankfurt (Main), which provide high-speed connections to Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt and Hamburg.
| Berlin: | 1:15 h |
| Munich: | 3:20 h |
| Frankfurt: | 3:00 h |
| Hamburg: | 4:15 h |
FAQs
RESOURCES & GUIDES
CONTACT US
Life in the Leipzig region
The New York Times calls Leipzig ‘Cool kid town’. The latest edition of Lonely Planet names Leipzig ‘Cooler than Berlin and more hip than Munich’, highlighting Leipzig as a top destination. The attraction doesn’t just go for tourists. Leipzig’s location, 24/7 Cargo airport and supply chain infrastructure make it a magnet for businesses across the IT, E-Commerce, Bio-Tech, Energy and E-Mobility sectors. The city of Leipzig itself has been called one of ‘The Best Cities In Germany For Expats‘. Furthermore, Leipzig’s attraction extends to the growing student population providing a steady stream of candidates for growing businesses. At 42.8, the average age in Leipzig is lower than in other major German cities.
Leipzig and the surrounding area are currently attracting many people to find suitable work and build a life here. As the fastest growing city in Germany, this lively popularity is no coincidence. As the local economy continues to prosper economically, it makes good sense to settle in one of the most liveable places in Germany. The combination of charming old industrial architecture and lush local recreation areas of the Leipziger Neuseenland or the Saxony Heide and Burgenland is a part of the Leipzig region’s broad attraction. In addition, there is a diverse cultural landscape with far-reaching roots, an arts and creative industry that is unparalleled anywhere in Germany. Add to this the internationally successful bundesliga football team RB Leipzig and a vibrant night life and you have the perfect recipe for a city you will want to call home. The region is famed for its cosmopolitan and friendly nature, making Greater Leipzig a great place to live. Leipzig has been an important trade city since at least the 12th century. Indeed, internationality and open-mindedness are part of the city’s genes. Over 10% of the population have an international background and there are over 1,200 Brits and 1,500 Americans in Leipzig. This openness ensures that professionals and people of different ethnicities, ages, and educational backgrounds all want to settle in the Leipzig region.
Education
The fountain of youth for the region
With over 600 historic years as a university location, excellent education has long been a defining feature of life in the Leipzig region. Eleven universities – including excellent training and research institutions such as the University of Leipzig, HTWK and HHL, Europe’s leading business school – as well as a diverse selection of technical and vocational schools, attract thousands of young people from Germany and all over the world to the region every year, providing a constant fountain of youth. This high density of excellent educational institutions also ensures a continuous supply of highly qualified young professionals in the numerous local industries, IT, life sciences, engineering, arts and media. Furthermore, due to its role as the economic centre of Central Germany, the location also attracts numerous additional young professionals from other renowned Central German universities such as the TU Dresden, the Bergakademie Freiberg, the TU Chemnitz, the Bauhaus University Weimar and even further afield. These highly educated young people nevertheless form the engine and the basis for one of the strongest growing start-up scenes in Germany.
Business opportunities in the Leipzig Region
Fourteen universities and higher education institutions – including excellent training and research institutions such as the University of Leipzig, HTWK or the leading European business school HHL, as well as a large number of diverse technical and vocational schools, ensure a continuous supply of highly qualified young professionals for numerous local industries including IT, life sciences, engineering, arts and media.
Plus, due to its role as the economic centre of Central Germany, the Leipzig Region also attracts numerous additional young professionals from other renowned Central German universities such as the TU Dresden, the Bergakademie Freiberg, the TU Chemnitz, the Bauhaus University Weimar and even further afield.
Leipzig’s location, 24/7 Cargo airport and supply chain infrastructure make it a magnet for businesses across the IT, E-Commerce, Bio-Tech, Energy and Mobility sectors which has led to higher levels of funding for businesses in key sectors from public, private and academic partners alongside opportunities for profitable partnerships with other industry leaders.
Work and research
Symbiosis of innovative business and tomorrow’s cutting-edge research
As one of Germany’s fastest-growing business locations, the Leipzig region has a wide variety of Sectors with a rich, ever-increasing treasure trove of attractive companies. Particularly in strongly innovation-driven sectors such as IT, the life sciences or energy and environmental technology, forward-looking companies receive active support from science through complementary top-level research on site. Three Max Planck Institutes, two Fraunhofer Institutes, two Helmholtz Centres, five Leibniz Institutes, three ZUSE Institutes and the German Biomass Research Centre, and numerous other universities, non-university and state institutions, are among the driving forces and future partners of the local business landscape. These internationally respected research institutions not only support local companies in the development of new applications and products of tomorrow but also serve time and again as incubators for further growth.
Close Economic Relations between Leipzig and Vietnam
Friendly relations between Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in Vietnam and the City of Leipzig date back to the early 1960s. Today, particularly the economic relations between the cities and countries are on the rise and offer opportunities to Vietnamese companies and those...
Leipzig & Manchester – the Perfect Match
A football-mad city, oozing with culture, powered by major universities that help create a youthful vibe to attract talent from all over the country and is a hotbed of innovation and...
Leipzig is recruiting international investors at MIPIM 2023
Joint booth "German Cities & Regions" at MIPIM 2022 Promotion to the top 7 of the largest German cities +++ 895 million Euros commercial investment volume in 2022 +++ Climate...