No wonder that the Leipzig Lake District is largely unknown. It is still under construction. By flooding previous opencast lignite sites lakes are being created which will be in total seven times bigger than Tegernsee or 20 times bigger than Wannsee. The first of the new lakes, the Cospudener Lake is already attracting people with its clear water and fine sandy beaches. The people of Leipzig have a foible for water anyway. Thanks to the large network of canals there are many offices with landing stages at the door. In case you still miss the sea: there is already a yacht marina already. A waterway to the North Sea is being planned. That's Leipzig Freedom.

Leipzig on the water

Plagwitz was Leipzig's most important industrial district until 1990. The Saxony industry pioneer Dr. Karl Heine and other founders planned and built an entire urban district with industry, streets and waterways as well as housing for factory workers. This valuable potential is now exploited radically for other uses: Lofts for up-market renting for about 6 to 8 euro, reconstruction of the old shipping canals in favour of many "hobby captains", the business innovation centre with almost 50 companies devoted to IT and biotechnology are only keywords for this.

Paddling in the city centre or in the "South Seas"

Karl Heine's vision of connecting Leipzig by a canal to waterways, so that ships could sail to Hamburg was unsuccessful. A total of 15 kilometres still separates Leipzig from the North Sea. The Karl-Heine Canal has, however, been completely reconstructed in the meantime – the quality of the houses on the banks thus gained in quality. And:  the subterranean Pleißmühlengraben (River Pleiss Mill Ditch) will be opened again, just as the Pleiss itself in the city centre, for example in front of the old Imperial Court, today's Federal Administrative Court.

Until the 1920's the waterways were free for vessels of all kinds: From Auewald in the south of the city it was possible to make rowing trips right into the city centre. The people of Leipzig still hanker today after the fun of spending time on the water. Today they can paddle in the "South Seas" as the Cospudener Lake which was constructed from the old lignite workings is lovingly called.

Voyages over the "Leftover Hole"

Cospuden was once a small district in the south of Leipzig. It lay in the Auerwald Woods and underneath it there was an enormous coal deposit. For decades Cospuden was the name of the lignite mine for which the community had to give way. Since June 2000 the name Cospuden has become a feature as an attractive leisure and natural landscape centred around the huge Cospuden Lake.

Businesses, the communes of Markkleeberg and Leipzig, citizens and population are involved in their South Seas. Ship tours with the „MS Cospuden", the kilometre long sandy beach, the „Sauna on the Lake" are only examples of the variation of leisure activities in the regenerative natural environment.

It comes as a surprise for the visitor to come across a 450 acre sized and 60 metre deep lake in the flatness and unspectacular lowland, to dive there, discover underwater hills, to sail round islands and enjoy the sandy beaches. And Cospuden is only the beginning. A lake landscape with thousands of acres of water, woods, heath will be created against the fascinating background of gigantic witnesses of the past energy industry.

Leipzig Mixture

If one believes the surveys, Leipzig has one big problem: The prejudices and clichés which people outside of Saxony and eastern Germany retain against the city are stubbornly still held. Opposed to this is the experience which all Leipzig people and their visitors have made for years: Whoever has visited Leipzig and has experienced it loves to keep coming back. And not only those who have experienced Cospuden, Plagwitz and the rivers, canals and lakes gladly agree. A proper trip begins today in the Auwald – the biggest of its kind in Europe. It runs like a green belt through the city; the park ends directly in front of the New Town Hall. To the south it reaches as far as Cospudener Lake, to the north as far as Plagwitz. Whoever wants to discover the new Leipzig can find a city which, according to survey, does not exist.