This is Leipzig - your English guide to the city

Leipzig has a Mediterranean dining atmosphere, with plenty of outdoor seating restaurants and cosy historic coffee shops nestled in courtyards and pedestrian only streets. Try the famous Leipziger Lerche pastry, made with almonds, marzipan and strawberry jam for afternoon tea. These tiny yummy cakes replaced the traditional hunting of skylarks which was banned by the Saxon king in 1876. Another traditional dish is the Leipziger Allerlei which is a selection of seasonal young vegetables. Tradition dates this back to the Napoleonic wars, where to avoid paying tax wealthy citizens would serve the inspectors only vegetables to make them believe that there was little money in the household.

Leipzig has a proud history of cabaret clubs, which in their own way helped to fuel the breakup of the former GDR. Prior the political changes in 1989, clubs such as the Academixer and the Leipziger Pfeffermühle, were already poking fun at the failed communist state. In a system which suppressed the freedom of speech, cabaret clubs in Leipzig were blowing the seeds of change, allowing the audience to read between the lines of comedy and variety shows.