Augustusplatz Webcam – Leipzig Opera, Fountains and Trams

The Augustusplatz Webcam looks north across the big square on the eastern edge of Leipzig’s old town, from the roof of the Europahaus at a height of 55 meters (180 feet). The Opera House closes the far end of the view, the pointed glass gable of the university’s Paulinum rises on the left, and trams run along the Georgiring through the lower right corner. Closer in, the Mende Fountain and its tall obelisk stand at the bottom of the frame, while a round pool and a scatter of glass cylinders break up the paving in the middle. Beyond the rooftops the view runs on toward the Hauptbahnhof and the north of the city, under a wide band of sky. Market stalls arrive in winter, and the trees along the square are turning yellow by early October.

About Augustusplatz

Augustusplatz measures about 215 by 185 meters (705 by 607 feet), around 40,000 square meters (430,000 square feet) of open paving in the Leipzig-Mitte district. It started out as the ground in front of the old Grimma Gate and took its name in 1839 from Frederick Augustus, the first king of Saxony. In 1953, in the East German era, it became Karl-Marx-Platz, and the old name returned on 3 October 1990, the day Germany reunified. From 4 September 1989 the square filled with the Monday demonstrations against the East German government, and a Democracy Bell unveiled on 9 October 2009 still rings here every Monday at 6:35 pm.

The Opera House at the north end opened in 1960, and the Neues Gewandhaus concert hall at the camera’s end of the square followed in 1981; the edge of its roof fills the lower left corner. On the west side, the Paulinum opened in December 2017 on the spot where the University Church of St. Paul stood until it was demolished in 1968. Two towers in the view date from the late 1920s. The Kroch-Hochhaus, 43.2 meters (142 feet) tall and finished in 1928, carries a clock and two bell-men 3.30 meters (almost 11 feet) high who strike a bell on its roof. The Europahaus, where the camera is mounted, was built in 1928 and 1929 to plans by Otto Paul Burghardt and rises 13 stories to 56 meters (184 feet).

The Mende Fountain, inaugurated in 1886, stands in front of the Gewandhaus, its obelisk rising above a basin ringed with figures. Under the paving lies an underground car park built between 1996 and 1998, and its eight illuminated glass cylinders, nicknamed the “milk bottles”, are the odd shapes dotted across the middle of the frame.

Weather and Climate in Leipzig

Normals for 1991 to 2020 at Leipzig/Halle Airport put January at about 3.6 C (38 F) by day and -1.8 C (29 F) at night, with around 26 snowy days a year. Daylight in late December lasts under eight hours. April warms to about 14.7 C (58 F) by day and 4.4 C (40 F) at night, as the trees around the square come into leaf.

July brings average highs of 25.0 C (77 F) and lows of 14.1 C (57 F), with more than 16 hours of daylight around midsummer. October averages 14.1 C (57 F) by day and 6.2 C (43 F) at night. The city gets about 532 mm (21 inches) of precipitation and around 1,750 hours of sunshine a year, and the open sky that fills the top half of the frame shows each change in the cloud.

Things to Do Near Augustusplatz

Two of Leipzig’s best-known churches are a few minutes’ walk west into the old town. St. Nicholas Church, the Nikolaikirche, held the Monday prayers for peace that grew into the 1989 demonstrations, and St. Thomas Church, the Thomaskirche, is where Johann Sebastian Bach worked as cantor and where he is buried. The Markt and the Old Town Hall lie about 400 meters (a quarter mile) west of the square.

For a view over everything in the frame, the City-Hochhaus beside the Gewandhaus has a viewing platform at the top, though it stands behind the camera and never appears on it. The Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum der bildenden Kuenste, is a few blocks northwest, between the Markt and the station. Farther out, the Monument to the Battle of the Nations, the Voelkerschlachtdenkmal, marks the battle of 1813 about 4 km (2.5 miles) southeast of the square.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

For more of eastern Germany’s towns and squares, and a look at Leipzig almost a century ago, try these.

• Leipzig in 1931
• Colditz Webcam
• Hildesheim Webcam
• Berlin Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Augustusplatz located?

Augustusplatz is on the eastern edge of the old town in Leipzig-Mitte, the central district of Leipzig in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig lies about 150 km (93 miles) southwest of Berlin and about 100 km (62 miles) northwest of Dresden.

What can you see on the Augustusplatz Webcam?

The camera faces north from the Europahaus at the south end of the square. The Opera fills the center of the frame, the Paulinum and the university buildings line the left side, and the Georgiring with its tram tracks runs up the right. The Mende Fountain sits in the foreground, and the Kroch-Hochhaus, the Westin hotel and the tower on Wintergartenstrasse stand out on the skyline.

Can you see Leipzig Hauptbahnhof on this webcam?

Not really. The camera points toward the station, about 900 meters (0.6 miles) north of the square, but the Opera and the blocks around it hide the entrance hall and the platforms. At most, the station’s roofline shows on the skyline behind the Opera.

Does the Augustusplatz Webcam show the Markt and the Old Town Hall?

No. The Markt and the Old Town Hall are about 400 meters (a quarter mile) west of Augustusplatz, hidden behind the university buildings on the left of the frame. Towers of the old town can appear above the rooftops, but the market square itself is out of sight.

Who operates the Augustusplatz webcam?

The on-screen caption credits Leipziger Stadtwerke, the city’s municipal utility, whose head office was in the Europahaus from 2014. The utility is part of the Leipziger Gruppe, the same municipal group as the LVB, which runs Leipzig’s trams and buses.

What is happening on Augustusplatz today?

The live view is the quickest way to check. Trams stop at the shelter in the middle of the square throughout the day, and in winter the stalls of the Leipzig Christmas Market take over part of the paving. On Mondays at 6:35 pm the Democracy Bell rings in memory of the demonstrations of 1989.

Is there parking under Augustusplatz?

Yes. An underground car park was built beneath the square between 1996 and 1998, and several of its eight illuminated glass cylinders show on the camera between the Mende Fountain and the Opera.

What is the weather like in Leipzig?

January averages 3.6 C (38 F) by day and -1.8 C (29 F) at night, and July highs average 25.0 C (77 F). About 532 mm (21 inches) of precipitation falls in a year.

Source: Leipziger Stadtwerke