5,000 Years of media history
Guided tour
Foto: DNB, Annett Koschnick
begin 28.03.2025, 10:00
end 28.03.2025, 11:00
location Leipzig
Our guided tour of the permanent exhibition “Signs – Books – Networks: from Cuneiform Script to Binary Code” at the German Museum of Books and Writing takes you on a journey through 5,000 years of media history.
Tally sticks, tattoos, anatomy textbooks, neon signs, disguised publications, gravestones, novels or love letters: for more than 5,000 years people have been recording information using written signs. The permanent exhibition of the German Museum of Books and Writing provides a brief history of human media based on the three media innovations.
The exhibition extends an open invitation to explore earlier forms of communication, memory and writing systems, "old" book forms and "worlds of reading". It documents censorship, showcases masterly examples of book art and addresses the rapid pace of media development in the 20th century.
Information and contact
Meeting point: Museum foyer, German Museum of Books and Writing at the German National Library in Leipzig
Costs: Free admission
Duration: 1 hour
Booking: Registration not required.
Cloakroom info: You will need one- or two-Euro coins to store your bags and backpacks in the lockers.
Accessibility: The guided tour is barrier-free accessible.
Contact: dbsm-info@dnb.de or phone +49 341 2271-324
Address and getting here
German National Library
German Museum of Books and Writing
Deutscher Platz 1
04103 Leipzig
Getting here
We advise you to use public transport.
1 / By public transport
By rail
From the main railway station, take S-Bahn S1 in the direction of Riesa, S2 in the direction of Markkleeberg-Gaschwitz, S3 in the direction of Stötteritz or S5/S5X in the direction of Zwickau. Journey time approx. 7 minutes, get off at “Leipzig MDR”. Exit onto Semmelweisstraße, then turn right and continue for 400 m to the intersection at Straße des 18. Oktober.
Alternatively, take tram line 16 from platform 2 in front of the main railway station (in the direction of Lößnig) and get off at “Deutsche Nationalbibliothek”. Journey time approx. 11 minutes.
By air
From Leipzig/Halle airport, take S-Bahn S5/S5X in the direction of Zwickau. Journey time approx. 30 minutes, get off at “Leipzig MDR”. Exit onto Semmelweisstraße, then turn right and continue for 400 m to the intersection at Straße des 18. Oktober.
2 / By car
Approaching from the north
Take the A9 to the Schkeuditzer Kreuz intersection, continue on the A14 towards Dresden and take the Leipzig-Mitte (city centre) exit; continue on the B2 towards Leipzig city centre as far as the intersection at Prager Straße/Semmelweisstraße (follow the signs for “Deutsche Nationalbibliothek”).
Approaching from the south and east
Take the A9 or A14, change to the A38 and continue to the Leipzig-Süd exit; change to the B2 and continue to the Südvorstadt exit; turn right into Kurt-Eisner-Straße and continue to the German National Library.
3 / Accessibility
The German National Library in Leipzig has disabled parking spaces right in front of the building. The entrance for disabled visitors is signposted. The reading rooms and cafeteria are accessible by lift.
Last changes:
20.02.2025
