"More than a story. Book City Leipzig"

Theme year of the city of Leipzig 2025

Leipzig, more than almost any other city, is a centre for books, publishers, reading and discussion and a place where the free word leaves a lasting impression. In keeping with its theme for the year 2025 "More than a story. Book City Leipzig", the city has invited citizens, initiatives and institutions to develop a varied programme which highlights the social importance of the book industry and brings together key figures in the book city of Leipzig. The German Museum of Books and Writing will be taking part with numerous events and collaborations throughout the year. Exhibitions, readings and events will be taking place on site. The museum will also make its presence felt in the city centre with walks, light installations and poster initiatives.

"... from me". – Papan to papan. A life in postcards

He began his career with the newspapers ZEIT and Süddeutsche Zeitung. From 1972 on, he drew exclusively for Stern magazine. A few years ago, after spending decades drawing for a public of millions, he started writing postcards to himself, "because finding an appealing postcard in your mailbox simply puts you in a better mood than finding advertising for a stair lift or a remedy for age spots.” The result is an analysis of contemporary German society which is as tongue-in-cheek as it is critical of the times, and also makes occasional excursions into the contumacious and the absurd. By donating his visual and textual art, papan has given the German Museum of Books and Writing a great gift. Insights into this unique collection will be presented at an exhibition set to open from January 12 to June 1, 2025.

It will be accompanied by a catalogue showing all the postcards in the collection. This catalogue is volume two in the book series focusing on images as knowledge resources “Augenrausch“.

Installation launching the theme year

The German Museum of Books and Writing is cooperating with Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (HTWK Leipzig) on the planning of the central installation with which the City of Leipzig will launch the theme year in January 2025. There will be 16 scenes illustrating key themes in the history and – still more importantly – the present and future of books and reading. Inspired by the famous “Reklameburg” built by avant-garde architect Peter Behrens in Leipzig in the 1920s, the installation will advertise the events of the theme year in one place.

Date: 31 January in the Leipzig City Archive

Bücher/über/morgen

Throughout the year, the city’s digital poster walls will be displaying a series of twelve posters developed in cooperation with Leipziger Buchkinder e.V. The world’s oldest book museum will be joining forces with the organization representing Leipzig’s youngest book enthusiasts and using public space as a canvas on which to present a changing selection of works by juvenile book lovers.

Parallel to this, there will be a monthly series of readings in book-related locations (and also in surprising places).

Date: January to December 2025

Leipzig Book Fair

We will be offering numerous events, readings and guided tours to accompany the Leipzig Book Fair. Our guests will include Leipzig Climate Book Fair and Notre Dame de Paris, with the new corporate design created after the devastating fire. The book series “Die Andere Bibliothek” (“The Other Library”) will also be celebrating its 40th anniversary at the German Museum of Books and Writing with Ilja Trojanow.

Date: 27 to 30 March

“Zwischen Zeilen und Zeiten. Buchhandel und Verlage 1825 bis 2025” – Publication and exhibition

Titled “Zwischen Zeilen und Zeiten. Buchhandel und Verlage 1825 bis 2025” (Between Lines and Times. Book Traders and Publishing Houses from 1825 to 2025”), this extensive volume tells “a different story of the Börsenverein” (German Book Traders’ Association). Around 70 experts in all fields of book and media history, German studies, historical sciences, graphic design etc. address the many aspects of the knowledge trade in more than 200 feature-style contributions. This lavishly illustrated book, which also offers abundant insights into the holdings of the German Museum of Books and Writing, is published by Wallstein.

Date: Presentation on 28 March 2025 at Literaturhaus Leipzig.

In its showcase exhibition “Between Lines and Times”, the German Museum of Books and Writing presents a selection from the remarkably extensive, diverse historical holdings it took over from the Börsenverein. This unique collection can be considered the historiographic backbone of the German National Library’s holdings and is frequently used by researchers.

Exhibition opening: 23 April 2025

Duration: 24 April to 15 December 2025

The power of the printed word. Protest and political poster as an element of democratic discourse

The book art/graphic design project developed during Hendrik Heinicke’s Master’s degree course at the Academy of Fine Arts in Leipzig (HGB) explores the printed word as an enduring medium of substantive discussion, social inclusion and empowerment. The central element consists of posters created in the HGB’s workshops using the book printing process. These promote the cause of democracy and will be taken out into the world – to other institutions, onto the street, to the people. They will be showcased at events in the public foyer areas of the German Museum of Books and Writing, at the HGB, and in and around the city.

Presentation, performance and workshop

Date: September 2025

“Forget IT?! On the Future of Knowledge Storage”

The exhibition “Forget IT?! On the Future of Knowledge Storage” held in cooperation with the German Institute for Literature will be on display in the temporary exhibition area of the German Museum of Books and Writing from September 2025 to March 2026. It will feature various present-day and futuristic methods of storing knowledge. How can we make sure that people living 100,000 years in the future will still be able to use the material and data we are collecting today? How can we impart (vital) knowledge over such periods, e.g. regarding the storage of nuclear waste? How was the storage of knowledge envisioned in the past?

The exhibition attempts to strike a balance between a cultural history of visions of the future and a look inside the technical laboratories of future storage processes.

Opening: September 2025

“BookWalkTalk“ – Walks with books of the century

Under the title “BookWalkTalk”, the German Museum of Books and Writing with Leipzig-based walking expert Bertram Weisshaar, philosopher Rainer Totzke and historian and “knowledge politician” Ulrich Brieler invite you to join them for walks with books of the century. Walking and reading – they have a lot in common: both allow “brief escapes” from everyday life, both open up new perspectives. So what could be more natural than to combine a walk with a discussion of a book that changed world views? Physical movement also sets one’s thoughts in motion.

A series of leading figures in city society will be presenting their very own books of the century at special book locations and in quite a few hidden places. The content of each book will reflect real-life situations in the historical city of Leipzig – you will be surprised.

Dates: September to December 2025

Lichtw:orte. Leipziger Lichtlyrik

The German Museum of Books and Writing will be cooperating with the German Institute for Literature in Leipzig to present a week of Leipzig poetry guided by the motto “Leipziger Lichtlyrik” (Leipzig Light Poetry). The initiative will turn the poems into “illuminated memorial blocks” in the city. The poems will be projected onto the Uniriesen at the heart of the city and above its rooftops, transforming it into a testimony to of the passage of time. Every day, the words will be beacons of light in the darkness, shine a spotlight on freedom of expression, illuminate history and place the dark in sharp relief. The central theme of the light poems is “flight and refuge”; they testify to the persecution – past and present – of those for whom Leipzig was and still is a sanctuary.

Date: 3 to 9 November 2025 in public places