Page 55 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2016Q4

By Gudrun Benz, Germany

Photos by Gudrun Benz

he Saxon city of Leipzig is a place with
a great history where tradition meets
dynamism. Stately homes, historic arcades,
Gothic, Renaissance, Wilhelminian and
Tmodern buildings tell more than 1,000
years of history in the square of just one square
kilometer of the city centre. It is a city of trade, of
music, of art, of culture. Famous composers such as
Johann Sebastian Bach, Felix Mendelsohn Bartholdy,
Richard Wagner, Robert Schumann, Edvard Grieg,
Albert Lortzing, Gustav Mahler lived and worked
here. Leipzig’s Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Opera
and St. Thomas Boys Choir are one of the world’s top
ensembles and boast a rich history. The famous poet
Goethe studied at the University of Leipzig, founded
in 1409 and therefore one of the oldest universities in
Europe. Art and culture, with lots of museums and
art galleries, blend with high-tech business. Leipzig
was, and even is today, a city of trade fairs (book fair,
Automobile International, Games Convention…).
Therefore Leipzig is always worth a visit.
This year’s exhibition of the Bonsai Club Germany Top left; View into the exhibition The four participants of the New Talent Contest
and the German Suiseki Society added an attraction to Upper inset; Old City Hall – a most impressive (NTC) 2016
Renaissance building, built in 1556/57.
Middle left; Michael Raab,
the city’s activities for the first time and gave evidence Lower inset; St. Nikolai Church – famous for the Bottom left; Achim Hochstein,
of the fast growing bonsai culture and art in the former slogan “We are the people” and “No violence” Middle right; Manuel Flammann,
communist state in East Germany in the last 25 years. which was chanted by 70,000 demonstrators Bottom right; The winner, René Alber, will take
More than 100 bonsai and about 20 suiseki were on in the streets in 1989 for freedom of speech, part in the next year’s European NTC during the
display. Although the exhibition area was located a freedom of assembly, and freedom of travel. Noelanders Trophy in Belgium at the beginning
little bit outside of the city centre it was well attended, of February 2017.
mainly on Saturday. Visitors enjoyed the beautifully

October/November/December 2016 | BCI | 53