Food and Drink in Leipzing, Germany
Special to Road Trips for Foodies
By Leipzig Tourism and Marketing
For centuries, the people of Leipzig and visitors to this cosmopolitan city in Germany have enjoyed a wide array of culinary specialities, from the “Leipziger Allerlei”, a mixed vegetable dish and the “Leipziger Lerche” short crust pastries to “Leipziger Gose”, the local specialty beer.
Auerbachs Keller was founded in 1525 as a wine tavern and is no doubt the most famous restaurant in Leipzig. Practically every famous visitor was a guest here. The list goes from Martin Luther, Queen Elizabeth II via Tsar Peter the Great up to Nikita Khrushchev, not to forget German national poet J. W. Goethe.
The tavern became famous in connection with the legends of Dr. Faustus and Mephistopheles, which were immortalized then by Goethe´s drama “Faust”, one of the greatest works of German literature.
Dating back to 1497, Barthels Hof is not only one of the oldest restaurants in town, it is also one of Leipzig’s best addresses for traditional Saxon cuisine. Guests can dig into local specialities like Leipziger allerlei (mixed vegetables with mussels and crab), heubraten (the speciality of the house) and leg of rabbit cooked according to a recipe from 1658. The outdoor terrace, located near the old market, is a great place to eat in the summer.
Bayrischer Bahnhof (Bavarian Railway Station) dates back to 1842 and is one of the world’s oldest railway termini. Since the year 2000 a beer brewery has been at home here, where e. g. the Gose is produced. Gose is a 1000 year old, top-fermented beer specialty. It is served pure or mixed with fruit syrups or liqueures.
At Bayrischer Bahnhof inn traditional Saxon and Bavarian food is served along with other home-brewed beer specialties.
Enjoy magnificent delights – visual as well as culinary and a spectacular view from the highest restaurant in Central Germany. The Panorama Tower restaurant “Plate of Art” serves a new light cuisine at a hight of 120 metres above the Augustus square with Gewandhaus and the Leipzig Opera.
The Gose pub “Ohne Bedenken“, which can be roughly translated as “don’t worry”, opened in 1899 and is the last remaining traditional Gose pub of Leipzig.
In the 19th century Gose, a top-fermented beer, was the most popular beer in the city. Countless songs and poems praise the effects of the drink, which is said to make men strong and women beautiful. The pub also offers traditional Gose snacks and boasts one of Leipzig’s most beautiful beer gardens.
The historical restaurant Thüringer Hof zu Leipzig is the oldest tavern located in the oldest part of Leipzig, the cuisine features Thuringian and Franconian as well as traditional Saxon food.
During his visits to Leipzig, Martin Luther often stayed at the Thüringer Hof Inn, which at that time was owned by his friend Dr. H. Schmiedeberg.
Here’s a video of “Faust – Die Rockoper” in Auerbachs Keller:
(Photo courtesy of Gose pub “Ohne Bedenken”; video courtesy of Auerbachs Keller)
