Leipzig Book Fair

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Leipzig Book Fair
Branch Books
Place of issue GermanyGermany Leipzig Fair
Website www.leipziger-buchmesse.de
Last exhibition
date March 21, 2019 to
March 24, 2019
Visitors 286,000
(Messe & Leipzig reads )
Exhibitors 2,547
Exhibition space 104,700 m²
Next exhibition
date March 18, 2021 to
March 21, 2021

The Leipzig Book Fair is now the second largest in Germany after the Frankfurt Book Fair and, alongside the Auto Mobil International auto fair and the universal sample fair , which existed until after reunification , the best-known fair in Leipzig . It takes place every year in mid-March on the grounds of the Leipziger Messe .

As part of the Leipzig Book Fair, the reading festival Leipzig reads takes place, which is intended to promote an intensive exchange between authors and readers. The Manga Comic Convention and the Leipzig Antiquarian Book Fair are also integrated and part of the Leipzig Book Fair .

profile

Colorful staircase in the glass hall of the Leipzig Book Fair
A rush of visitors in the glass hall during the 2017 Book Fair
Cosplayer at the Leipzig Book Fair 2017

As the first big industry get-together of the year, the Leipzig Book Fair is an important source of inspiration for the book market with the presentation of the spring's new releases. Trade visitors are mainly on the first of four days of the fair, a Thursday. But in order to be able to survive alongside the book fair in Frankfurt am Main, where a far larger volume of orders is placed, the Leipzig Book Fair had to reorient itself. The book fair today is therefore primarily a “ public fair that focuses on the encounter between author and visitor”.

The closer focus on the reader is expressed in particular by the Leipzig Reading Festival, initiated by the Leipziger Messe and cooperation partners such as Bertelsmann , the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels , MDR and the city of Leipzig . With around 3,600 events in 2019 (readings, discussions with authors, etc.) and 74,000 visitors in 2018 during the four days of the fair throughout the city and above all on the exhibition grounds, it is the largest festival of its kind in Europe.

The atmosphere at the fair is often described by visitors and publishers as informal and relaxed. Due to the focus on the reader, the fair is also accepted by young and very young readers and is shaped by numerous mostly young cosplayers , who are a popular photo motif during the fair days. In order to make better use of this potential, the Manga Comic Convention has been taking place within the Book Fair since 2014 .

At the Leipzig Book Fair, new methods of publication and reading are a popular focus. The trend towards audio books, for example, was recognized particularly quickly at the Leipzig Book Fair and incorporated into the trade fair concept.

Supporting program

Meanwhile, the fair is also framed in media, for example by awarding the Leipzig Book Fair Prize (from 2002 to 2004 the German Book Prize ), the award of the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding and the nomination of the German Youth Literature Prize . The award of the cooperation with the Reading Foundation were responsible for reading Förderpreises Leipziger reading compass is since 2012 part of the fair. The Leipzig Authors' Round has been held parallel to the Book Fair since 2013. Since 2015, a book fair choir made up of laypeople has been performing with the MDR radio choir on Sunday afternoons . The “Werkstatt Plus”, a media workshop for creating your own content, has existed within the fair since 2019, especially for schoolchildren.

history

Bookseller's house on Hospitalstrasse (today: Prager Strasse) around 1900

The history of the Leipzig Book Fair goes back to the 17th century, in 1632 the number of books presented exceeded that of the Book Fair in Frankfurt am Main for the first time . Especially in the 18th century , Leipzig was the center of the modern German book trade with its publishers, such as Philipp Erasmus Reich , and booksellers. The top position of the Leipzig Book Fair remained until 1945, only after that it was overtaken by the fair in Frankfurt am Main. Nevertheless, the book fair remained an important meeting place for book lovers and booksellers from East and West even during the GDR era. From 1952, western publishers were represented. The exhibition center on the market offered 8,000 square meters of space from 1963, while Frankfurt was able to use 22,000 square meters at that time. The book fair has been held in spring since 1973. West German journalists visited the fair and used the fair as a "cultural and political barometer". In contrast to the Frankfurt trade fair, everyone had permanent access; days in Frankfurt were and are reserved for trade visitors. The curiosity of the public was not always satisfied: in the spring of 1965 alone, 800 titles could only be shown as a blind volume , as the GDR publishers only received their paper allocation in April each year. Booksellers could not always benefit from the fair either, as the number of copies ordered was not printed. The tolerance of Western publishers to book theft was well known: Uwe Tellkamp portrayed this in his novel Der Turm . Readings on the fringes of the book fair, which take place in large numbers today, were rare back then; an average of 30 events with 2,000 readers in the 1980s. The first alternative book fair in Leipzig in 1990 introduced a number of readings and meetings with the authors as a parallel event - this idea was later adopted as "Leipzig reads".

After the turnaround and the move from the exhibition center on the market to the new exhibition center in 1998, the book fair began to rise again with steady growth rates to this day. Since 1995, the Leipzig Antiquarian Book Fair has taken place during the book fair as a supplement to the trade fair program .

On March 3, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Leipzig Book Fair 2020 as well as all related events Manga-Comic-Con and the reading festival Leipzig reads were canceled.

Balance sheet since 2008

Exhibition stand with merchandising articles for anime and manga series, Leipzig Book Fair 2012

In 2008, with 129,000 visitors and 2,345 publishers from 39 countries, the fair recorded a new record participation (plus 1.6 percent), at least in terms of visitor numbers, while the number of exhibitors fell slightly.

In 2009 the Leipzig Book Fair opened on March 11th with the awarding of the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding to the German historian Karl Schlögel . On March 12, the Leipzig Book Fair Prize was awarded to Eike Schönfeld (in the translation category) for the transmission of Saul Bellow's "Humboldt's Legacy", to the political scientist Herfried Münkler for "The Germans and their myths" (non-fiction / essay category) and to the writer Sibylle Lewitscharoff for the novel " Apostoloff " (category fiction). The fair, attended by 2,135 exhibitors from 38 countries, was open to the public from March 12th to 15th. The main topics included the political upheaval in the GDR and in Eastern Europe. According to information from the trade fair management, 147,000 visitors were counted, an increase of 14 percent compared to 2008. The organizers continue to expect the trade fair to consolidate.

In 2010, the number of exhibitors fell to 2,071 from 39 countries, while the number of visitors continued to rise to 156,000, including 45,000 trade visitors.

With 2,150 exhibitors from 36 countries, the level of 2009 was reached again in the following year. With 163,000 visitors, including 45,000 trade visitors, this number also increased compared to the previous year.

The Leipzig Book Fair 2012 took place from March 15 to 18, 2012. A total of 2,071 publishers from 44 countries took part in the fair. With a total of 163,500 visitors, the average of the previous year was reached.

With 175,000 visitors, the 2014 Book Fair set a new record. Around 31,000 of them traveled to this year's manga comic convention .

In 2015, the focus of the book fair was Germany - Israel from 1965 to 2015 , thereby recognizing the unique relationship between the two countries . Numerous authors from Israel and Germany spoke about the past, present and future of the special relationship.

With 208,000 visitors, the 2017 Book Fair set another record. Around 105,000 visitors also attended this year's Manga Comic Convention .

The Leipzig Book Fair did not end with a record number of visitors until 2018. Due to difficult weather conditions and a disruption at Leipzig Central Station due to the unexpectedly strong onset of winter, only 197,000 visitors came to the Leipzig Book Fair. The number of exhibitors grew to 2,635. Around 104,000 visitors also attended this year's Manga-Comic-Con . The host country was Romania.

date Exhibitors countries Visitor
Leipzig Book Fair & Reading Festival Leipzig reads 		Visitors to the LBM
Leipzig Book Fair 		Visitors to MCC
Manga Comic Convention 		Trade visitors Host country
focus
March 12-16, 2008 2,345 39 129,000 - Croatia
March 11-15, 2009 2.135 38 147,000 -
March 17-21, 2010 2,071 39 157,000 - 45,000
March 16-20, 2011 2,150 36 163,000 - 45,000 Serbia
March 15-18, 2012 2,071 44 163,500 -
March 14-17, 2013 2,069 43 168,000 - 50,000
March 13-16, 2014 2,194 of
them 167 at the Manga Comic Convention 		42 237,000 175,000 89,000 Switzerland
March 12-15, 2015 2,263 of
them 284 at the Manga Comic Convention 		42 251,000 186,000 93,000 54,800 1965 to 2015. Germany - Israel
March 17-20, 2016 2,250 of
them 270 at the Manga-Comic-Con 		42 260,000 195,000 96,000
March 23-26, 2017 2,439 of
which 294 at the Manga-Comic-Con 		43 285,000 208,000 105,000 56,500 Lithuania
March 15-18, 2018 2,635 of
them 330 at the Manga-Comic-Con 		46 271,000 197,000 (a) 104,000 Romania
March 21 to 24, 2019 2,547 of
them 351 at the Manga-Comic-Con 		46 286,000 (b) - (b) 104,000 Czech Republic
Planned: March 12th to 15th, 2020. Canceled on March 3rd due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Planned: Priority region 2020–22: Common Ground . Literature from Southeast Europe
(exhibitors from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia)
March 18-21, 2021
(a) 2018: Onset of winter and traffic chaos result in a lower number of visitors than in 2017
(b)2019: The numbers for visits to the exhibition grounds were not communicated separately; instead, the total of exhibition visitors and participants in the simultaneous reading festival Leipzig reads was published. A significant part of the approx. 3,600 events of the reading festival (readings, author discussions, etc.) took place on the exhibition grounds.

literature

  • Thomas Keiderling: The rise and fall of the book city of Leipzig . Sax, Markkleeberg 2012, ISBN 978-3-86729-098-2 .
  • Thomas Keiderling: Leipzig Book Fairs and Booksellers Fairs - Continuity in the Change of Five Centuries ?. In: Zwahr, Hartmut et al. (Ed.): Leipzig, Central Germany and Europe. Ceremony for Manfred Straube and Manfred Unger on their 70th birthday, Beucha 2000, pp. 123–134. ISBN 978-3-93454-405-5
  • Hartmut Zwahr ... (Hrsg.): Leipzigs Messen 1497–1997: Change of shape - upheavals - new beginnings. Two volumes, Böhlau, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 1999, ISBN 978-3-412-00198-8 .

Web links

Commons : Leipzig Book Fair  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Prize of the Leipzig Book Fair
  2. ↑ Patricia F. Zeckert: The International Leipzig Book Fair. in: From politics and contemporary history : Reading country GDR. , Federal Agency for Civic Education, issue 11/2009, pp. 39–46, here p. 39.
  3. ↑ Patricia F. Zeckert: The International Leipzig Book Fair. in: From politics and contemporary history : Reading country GDR. , Federal Agency for Civic Education, issue 11/2009, pp. 39–46, here p. 40.
  4. ↑ Patricia F. Zeckert: The International Leipzig Book Fair. in: From politics and contemporary history : Reading country GDR. , Federal Agency for Civic Education, issue 11/2009, pp. 39–46, here p. 42.
  5. ^ A b c Patricia F. Zeckert: The International Leipzig Book Fair. in: From politics and contemporary history : Reading country GDR. , Federal Agency for Civic Education, issue 11/2009, pp. 39–46, here p. 44.
  6. ↑ Patricia F. Zeckert: The International Leipzig Book Fair. in: From politics and contemporary history : Reading country GDR. , Federal Agency for Civic Education, issue 11/2009, pp. 39–46, here p. 45.
  7. ↑ Video about the 1st ABM by Christian Staudinger on Youtube
  8. ^ 1. ABM on "Heldenstadt.de" ( Memento from November 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ readings for 1.ABM Leipzig, video by Christian Staudinger
  10. ↑ http://www.leipziger-buchmesse.de/absage/ , accessed on March 3, 2020
  11. ↑ https://www.mdr.de/kultur/buchmesse/buchmesse-abgesagt-corona-100.html , accessed on March 3, 2020, 1 p.m.
  12. ↑ https://www.lvz.de/Leipzig/Lokales/Coronavirus-Leipziger-Buchmesse-wird-abgesagt , accessed on March 3, 2020, 1:05 p.m.
  13. ↑ cf. ddp am Morgen: Book fair begins with awards ceremony . ddp , March 11, 2009
  14. ↑ cf. West expected for a long night of reading. at tlz.de, March 11, 2009, archived from the original on March 11, 2009 ; Retrieved March 12, 2009 .
  15. ↑ Leipzig Book Fair ends with a great balance: - March 15, 2009 ( Memento from August 4, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) (accessed on March 17, 2009)
  16. ↑ Leipzig Book Fair (March 18 to 21, 2010) March 21, 2010 Final report ( Memento of the original from March 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sbvv.ch
  17. ↑ Leipziger Volkszeitung : Leipzig Book Fair
  18. ↑ Leipzig Book Fair - press release: "Books, e-books and Co. delighted 163,500 visitors" ( Memento from August 3, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) March 18, 2012
  19. ↑ Leipzig Book Fair ends with a record number of visitors ( memento from March 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) on stern.de, accessed on March 19, 2014.
  20. ↑ a b Starting signal for the spring of books ( memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at leipziger-buchmesse.de, accessed on March 13, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.leipziger-buchmesse.de
  21. ^ A b Leipziger Messe GmbH: Manga Comic Convention
  22. ↑ The Leipzig Book Fair and the reading festival “Leipzig reads” inspire 237,000 visitors ( memento of the original from February 9, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at leipziger-buchmesse.de, accessed on March 16, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.leipziger-buchmesse.de
  23. ↑ a b c Leipzig Book Fair: Words became worlds for 251,000 visitors ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at leipziger-buchmesse.de, accessed on March 16, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.leipziger-buchmesse.de
  24. ↑ a b Close to the heroes: 93,000 visitors to the Manga-Comic-Convention on www.manga-comic-con.de, accessed on March 16, 2015.
  25. ↑ Bild.de Weird comic fans at the Leipzig Book Fair . March 20, 2016
  26. ↑ 260,000 visitors answered the call from the Leipzig Book Fair at www.leipziger-buchmesse.de, accessed on March 20, 2016.
  27. ↑ facebook.com Facebook page of the Manga-Comic-Con . March 26, 2017
  28. ↑ A literary festival comes to an end at www.leipziger-buchmesse.de, accessed on March 29, 2017.
  29. ↑ facebook.com Facebook page of the Manga-Comic-Con . February 13, 2018
  30. ↑ Snow stops the record hunt at the Leipzig Book Fair [1] . 18th March 2018
  31. ↑ a b c d e Final report: The unique power of words , Leipziger Messe GmbH. March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018. 
  32. ↑ a b Number of visitors to the Leipzig Book Fair from 2007 to 2018 . Statista. Retrieved March 26, 2019.