Leipzig has been welcoming visitors from around the world for centuries. This is partly due to its proud history of commerce, now buoyed by its position at the heart of Europe and just a short train ride away from Berlin. It was the presence of the Leipzig Fair that gave the city its welcoming, cosmopolitan outlook in centuries past and even in the communist era – which partly explains why the Peaceful Revolution that toppled the Berlin Wall kicked off in Leipzig. These days, the city also welcomes incoming employers. The extensive assistance they receive includes support for business relocations and expansions, such as subsidies and regular recruitment fairs to help them find new local staff. Meanwhile, foreign workers with families often choose to send their children to Leipzig International School, where the language of instruction is English. Other visitors given a warm welcome include the scientists and scholars attending one of the many annual summer schools in Leipzig.

Leipzig has two universities and seven other institutions of higher education where in total more than 40,000 students are enrolled, giving the city an outstanding talent pool and creating a stable pipeline to the skilled workforce of tomorrow. In fact, 28% of those in work in Leipzig have a college degree. This makes Leipzig the beating heart of central Germany – an innovative area with a total population exceeding 2.25 million. The European Metropolitan Region of Central Germany brings together around 85 key corporations, local authorities, business chambers, and professional associations from the federal states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia with the shared aim of promoting the successful development and marketing of central Germany as a region with a strong economic, scientific and cultural heritage.