First documented in 1015, and endowed with city and market privileges in 1165, the city of Leipzig has fundamentally shaped the history of Saxony and of Germany. Leipzig has always been known as a place of commerce and still has a large trade fair ground.Leipzig acquired the nickname Kleines Paris ("Little Paris") in the 18th century, when it became a center of a classical literary movement under the leadership of German scholar and writer Johann Christoph Gottsched.The city is also the home of the Nicolaikirche (Church of St. Nicolai or Nicholas) - the starting point of peaceful demonstrations against the communist regime which led to German Unification. The collapse of communism hit Leipzig's economy very heavily, but it is now on the mend. http://wikitravel.org/en/Leipzig