Panorama Tower – best vantage point in Leipzig

We enter the entrance area of a high-rise building on Augustusplatz. Here in the Panorama Tower is the best vantage point in Leipzig, which we want to visit.

The Leipzig City Tower on the edge of Augustusplatz is known as the Panorama Tower, Uniriese or Weisheitszahn. It is an interesting building that dominates the cityscape, standing right next to the Gewandhaus.

The tallest building in Leipzig

The architect Hermann Henselmann designed the City-Hochhaus as part of the redesign of the university campus. Construction work on the reinforced concrete structure began in 1968, resulting in a high-rise building with 34 floors and a height of 142 meters. If you include the top of the antenna on the roof, the building is even over 155 meters high. But even without the antenna, the building is the tallest building in Leipzig. Not only the height, but also the construction method was something special at the time. The tower was cast in concrete. Until then, the so-called sliding construction technique had actually only been used to build chimneys. During the construction phase of the skyscraper, a new floor was added almost every week.

Visually, with a lot of imagination, the building could be reminiscent of the shape of an open book. Since the University of Leipzig initially used 22 floors there and the library was also housed there, it quickly became clear that the nickname Uniriese was particularly appropriate for the high-rise building.

One thing soon became clear: the Uniriese had its pitfalls. Windows could not be opened and there was initially only a temporary external elevator. But even after elevators were installed in the building, it is not said to have been much better. The elevators moved very slowly. At peak times, they stopped at almost every floor and it is said to have taken 20 minutes to get to the top.

There was already a restaurant on the 27th and 28th floors in GDR times. Here you could dine in the red, green or golden salon.

After reunification, the building was transferred to the Free State of Saxony. Consideration was quickly given to selling the building. But the university wanted to keep its tower.

In the meantime, however, there was a considerable need for renovation and so the university moved out of the building four years later. The high-rise building was now to be sold. The condition of the building was apparently so bad that no buyer could be found and so it was decided to renovate it after all (1999-2002). The windows on the top 10 floors were enlarged and the aluminum façade was removed. The new exterior façade was now made of granite.

After the renovation, various companies moved into the offices in the Panorama Tower, such as Leipziger Tourismus und Marketing GmbH and MDR, whose logo is clearly visible on the building.

High up to the viewing platform

The elevator takes us from the entrance area to the 29th floor of the Panorama Tower. The ride is quite fast and I felt a slight pressure on my ears when we reached the top.

Once on the right floor, the ticket counter for the viewing platform is located on the left after exiting the elevator. A visit costs €5 per person.

After the entrance barrier, you have to continue on foot, climbing 2 more floors. Once at the top, we enter a large viewing platform. We are at a height of around 120 meters and below us lies Leipzig…

What a view over the city and as the visibility was really good, we could see far into the surrounding countryside. I can’t say whether it was really the Fichtelberg 110 kilometers away or even the Brocken 132 kilometers away. But I could definitely see a long way.

The view of the city from up here is no less impressive. A little further away, I spot the Monument to the Battle of the Nations. We recognize some of the places we have already visited. From up here, I can really see that the old town area is not particularly large and can be explored on foot.

But the best vantage point in Leipzig isn’t just for enjoying the view. There is also a bar there. What could be better than enjoying the sunset over the city with a drink?

Restaurant visit in the Panorama Tower

Back on the 29th floor, we visited the “Plate of Art” restaurant.

There was already a Panorama Café in the building on the 26th and 27th floors in GDR times. This was closed in 1991 and the restaurant on the 29th floor opened after the building was renovated. There are 4 differently styled rooms here, each offering a view in a different direction.

In the “Plate of Art”, where you can also rent rooms for events, you should reserve a table if possible. When we were there, there were still a few free seats, but the coveted tables by the large windows were all taken.

The restaurant advertises itself as offering fresh and young cuisine, using as many regional products as possible. We were able to “test” this over dinner. I don’t know whether the dishes we chose were “cheeky”. But I do know that it tasted good! I ate a salad with salmon. The fish was cooked to perfection and the dressing for the salad didn’t overpower the taste of the green leaves. Patrick opted for the dish “Corn-fed chicken breast, stuffed and chorizo, fresh goat’s cheese, polenta, tomato, warm lamb’s lettuce, pine nuts”. He liked it. The chicken was tender and not dry and his favorite was definitely the polenta.

The food was good, but admittedly, the view during the meal was even better! We were able to watch the hustle and bustle on the streets and discovered 1-2 places that we walked to the next day to take a closer look.

The visit to the restaurant rounded off the day perfectly with good food and a great view.

Visitor information

Address

Augustusplatz 9
04109 Leipzig

The visit to the viewing platform and the restaurant was part of a press trip with Leipziger Tourismus und Marketing GmbH.