The Jahrtausendfeld is a green open space of around 2.5 hectares in the heart of Plagwitz and Lindenau, on Karl-Heine-Straße in the immediate vicinity of the Westwerk. The districts are known above all for their diverse art and cultural offerings, the alternative district charm in the immediate vicinity of the canal and thus an important figurehead for Leipzig’s creative subculture and diversity.
Here is a picture from 2017, when there was still a volleyball court and trees on the field:
The private company Stadtbau AG wants to build a private school campus for the private Leipzig International School (LIS) for more than 2,000 pupils on the Jahrtausendfeld as early as 2025. A school of this size does not yet exist in the whole of Leipzig – the “Schule am Palmengarten” currently has around 1120 pupils, while the “Schule Gießerstraße” elementary school directly adjacent to Jahrtausendfeld has just under 500 pupils.
Providing the required space for 2,000 children and young people, as well as for 400 teachers and other school staff means that the Jahrtausendfeld will be completely built on and largely sealed, on the one hand with buildings and on the other with schoolyards and sports areas. The popular public green space will thus become history.
The reason why the Jahrtausendfeld is worthy of protection is that, in view of the heat pollution in the city, it already contributes as an open space to improving air quality and reducing the summer heat.
If Stadtbau AG and LIS‘ plans were to be implemented in this way, all that would remain for residents would be the paved path with table tennis tables at the Jahrtausendfeld for recreation in the “green” and the west of Leipzig would have lost a crucial climate-active area forever. This cannot simply be replaced by green roofs.
Such a large school campus also means that there will be massive traffic into the area, particularly in the morning, but also at lunchtime and late afternoon, for which neither public transport nor Karl-Heine-Strasse are designed. The city has still not found a solution to the existing morning traffic chaos in front of the elementary school in Gießerstraße, located directly next to Jahrtausendfeld.
Please let us react quickly and demand resolutely:
- the creation of a qualified development plan in which the Jahrtausendfeld is preserved as a green space, upgraded in quality and remains accessible to the public.
- the preservation of the area as a public space.
- a holistic plan by the City of Leipzig for the preservation and creation of necessary green spaces.
We do not want a cemented Jahrtausendfeld, we demand green spaces for everyone!