The Communicative Construction of space-related identities. Hamburg and Leipzig between the local and the global

Abstract

â Leipzig â not the gate to the world as Hamburg isâ , claimed the authors of a broadcast celebrating the millennium jubilee of Leipzig on Deutschlandradio in 2015. Their statement captured the common feeling in Leipzig, that it was not as famous as Paris or Hamburg, although the citizens of Leipzig have always been proud of their metropolitan traditions. This is true for Hamburg too: Both cities have frequently presented themselves as cosmopolitan, open to the world (Amenda/Grünen 2008; Rembold 2003a; Rembold 2003b). Therefore, both have been able to look back on a long tradition of highlighting their respective importance by stressing their global connections and declaring their specific locality as world territory, with responsibilities and privileges on a world scale. No wonder that both cities were constantly classified as open-minded metropolises in media discourses of the 1950s.