City-Hochhaus Leipzig

Leipzig, Germany

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

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City-Hochhaus is a 36-story skyscraper in Leipzig, Germany, designed by architect Hermann Henselmann and completed in 1972. Standing 142.5 meters tall, it remains the tallest multistory building in the city, located beside the eastern part of the inner city ring road in the Mitte district. Henselmann conceived the tower in the distinctive shape of an open book, following his architectural philosophy of crowning urban centers with prominent towers—a strategy he had previously employed for the Jen-Tower in Jena and the Fernsehturm in Berlin. Originally part of the University of Leipzig campus, the building was later sold and is now owned by Merrill Lynch. Between 1999 and 2002, it underwent complete renovation, during which its original aluminium cladding was replaced with grey granite. Today the tower houses offices for private tenants, including the public broadcaster MDR and the European Energy Exchange, along with a rooftop restaurant and viewing platform. Locals affectionately nickname the structure the "Weisheitszahn" (wisdom tooth) in reference to its distinctive form, or the "Uniriese" (university giant) after its academic origins.