Leipzig University was inaugurated on 2 December 1409, and in 1512 the Nikolai School accepted its first students. Since this time academic institutions play an important role in the Leipzig’s civil society. Currently, Leipzig has five universities that look back to a history of more than 100 years.

Leipzig University established the first research institutes for many scientific disciplines. Thus, in 1846 the city became the seat of the Saxonian Academy of Sciences, and presently three Max Planck Institutes, the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, and a large number of Leibniz-Institutes contribute to its role as an established center of international research.

Leipzig is a city of libraries and archives. The city archive has preserved deeds and documents of the City of Leipzig since the 12th century, and the university archive has been operating since the early 15th century. The university library and the city library were founded in the 16th century with important donations from the Leipzig monastic libraries. In 1912 the German National Library was founded in Leipzig. As a contribution to preserve and document the German cultural heritage it collects and documents all publications in German or about Germany.

Numerous university professors set up collections to support their teaching, and in the 19th century a number of Leipzig businessmen (and their wives) established famous private collections. From these roots emerged a considerable number of important scientific museums and collections in Leipzig.