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German History in Documents and Images
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Leipzig Spring Trade Fair (1965)
In 1965, the Leipzig Trade Fair celebrated its 800th anniversary. Both the state and the local community viewed the occasion as an opportunity for self-presentation. Much to the displeasure of the West German Foreign Office – which had taken a hard line in German-German affairs and had tried in vain to organize a boycott of the Leipzig Trade Fair after the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 – West German industries participated in the 1965 fair with renewed vigor, so as not to lose step with foreign competitors. In the wake of intensified intra-German trade, the Leipzig Trade Fair became an important point of exchange between East and West. This photograph shows the exhibition hall for the electronics branch. Photo by Horst E. Schulze.