In 1913 the International Building Exhibition (IBA)[4] took place in Leipzig. For this purpose, an exhibition area was created on former agricultural land on the Thonberg estate,[5] which was opened in the presence of Friedrich August III, the last King of Saxony.[6] The IBA was followed in 1914 at the same location by the International Exhibition for the Book Industry and Graphics with 2.3 million visitors.[7] The technical and construction trade fair, which had been taking place since 1918, opened its doors in 1920 in three of the halls built at that time.[8] The economic development of the 1920s led to an enormous expansion of the trade fair, among other things through the construction of new halls on the exhibition grounds. In 1928 there were 17 exhibition halls and other smaller buildings with a total of 130,000 square meters of exhibition space.[6] In 1930, the International Fur Exhibition represented another highlight.
During the Second World War, armaments production in the form of aircraft construction and maintenance took place in some halls.[9] In the heavy air raid on Leipzig on December 4, 1943, 4 halls were totally destroyed and 14 halls were partially destroyed.[10]
The first post-war trade fair was held in four halls in May 1946.[11] In the years that followed, there were ongoing expansions as well as new buildings and conversions, including the “Soviet Pavilion”[12], which was built in 1950 from the former Achilleion, the exhibition hall 7 (1977)[13], the exhibition hall 22 (1989–1992) and an administration building North entrance.[14] In addition, numerous smaller buildings and temporary structures were built. From 1991 to 1996, a few more trade fairs were held before the newly built exhibition halls in the north of Leipzig began operations in 1996.
Source: Wikipedia