I didn’t arrive in Leipzig by train but the main station — or Hauptbahnhof — was just a few blocks from my hotel so it was one of my first stops. Built in 1915, this grand station was heavily bomb-damaged during WWII and was restored in the 1950s. In the years following the reunification of Germany, the building was modernized to include multiple levels of shopping and dining but the architectural grandeur remains. Even though this was not the portal through which I entered Leipzig, it seemed a fitting place to begin my exploration of this city and the federal state of Saxony. Often the first glimpse of a new place colors your impression of everything that follows. That’s what these train stations were all about. They were symbols of progress and status that left no doubt that you had arrived at a great destination.