After unification, a flurry of building activity touched down in several major East German cities, almost completely transforming the appearance of their downtowns. Between 1999 and 2001, the Burgplatzpassage and the Petersbogen were built in downtown Leipzig according to plans by Hentrich-Petschnigg & Partner, a Leipzig-based architectural firm. The Petersbogen, a three-story shopping complex, is home to more than 20 individual shops, a movie theater, a fitness studio, a supermarket, numerous restaurants, a large underground parking garage, and – last but not least – the law faculty of the University of Leipzig, which acquired space in the new complex as part of a special arrangement. (The university owned part of the building plot and put this at the disposal of investors, who, in turn, allowed the university to use portions of the finished building free of charge.) For a while, the Petersbogen (see photo) was Leipzig’s largest construction site. As part of the excavation, 100,000 cubic meters of dirt were removed from the area in front of Leipzig’s New Town Hall.