This short clip from a 1932 newsreel opens with footage of Raimund Köhler, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Leipzig Trade Fair Office, striking a decidedly optimistic note on the eve of the famous fair’s March 6th opening. Köhler touted the high number of exhibitors that planned to attend, despite the global economic depression, while subsequent frames showed crowds inspecting various devices in a hall dedicated to the Association of German Machinery Manufacturers. The Leipzig Trade Fair enjoyed a storied reputation throughout Europe, with its roots stretching back to the twelfth century, when a local nobleman, Margrave Otto the Wealthy explicitly permitted an annual market within a certain radius around Leipzig. Over the subsequent centuries, the Leipzig Trade Fair had established itself as a leading site for merchants and manufacturers across the continent. By the 1920s—despite the war—it had grown into Europe’s largest trade exhibition, annually attracting tens of thousands of foreign visitors, who wanted to see the latest innovations in everything from dishware and toys to cranes and turbines.