A major trade center of Germany, Leipzig was once a major European center for music and publishing (Tauchnitz publishing house). Leipzig is home of to Oper Leipzig, founded in 1693, one of the oldest opera houses in Europe and most prominent in Germany. One of the largest pre-WWI battles occurred here in 1813 and lead to Napoleon’s first exile on Elba. Leipzig’s Jewish population suffered tremendously during Nazi occupation. Johann Sebastian Bach, Felix Mendelssohn, and Richard Wagner all lived in Leipzig.