In 1916 the book "The Burundi" by Hans Meyer started off the newly founded series "Ethnographies and Ethnology" published by the then two year old Institute of Anthropology in Leipzig. Till 1940 the Institute published 12 books. After the Second World War it joined hands with the Museum of Anthropology and published with the Akademie-Verlag in Berlin. In 2000 the tradition of Institute publications was started again with three new series on the (1) History of Anthropology, (2) Ethnography, and (3) Gypsy Studies. In 2004 an additional "small series" was started to publish excellent master theses. This article narrates the eventful history of the Institute of Anthropology by recapitulating theories, assumptions and notions of anthropology as they appear in key publications. For each of the four political phases of the Institute's history two publications have been selected to provide insights about continuities and discontinuities in research history. The different publications provide an overview of the broad spectrum of anthropological work. A focus on ruptures, disruptions and reorientations provides a lens for understanding the extent of research creativity. Traditions were continuously reshuffled and provide a fertile ground for future research.