Fermion pair production at LEP2

In this article results from LEP at centre-of-mass energies from 130 GeV to 189 GeV given by the experiments ALEPH, DELPHI, L3 and OPAL are summarised. The measured cross sections and forward-backward asymmetries for lepton pair production and pair production of b and c quarks as well as the inclusive hadronic cross section are presented. These data are used to constrain the interference between photon and Z exchange in the S-matrix framework and to investigate the running of the electromagnetic coupling constant alpha . Furthermore limits on a hypothetical additional vector boson Z' and lower limits on deviations from the standard model in the Framework of contact interactions are given. (12 refs).