Heavy ion physics at the LHC

The field of ultra-relativistic heavy ion physics, which started some 15 years ago at the Brookhaven AGS and the CERN SPS with fixed target experiments, is entering today a new era with the recent start-up of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider RHIC and preparations well under way for a new large heavy ion experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). At this crossroads, the article will give a summary of the experimental program and our current view of heavy ion physics at the LHC, concentrating in particular on physics topics that are different or unique compared to current facilities.