Leipzig, City of Composers

On this Easter Sunday, after church we drove from Dresden to Leipzig, about 45 minutes away. We checked in to our hotel, then went out exploring. We had a map of the older part of town, now mixed with new. Leipzig is bigger than Dresden, with about 700,000 people. We spent the afternoon wandering and feeling this city where many composers once lived and performed.

These eastern German cities aren’t as colorful as cities in the south. They feel more plain and practical. We discovered there was an Easter Market going on in the main plaza this weekend, so lots of local were out and about, enjoying some sun and lots of beer.

The Easter Fest had a Medieval feel to it, quite old world. That was fun.

Here is the St. Thomas Kirche where Johann Sebastian Bach and his family worshipped and where he performed. I’ll take you inside in the next post. It was probably the highlight of Leipzig for us.

Leipzig has long been a major centre for music. The Thomanerchor (English: St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig), a boys’ choir, was founded in 1212. The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, established in 1743, is one of the oldest symphony orchestras in the world. Several well-known composers lived and worked in Leipzig, including Johann Sebastian Bach (1723 to 1750) and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1835 to 1847). The University of Music and Theatre “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” was founded in 1843. The Oper Leipzig, one of the most prominent opera houses in Germany, was founded in 1868. During a stay in Gohlis, which is now part of the city, Friedrich Schiller wrote his poem “Ode to Joy.

This is the St Nikolai church that was only open this morning, so we missed going inside. Bach also played and performed here. When Bach died at the Johann Hospital he was buried at the St. Nikolai church. When it burned down some years later, they identified and took Bach’s bones in a wagon/wheelbarrow to the St. Thomas Kirche to be buried there. Now they’re in a crypt inside the St. Thomas Kirche (under the floor in the choir section.