Adventures in Leipzig

Market Square near our hostel

On our first full day in Leipzig we had an excellent tour of the city! This also included a tour of the Bach museum which was quite interesting. Through this tour I got more of a feel for Bach’s life while he was living and working there. We also learned about how WWII and post WWII affected Leipzig, both in what architecture was destroyed and had to be rebuilt as well as how the Nazis and later the Stasi affected life there. 

After our tour was over we spent some time just walking around and exploring the city, including the St. Nicholas Kirche, which had quite a different decorative style as other churches we had been to as it seemed a bit more modern. I would insert a picture, but you had to pay a fee in order to take pictures and even then still wouldn’t be allowed to post them on the internet, so you’ll just have to take my word that it was beautiful. 

Room in the Mendelssohn Museum

On our second day in Leipzig our first stop was the Mendelssohn museum, which is located inside the house where he lived and died. In the museum they talked not only about Mendelssohn, but also his sister and her compositions, which was quite interesting as I hadn’t heard any of her compositions before this. The museum was quite immersive and I enjoyed learning about the life of Mendelssohn and his friends and family as well as being in his last private residence. At one point there was someone in one of the closed rooms that was playing one of his piano pieces and you could hear it in all of the surrounding rooms. It made the experience quite a bit more real as you could just imagine Mendelssohn playing one of his new compositions in the house.

Gewandhaus

That night we went to the Gewandhaus to see the Danceperados of Ireland, which was probably the most different of the performances we had seen so far. It was a group of Irish dancers with a live band. The show was called “Whisky you are the Devil”, and they told the history of Ireland and whisky throughout the show. The dancers were amazing, and it was cool to get to see and hear some more traditional Irish songs and dances. The audience was cheering and clapping throughout and the whole experience was a lot of fun. One thing that was interesting was that the Gewandhaus looked quite fancy, and is often home to different orchestras. The juxtaposition of the sophistication of the architecture and building and the more laid back and jolly vibe of the performance caused some uneasiness at first, but ultimately added to the experience.

St. Tomas Kirche

On our last full day in Leipzig we got to see the boys choir that Bach directed in St. Tomas Kirche, the church that Bach worked in while he was in Leipzig. It was quite surreal to get that experience. The level of musicianship that the boys in that choir showed was immense and it was hard to believe that the sound they created was made from boys under 18. I found myself closing my eyes and imagining that I was listening to the group under the direction of Bach and that he was up there conducting. After the concert was over we got to hear a bit about the history of the church itself as well as see Bach’s grave, which was in the middle of the church. 

Bach’s grave

That night we headed over to the Hochschule Für Musik und Theater, a music and theater conservatory, to see a Beethoven and Stravinsky concert. This concert was quite good, and I was very impressed by the level of musicianship of these college students. They played Stravinsky excellently, which is something a lot of colleges dream of! This concert was a great way to end our last day in Leipzig!