Leipzig

May 3 - 5, 2015

Leipzig, our next stop in former East Germany, was home to many famous musicians and composers.

Johann Sebastian Bach was music director in the Thomaskirche 1723 to 1750.

This is Bach's grave, maybe.
After he became famous, what might have been his bones were re-buried here.

The Thomaskirche is a pilgrimage site for musicians from around the world.

Hmm, I doubt those gothic ceiling braces were painted red in Bach's day.
Nonetheless, I imagined myself in the congregation during Bach's time and wished I could have sung in his boys choir.

*For you who are interested in history, in 1539, centuries before Bach, Martin Luther came to Thomaskirche to perform Leipzig's first Protestant service.

Bach, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Wagner, Mahler and Grieg are among the world-famous musicians who have left their mark on Leipzig.

We visited the Robert and Clara Schumann' home.

Mendelssohn is remembered not only as a composer but also as advocate of Bach's music which had become unfashionable after his death.
Because he was Jewish, Mendelssohn's statue was torn down by the Nazis!
A new copy was re-erected in 2008.

Inside the Mendelssohn house is a room where one follows the music score and may "conduct" the orchestra.

Leipzig's Nikolaikirche, Church of St. Nicholas, is most famous for playing a key role in the nonviolent movement that led to the downfall of the East German government by holding 'peace prayers' from 1982 which inspired and empowered local citizens which led to the demise of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and to the momentous reunification of Germany.

*More history: Leipzig became known as the Stadt der Helden (City of Heroes) for its leading role in the 1989 'Peaceful Revolution'. It's residents organized protests against the communist regime in May of that year: by October, hundreds of thousands were taking to the streets and, a few years later, the Cold War was history.

It is very pretty inside, has a neoclassical interior with palm-like pillars and cream-colored pews.

Europe's biggest military monument commemorates a pivotal battle in 1813 that involved forces all over Europe marking the turning point in the fight against Napoleon who was forced to retreat to France.

The monument is decorated with statues of faceless soldiers and archetypes of German might.

Who is the stranger surveying the monument?

This is a final view of Leipzig from that gargantuan monument.