Bach-Museum Leipzig

As a city of musicians, Leipzig’s museums offer many an interesting insight into the lives of artists. The Bach Museum in Leipzig focuses on the life and works of Johann Sebastian Bach.

The Bach Museum Leipzig was opened in 1985 and I got to know an incredible artist in the 450 m² of exhibition space.

Johann Sebastian Bach: A master of Baroque music

Johann Sebastian Bach, born on March 21, 1685 in Eisenach, Germany, was a gifted composer and musician of the Baroque era. He is still considered one of the most influential composers in the history of Western music.

Bach came from a widely ramified family of musicians and learned to play the organ and violin at a young age. His extraordinary musical talent became apparent early on and after the death of his parents, he was educated and trained musically by his older brother Johann Christoph, an organist in Ohrdruf.

He held various positions, including that of organist and court musician. Bach’s career reached its peak when he was appointed cantor of the Thomasschule in Leipzig in 1723, a position he held until his death in 1750. During this time, Bach composed some of his most famous works, including the “St. Matthew Passion”, the “Christmas Oratorio” and the “Mass in B minor”.

Bach’s influence on the music world is enormous. His compositions have influenced generations of composers and musicians, including Mozart and Beethoven. His works are still an integral part of the repertoire of classical musicians today.

Johann Sebastian Bach died in Leipzig on July 28, 1750. After his death, his music was forgotten for a while, but was rediscovered in the 19th century and is now revered worldwide.

Visit to the Bach Museum Leipzig

One of the oldest houses on the Thomaskirchhof is now home to the Bach Museum. Johann Sebastian Bach’s good friends, the Bose family, once lived here. Later, for example, the instrument collector Paul de Wit used the building for his private collection, which was also open to the public.

In 1985, after the Bach Archive had moved to the Bosehaus, the first exhibition of the new “Johann Sebastian Bach Museum Leipzig” opened in four rooms. The 250th anniversary of Bach’s death was the starting signal for the redesign and expansion of the exhibition. After extensive building renovation work was carried out a few years later, the Leipzig Bach Museum not only had more exhibition space at its disposal, it was even able to open a small garden.

Tour of the Bach Museum Leipzig

The entrance to the museum is located in the rear building. From the modern entrance hall, you can reach the permanent exhibition on the upper floor of the building.

Still in the stairwell, we discover a huge family tree of the Bach family. As I take a closer look at the family, I notice how many musicians are listed. There were cantors, organists, instrument makers and court musicians. The few men in the family who became carpet makers or doctors, for example, must have been the “black sheep” of the family. I find it very interesting that the family tree doesn’t just show the names and professions. I notice that the family tree sounds. Musical impressions are recorded to match some of the musicians in the family. This gives you a very good overview of the different musicians.

The central exhibit in one of the museum rooms is an organ. Johann Sebastian Bach used the organ more than almost any other composer. He created wonderful works for the organ. He played the instrument masterfully and many organ builders invited him to test their instruments. The organ that we were able to take a closer look at here was tested by Bach and found to be good. It once stood in St. John’s Church in Leipzig.

Another exhibition room that I particularly liked is dedicated to the time of Johann Sebastian Bach in Leipzig. In 1723, he took over the post of cantor of St. Thomas, one of the most prestigious positions that musicians could hold in Germany. The media stations in the room offer the opportunity to listen to short radio plays, for example. You can listen to scenes that Bach was dealing with in his daily life.

Music comes alive

I love the opportunity to experience and touch music at the Bach Museum Leipzig. Large metal rods with loudspeaker openings hang in one room. If you touch them, you can hear music.

In another room there are pictures of historical instruments. An orchestra is playing a piece of music. The instruments that are actively playing in this piece are illuminated. With the help of a button, it is possible to hear the sound of this instrument more closely. A great idea, because my untrained ear has difficulty hearing individual groups of instruments from the whole.

Another way to make music more tangible is the composing room. Here you can experiment with noises and sounds. I worked particularly intensively with the song device. Here I was able to assign individual words to certain sounds. In the end, I created a little “song” with sometimes more or less meaning and sometimes more or less beautiful sounds. But it was fun!

Is the visit worthwhile?

My visit to the Bach Museum in Leipzig showed me once again that the use of technology and, above all, modern museum education can have a big impact. Music and history are alive here, I was able to get active myself and experience history with almost all my senses.

The exhibition is designed in a varied way and, in addition to new knowledge and musical experiences, I also had a lot of fun during my visit.

Aftertaste: Of course, we couldn’t pass up the Bachtalers. I liked them!

Visitor information

Address

Thomaskirchhof 15/16
04109 Leipzig

More informations you find at the muesums website