Gewandhaus in Leipzig – pure musical enjoyment

A large building complex on Augustusplatz attracts our attention. The building is the world-famous Gewandhaus zu Leipzig, one of the most outstanding musical venues in Germany.

The Gewandhaus zu Leipzig is a cultural organisation owned by the city. In addition to the Gewandhaus, it also includes the Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Gewandhaus Choir, the Gewandhaus Children’s Choir, the Gewandhaus Quartet, the Gewandhaus Wind Quintet and the Gewandhaus Brass Quintet. Andreas Schulz is currently Artistic Director of the Gewandhaus and Andris Nelson is Gewandhauskapellmeister until 2027 (as of 2024).

How the Gewandhaus got its name

The first floor of a building in Leipzig’s old town was used as a trade fair centre for cloth and wool merchants. It was very quickly given the name Gewandhaus.

In 1743, 16 merchants decided to found the “Großes Concert” concert society. Initially, the musicians played in a pub, but then moved to the cloth merchants’ exhibition centre in 1781. From then on, the orchestra called itself the Gewandhaus Orchestra, in keeping with the name of the building.

The performance took place in a specially remodelled concert hall on the second floor of the building. The orchestra podium was around 64 square metres in size and the audience sat in rows of seats arranged lengthways to the podium. The Gewandhaus Orchestra’s first venue is said to have been able to hold a total of around 500 spectators. After remodelling work in 1842, even 1000 people could listen to the concerts.

Visitors to the first Gewandhaus in Leipzig were able to experience numerous world premieres of works that are well-known today. Audiences were able to hear pieces by Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Wagner and Brahms for the first time here. Clara Wieck, who was born in Leipzig and later married Rober Schumann, also performed her first solo concert in the Gewandhaus. (Today, the Schumann House is located in their first shared apartment in Leipzig). Felix Mendelsohn Bartholdy was one of the most important conductors in the first Gewandhaus.

Second Gewandhaus in Leipzig

Those responsible at the time did not seem to like the location of the first Gewandhaus. They planned to create a new venue in the music district in the south-west of the old town.

In December 1884, the New Gewandhaus opened in Grassistraße/Beethovenstraße. The old venue was quickly renamed the Altes Gewandhaus and occasional concerts continued to take place there for some time.

The second Gewandhaus had a large hall with 1700 seats and a chamber music hall with 650 seats. Architecturally, the design by Martin Gropius was modelled on the concert halls of Symphony Hall Boston and created a hall in a “shoebox” shape.

The concert hall was badly damaged during air raids in the Second World War. Initially, the plan was to rebuild the Gewandhaus. The ruins were provisionally secured and given a makeshift roof. In the end, it was decided to build a new concert hall and the war ruins were removed.

Of course, the Gewandhaus Orchestra no longer had a venue. Initially, a cinema was used for performances. From 1947 to 1981, a congress hall was the venue.

The third Gewandhaus in Leipzig is built

In November 1977, the foundation stone was laid for today’s Gewandhaus directly opposite the Leipzig Opera House on what is now Augustusplatz. The building developed into the prestige object of the GDR. It was the first and only new building of a pure concert hall in the GDR. The tireless efforts of Kurt Masur, who was the Gewandhaus conductor at the time, played a decisive role in its construction.

The chief architect for the construction project was Rudolf Skoda, who worked with numerous experts to make the acoustics in particular unrivalled. During the construction period, soldiers from the NVA had to sit in the hall several times to test the acoustics at full capacity. The Great Hall seats 1900 guests and really does have excellent acoustics, as we were able to see for ourselves during a concert. What you will miss here, however, is the splendour that you know from other concert halls. I find the hall very plain and the seating, although newly upholstered, still exudes the charm of the GDR.

The largest ceiling painting in Europe, created by the painter Sighard Gille in the foyer in the middle of the construction work, is also impressive. Covering an area of 714 square metres, it depicts the “Song of Life”. During a guided tour of the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, you are given some details about the painting. I am fascinated by the many details of the painting and could have imagined sitting there and looking at it forever. I particularly like the fact that the painting is illuminated in the evening and you can see part of it very clearly from the Augustusplatz.

In addition to the large concert hall, a small hall for 498 listeners was also built. The so-called Mendelssohn Hall is mainly used for chamber music concerts.

The opening concert took place at the beginning of October 1981 under the direction of Kurt Masur. I particularly like the idea that a special concert was organised the day before for the people involved in the construction.

Gewandhaus – Guided tour

On certain dates it is possible to take part in a guided tour of the Gewandhaus. The tour is in german!

When we were in Leipzig, we had the opportunity to take part in this guided tour. The tour lasts around 1.5 hours and the meeting point is in the foyer by the ticket office.

Firstly, the history of the Gewandhaus is explained quite clearly with the help of three models. The large ceiling painting is also a topic of the tour.

Finally, we went into the large concert hall. The Gewandhaus Orchestra was having a rehearsal break and so it was possible to take a look inside the hall. From the gallery of the hall, you really have a great view of the hall and the stage. This location was ideal for me, as we were going to listen to a concert from the hall gallery just a few hours later and I could rest assured that I would be able to see the orchestra very well later on.

While we were sitting in the concert hall, I was able to get a first impression of the acoustics. Our tour guide had spoken very quietly the whole time and was sometimes difficult to understand. This changed abruptly in the hall. He didn’t speak any louder, but thanks to the excellent acoustics, the sound came through to us clearly and distinctly.

As a rehearsal was just starting in the Mendelssohn Hall, our stay here was very short. A pity, I would have liked to listen to the musician for longer.

The tour was quite interesting. Perhaps it could have been made a little more varied by including little anecdotes from everyday life or musical impressions from the house.

Concert in the evening

In the evening, we could look forward to a concert by the Gewandhaus Orchestra. The programme included Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst.

Today, the Gewandhaus Orchestra consists of 180 musicians. They not only play in the Gewandhaus, but also in the opera house, in St Thomas’ Church to accompany the Thomanerchor and also go on concert tours.

During the concert, I tried to count how many musicians were on stage. I “gave up” after about 50 string players. But there must have been about the same number of wind and percussion players. Mahler wrote his symphony for the large orchestra and so it was quite cramped on stage.

The concert was excellent. The conductor demanded a lot from the musicians and I particularly enjoyed the alternation between the quiet and loud passages. The Gewandhaus Orchestra swept me away and even though Mahler is not one of the “easy” composers to listen to, it was a wonderful experience for me.

Visitor information

Address

Gewandhaus zu Leipzig
Augustusplatz 8
04109 Leipzig

The visit to the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, including a tour of the building and the concert, was part of the programme of a press trip in cooperation with Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing GmbH.