Leipziger Notenspur (Leipzig Music Trail)- Experience music history
Leipzig is one of Germany’s cultural strongholds. Famous artists were at home here, gave concerts and left their mark. The Leipzig Music Trail connects interesting places and offers the opportunity to experience a somewhat different tour of the city.
The Leipzig Music Trail is an approximately 5.3-kilometer-long path that can be explored on foot. There are a total of 23 stations with information boards, steles and audio samples.
To make sure you don’t “lose” the music track, there are curved waves embedded in the ground. These always point in the direction of the next information point and for me it was almost like a little scavenger hunt through the city.
During the tour, I walked through places that deal with Leipzig’s music history. Not only the “old” history, but also more modern historical sites are integrated into the route. For example, I discovered places and stories about Bach, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Grieg. I always had the Notenspur app with me, which provided me with audio samples.
Leipzig Music Trail: 24 places to encounter music
Discover the Leipzig Music Trail on a tour. Here is a map of the route. The starting point is actually in front of the Gewandhaus. However, the route is laid out in such a way that you can get on at any point and walk the circuit.
New Gewandhaus
The New Gewandhaus in Leipzig stands tall and mighty on Augustusplatz. It is the ideal starting point for the tour along the Leipzig Music Trail.
In 1981, the Konzerthaus opened its doors as the only new concert hall in the GDR. The Gewandhaus Orchestra, founded in 1743, performs here. The Great Hall seats over 1900 visitors, while around 500 people can listen to performances in the Mendelssohn Hall.
There is a large town house at Goldschmidtstraße 12. It is the only surviving home of the composer Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in Leipzig. He lived in Leipzig for many years and worked as a Gewandhaus conductor, among other things. He died in his home in 1847.
Today, the building houses a museum. The exhibition focuses on the life and works of the artist. However, there are also other exhibitions in the building. One exhibition focuses on Fanny Hensel, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s sister. She was also very musical and composed numerous pieces.
Not far from the Mendelssohn House is the next point on the Leipzig Music Trail. Edvard Grieg and his wife, the singer Nina Grieg, were often guests at Talstraße 10. The famous 1st Peer Gynt Suite was composed in these rooms in 1888.
Today, the Grieg Meeting Place is located there.
Former Peters Music Library
Max Abraham opened the Peters Music Library in 1894 in what is now Goldschmidtstraße (then Königstraße 26). It was the first public specialist library of its kind in the world that women were also allowed to use. In his will, the owner stipulated that the library should become a foundation for the benefit of the city of Leipzig.
During the National Socialist era, the Jewish family was banned from practicing their profession and the publishing house, which was still owned by the family, was taken over by non-Jews. Not all family members survived this period. After the end of the war, a descendant returned to Leipzig and got the publishing house and the Peters library back. He took many of the items abroad and to the American part of Germany. There he founded Edition Peters GmbH in 1950.
In Leipzig, the publishing house had meanwhile been transformed into a state-owned enterprise and later merged with the city’s own music collections of the Municipal Music Library.
After the fall of communism in Germany and some legal back and forth, the Peter Music Library with its 500 or so autographs, including manuscripts by Bach, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms and Grieg, has been back in the possession of the city since 2013.
The Notenspur Leipzig sign not only commemorates the former location, but also the important collection that was once to be found there.
We continue to follow the arrow of the music trail through the city
Grassi Museum for Musical Instruments
Visitors to the Grassi Museum can admire one of the largest collections of musical instruments in Germany. The museum’s collection comprises more than 5000 instruments. The various instruments and multimedia technology allow visitors to immerse themselves in a world of music and experience it with all their senses.
Old St. John’s Cemetery
Today, the old cemetery is more like a park. It is worth taking a stroll along the paths and admiring the graves. The city’s oldest municipal cemetery is home to some very special graves, such as the grave of Richard Wagner’s mother, the Thomaskantor Christian Weinlig and Carl-Friedrich Zöllner (composer of “Das Wandern ist des Müllers Lust”).
Johann Sebastian Bach was originally buried on the site, which used to be much larger. His remains were moved to a crypt of honor during the reconstruction of St. John’s Church and later to St. Thomas Church.
Schumann House
The artist couple Robert and Clara Schumann lived in Leipzig from September 1840 to the end of 1844. Their first two children were born in the classicist house. Numerous compositions were written during this time, such as the Spring Symphony. Well-known artists and colleagues such as Wagner, Liszt and Hans Christian Andersen were welcome guests of the Schumanns.
Today you can visit a small museum and concerts are held here from time to time.
Graphic Quarter – Music publishers
Leipzig was not only the home of famous composers. The city was also known beyond its borders for its publishing industry. In the 19th century, numerous publishing houses that are still well-known today settled in the Graphic Quarter to the east of the Old Town.
Early on, in 1719, Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf founded the Breitkopf publishing house (later Breitkopf & Härtel), the oldest music publisher in the world. Ludwig van Beethoven was one of the most famous artists to work with the publishing house. But Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner were also among the artists who worked with this publishing house.
Other well-known publishers included C.F. Peters and Friedrich Hofmeister Musikverlag.
The large wall of sheet music with some audio samples and puzzles, which can be found at this location, is very nice.
Wagner monument
Richard Wagner was born in Leipzig in 1813 and baptized in St. Thomas Church. Unfortunately, neither the house where he was born nor other family homes have survived. Only the home of an uncle, who was a scholar, still exists. He brought the young Richard together with well-known personalities such as Goethe, Schiller and E.T.A. Hoffmann.
Wagner attended the Alte Nikolaischule and the now demolished Alte Thomasschule. In 1862, he conducted the premiere of the prelude to the opera “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” in the Old Gewandhaus (demolished).
In the Wagner Year (1983), a bust of Wagner was erected in his honor at the swan pond behind the opera house.
Opera Leipzig
The first opera house opened on Brühl in Leipzig in 1693. The people of Leipzig later referred to it as the “Old Theater”. The “New Theater” opened on Augustusplatz in 1868. Operas and plays were performed here. Works by Mozart, Weber and Wagner in particular still form a focal point of the repertoire. Certainly the most famous conductors were Anton Seidl and Gustav Mahler.
The building was destroyed during the Second World War and later rebuilt on the same site. Today it has 1267 seats and a good 300 performances are staged every year.
Old Nikolai School
One of the most famous pupils of the Old Nikolai School was Richard Wagner, who was taught there for two years. It is said that he was not a good student and neglected his education there, preferring to write the drama “Leubald and Adelaide”.
The Nikolai School existed from 1512 to 1872. The building was restored in the 1990s and now houses the permanent exhibition “The young Richard Wagner 1813 to 1834”.
St. Nicholas Church
The late Gothic St. Nicholas Church was one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s places of work. At the end of May 1723, he performed a cantata in a church service here, which marked the beginning of his professional career in Leipzig.
As St. Thomas’ Cantor and Leipzig’s “director musices”, Johann Sebastian Bach was responsible for the church music at Leipzig’s main churches of St. Nicholas and St. Thomas as well as at the New Church of St. Matthew and St. Peter’s Church. Some of his best-known works today, such as the Christmas Oratorio, were first performed in St. Nicholas Church.
Old Town Hall
Johann Sebastian Bach once signed his contract of employment as St. Thomas’ cantor and “director musices” here in the council chamber of Leipzig’s town hall.
Today you can admire a number of exhibits that provide an insight into Leipzig’s musical history. There is a room dedicated to Bach. In addition to a manuscript by the musician, there is also a replica of the trumpet he once played. There is also a room dedicated to Richard Wagner, who was born in Leipzig. Here, for example, there is a piano that he used for his compositions.
A permanent exhibition on the upper floor of the Old Town Hall with the theme “Modern Times” deals with the city’s history and also looks at Leipzig’s musical history.
Museum of Fine Arts – Beethoven
The Museum of Fine Arts is another place you can visit on your tour of Leipzig’s music trail.
Here, Beethoven’s only visit to the city is taken up thematically. This visit and the music publishing industry prompted him to have some of his works published in the city. For example, his 5th Symphony (“Symphony of Fate”) and the incidental music to Goethe’s Egmont were published in Leipzig.
Three works by Beethoven were performed in Leipzig for the first time: a soprano aria in the Altes Theater, the Triple Concerto and the 5th Piano Concerto in the First Gewandhaus.
Anyone visiting the museum will discover works that have a connection to the city’s musical history. The artist Max Klinger, for example, created the graphic cycle Brahms-Phantasien and produced designs for the Wagner monument. I find the painting “The Isle of the Dead” by Arnold Böcklin, which inspired works by Max Reger and Sergei Rachmaninov, very exciting.
Kretschmanns Hof sound installation
There is a “sound shower” in Kretschmann’s courtyard. This music installation plays music from several centuries and invites you to simply stop and listen. The ideal place for a short break!
If you are looking for the installation, you will hear it in the passageway between Hainstraße and Katharinenstraße.
To the Arabian Coffee Tree
There is a meeting place in almost every city where artists live. This is where people talk, politicize, discuss and sometimes “just” drink. In Leipzig, artists met in the coffee house “Zum Arabischen Coffe Baum”.
Whether it was Robert Schumann, who was often to be found at his “Schumann table” in the front left room, or later Georg Philipp Telemann, Richard Wagner, Edvard Grieg or Günther Ramin, this was the place to be.
Hôtel de Saxe
Only a baroque portal remains of the former hotel at Klostergasse 9. Many famous visitors stayed here when they arrived in Leipzig. Frédéric Chopin, for example, stayed there in 1835.
The hotel also had a ballroom. This function room was also used as a concert hall and various musicians performed there. In 1809/10, the first public string quartet evenings in Leipzig took place here, performed by the Gewandhaus Quartet, now the oldest string quartet ensemble in the world.
The hotel closed in 1909 and was demolished in 1968 following severe war damage.
St. Thomas Church
One of the most famous stops on the Leipzig Music Trail is St. Thomas Church and the world-famous St. Thomas Boys Choir.
Over the years, many important composers have held the office of Thomaskantor. They were commissioned to emphasize the Christian proclamations with their compositions. To name just a few of the cantors: Sethus Calvisius, Johann Sebastian Bach, Moritz Hauptmann, Günther Ramin and Kurt Thomas.
St. Thomas Church is the burial place of Johann Sebastian Bach and is the center of the Bach Festival every year.
Bach Museum
The Bosehaus, which today houses the Bach Museum and the Leipzig Bach Archive, is located directly next to St. Thomas Church. During Bach’s lifetime, the house belonged to a friendly merchant family and the Bach family were frequent visitors.
The Bach Museum is an interactive museum where we learned a lot about Bach’s life. Of course there are precious manuscripts, printed music,… to see.
However, I was much more impressed by the exhibition areas where I was able to experience music. If you want to find out more about the museum, you can find all the information you need in our article “Bach Museum Leipzig”.
Location of Clara Wieck’s birthplace
Clara Wieck was the wife of Robert Schumann and an outstanding composer. She was born in Leipzig (1819). Unfortunately, her birthplace was destroyed during the Second World War, so today a waypoint on the Leipzig Music Trail commemorates this place.
In 1840, Clara Wieck married the composer Robert Schumann and they both lived in the city for several years afterwards.
Location of the Old Conservatory
In 1843, the Leipzig Conservatory of Music opened in the courtyard of the First Gewandhaus. One of its co-founders was Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, who also taught there. The conservatory was an educational institution for musicians and initially offered lessons in piano, violin, organ, singing and composition. Later, the range was extended to include other orchestral instruments.
The Conservatorium worked closely with the Gewandhaus Orchestra and attracted international students.
In 1887, the conservatory moved into a new building.
Location of the first Gewandhaus
In the late 15th century, a two-winged building on the Gewandgäßchen housed the clothmakers’ merchants’ hall and Leipzig’s arsenal on the first floor of one wing. Later, the city library was also located there. When the library moved to new premises, a concert hall was opened in the unused rooms in 1781. The concerts held here became known as the Gewandhaus Concerts and the orchestra was given the name Gewandhaus Orchestra.
The concert hall was made entirely of wood and could seat around 500 listeners. It was here that Mozart gave his only guest performance in Leipzig, countless pieces were premiered and Clara Wieck also performed here in public for the first time. When the composers themselves were not conducting the orchestra, it was the task of the Gewandhauskapellmeister to lead the ensemble. One of the Gewandhauskapellmeisters was Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, for example.
After the capacity of the venue was no longer sufficient despite various renovations, the New Gewandhaus was opened in Leipzig’s music district. Today it is known as the Second Gewandhaus. The First Gewandhaus had to make way for the “Städtisches Kaufhaus” exhibition center in 1894.
Paulinum auditorium and St. Pauli University Church
Students at Leipzig University continue to shape the city’s musical life to this day. In the past, they played in the Collegia musica of Telemann and Bach, performed in coffee houses and the opera and formed choirs. Musical events also took place in the university church. For example, the world premiere of Bach’s Festmusiken took place there. The funeral service for Mendelssohn was also held in the church, which was blown up in 1968.
Today there is a university choir, the university orchestra, the university big band and chamber music groups that help shape musical life in Leipzig.
MDR Würfel – MDR orchestra and choirs
The last place on my tour along the Leipzig Music Trail is the MDR Cube. The shiny black cube near the university is used for rehearsals and recordings by the MDR Radio Choir and the MDR Symphony Orchestra.
Leipzig Music Trail app
For me, one of the most important tools during the tour along the Notenspur in Leipzig is the accompanying Leipziger Notenspur app. You can download it free of charge.
When you approach a location on the Leipzig Music Trail, you will automatically hear the appropriate music. To do this, you need to switch on your cell phone’s GPS. If you would rather do without the musical surprise, you can use the QR code on the music track stele and listen to the music. I really like the fact that there are also some audio scenes that contain additional information.
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