To all Bach lovers wanting to travel on the trails of the composer I recommend also visiting Ohrdruf, Weimar, Dornheim, Mühlhausen and Dresden, as well as Lüneburg, Celle, Buxtehude, and Hamburg. Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the greatest geniuses ever alive. Please read also our blog post: Celebrating Christmas, New Year and Easter with Johann Sebastian Bach.

See pages 102 – 103 in the art book “ART CHÂTEAU, vol. 2”!

Schlossmuseum Arnstadt
Schlossplatz 1
99310 Arnstadt
www.kulturbetrieb.arnstadt.de

The Palais at Schlossmuseum (Castle Museum) Arnstadt sports an impressive banquet hall with finely worked gold and silver ornaments called “White Hall”. Beyond the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, the exhibit here is also dedicated to daily life at the residential city during the Baroque era.

Bachhaus Eisenach
Frauenplan 21
99817 Eisenach
www.bachhaus.de

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach on 21. March 1685 where he got his first music lessons and sang in the school choir and at St. George’s Church. In 1907 the New Bach Society (Neue Bachgesellschaft) opened the very first museum honoring the famous composer, which also flaunts a listed garden. Today, it is one of Germany’s biggest museums dedicated to a musician. Brief concerts performed on five Baroque era keyboard instruments are held every hour, and installations like the “walk-in piece of music” make for a unique experience of Bach’s music.

Bach Memorial Site & Museum of History – Bach-Gedenkstätte & Historisches Museum
Schlossplatz 4
06366 Köthen/Anhalt
www.bachstadt-koethen.de

At the court of Köthen, Bach mostly composed festive music played at feasts and banquets, as well as works dedicated to the monarch. One building on the castle grounds called “Ludwigsbau” houses the Museum of History centered around the Bach memorial site, which grants visitors the opportunity to journey through time, and experience what life at the castle was like during Johan Sebastian Bach’s life, while giving a detailed overview of the composer’s activities at this site.

Bach-Archive at the Bose House in Leipzig – Bach-Archiv Leipzig im Bosehaus
Thomaskirchhof 15/16
04109 Leipzig
www.bach-leipzig.de

Who knows how to find out when exactly a handwritten composition was inked, or how to arrange a Bach chorale for instrumental ensemble? This house once belonged to a merchant named Bose, a close friend of Bach’s and godfather of his children. The exhibition features interactive and multimedia components, offering a hands-on format to convey interesting facts about Johann Sebastian Bach’s life and work. Highlights include original compositions in Bach’s handwriting and musical instruments from his time. A small pleasure garden and a listening cabinet complete the exhibition.

Opposite the house, in front of St. Thomas Church stands the Bach monument created by Carl Seffner. An older Bach monument Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy once donated using the revenue from his organ concerts can be found inside the extensive park area around the old city center called “Promenadenring”. With his performance of the St. Matthew Passion in 1829, Mendelssohn was the one who triggered a flourishing revival of Bach’s music.

St. Thomas Church – Thomaskirche in Leipzig

Every Bach lover’s heart starts beating faster when St. Thomas Church is mentioned. In 1723, Bach gave up his position as Kapellmeister (director of music) in Köthen and went to Leipzig, not only to become director of music for the city, but also to conduct the oldest boys’ choir in the world. At the “Thomaner” choir’s Christmas and Easter performances (today the choir consists of 90 boys), the church’s renaissance galleries serve as mezzanines.

Regularly held concerts called “Motets” allow visitors to experience the world-famous choir free of charge. When Bach arrived in Leipzig, he was presented with 54 choir boys, of which he promptly disqualified 17 as “inept”. At the 200th anniversary of his death, his mortal remains were moved from the Old St. John’s Cemetery to the choir room at St. Thomas Church.

In 1889, the “Sauer organ” suited to performing Romantic music replaced the original “Bach organ”. Following the protestant tradition of organ construction, a new organ was installed at the 25th anniversary of Bach’s death. Equipped with a transponder, its pitch corresponds with the choir pitch used during Bach’s time, which is one semitone higher than is customary today. St. Nicholas Church, 5 minutes away from here on foot, is another site where Bach once served as director of church music, and where visitors are regularly given the opportunity to experience his music today.

The Bach Lineage House in Wechmar – Bach-Stammhaus Wechmar
Bachstraße 4
99869 Günthersleben-Wechmar
www.bach-stammhaus-wechmar.de

The fact that Johann Sebastian Bach descended from a family of musicians had a significant impact on his life. This museum grants insight into the lives of his musical ancestors and the way their heritage is honored here at the cradle of his talents.

Sources: Please see the authors, poet and bibliography in the above link to the online book (imprint at the end of the book)!