Leipzig-- eine Stadt der Musik und der Demonstration (Leipzig-- a city of music and demonstration)

According to the FU-BEST program, the week of Oct. 18-23 is the semester break. After studying hard for their week-long midterms, students deserved a week of relaxation. Many of them planned to travel alone, with family, or with friends.

My own plan was also to travel. However, the main purpose was to help one of the students collect materials for her extensive semester paper. Since she is going to present her project to the class, I won't write about that part of the trip.

Instead, I will describe the side trip to Leipzig, a city like Vienna, Paris and Prague that have been praised as “music cities” due to their prominent musical traditions.

"A peaceful revolution in Leipzig" also denoted that leipzig is a city of demonstration. By the summer of 1989, East German dissidents had been meeting at Leipzig's 800-year-old Nicolaikirche for almost a decade to talk about political issues. When I was there, there was also one group passing out flyers and having their Friedensgebete (peace prayers).


On Oct. 9, 1989 Leipzig hosted the largest protest demonstration in East German history. In the end, the police did nothing, setting the stage for a peaceful revolution that swept across East Germany.

When I arrived in the evening of Oct. 18 and visited the famous Leipzig opera house and concert hall-- Gewandhaus, I also witnessed two demonstration groups standing in the cold night. One group requested a fair financial and political support for the community's art and culture promotion. The other one was against nuclear energy facilities. City of demonstration, indeed!


Three composers, who made Leipzig famous as a city of music, are Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847), and Robert Schumann (1810-1856).

J.S. Bach worked as Kantor in Thomaskirche and his remains also currently lie in the chapel of the church. Bach was not only a music director, he was also a composer, an organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist, whose works with contrapuntal technique for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments enriched the music of the Baroque period.


















(front and back of Thomaskirche)

















(Gewandhaus, day time and night time)





















Mendelssohn was the Kapellmeister of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, which was the oldest symphony orchestra in the world.

Since I stayed only one night in Leipzig, I did not have the chance to listen to the Gewandhausorchestra, instead, I heard Singapore Symphony Orchestra. They did a good job playing Bach's pieces.














In addition to being a conductor, Mendelssohn was also a composer, a painter, and the founder of the Leipzig Conservatory. The Mendelssohn House, the authentically preserved residence of the composer, contains many original artifacts and personal objects of the composer.






























It is Robert Schumann's 200th birthday celebration this year. Unfortunately, when I tried to visit his museum, it was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Robert Schumann and his wife Clara Schumann lived in Leipzig for four years after the court allowed them to marry against her father's will. Robert Schumann composed the most joyful music in Leipzig.

Leipzig is the largest city in Bundesland Saxon (German federal sate of Saxony). However, most of its culturally significant sights are in downtown. I stayed in a hotel which is only 3 minutes from the main train station, the largest one in Europe and an architectural jewel itself. The hostel is located in a historic post office building with grand facade and relatively low price. So, I could take a tour on foot anytime I wanted. So, I will recommend Leipzig to our students to spend one or two days because you can experience a city of music and demonstration with glamorous past and exciting present.