June 14, 2009
Two days in Leipzig
We ride our bikes, we walk, we take pictures, we gawk - Leipzig has captivated us. Much of the city was destroyed by Allied bombing in WWII, much of what was remaining was neglected and left to crumble in the days of the DDR. Today the city is a beehive of construction and reconstruction.
The impressive architecture and just a cursory glance at Leipzig's history will give you an inkling of the significant role this city has played over the centuries. Names such as Goethe, Bach, Leibniz - to name just a few - are closely linked to Leipzig's past. It was also in Leipzig that the city's Jewish community was effectively destroyed under the Nazi regime. Today, fewer than 200 Jews live in Leipzig, a city which had a Jewish population of over 10,000 prior to 1939. It was in Leipzig that the Monday demonstrations were held, the most prominent and couragious mass protest against the East German regime. Hard to make sense out of the confusing and often frightening contradictions of history.
Being a lover of Bach, I am first drawn to the Thomaskirche, St. Thomas Church, where Johann Sebastian Bach was cantor for 27 years and where he is now buried. A thrill runs through me, I feel I am standing on sacred ground.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
In the Thomaskirche I am reminded of my mother who died ten years ago today. When I was very young she decided to learn to play the piano. She knew she had started too late in life to become terribly proficient but her goal was to play Bach and she tenaciously labored over some of his simpler pieces. Thus at any early age I became acquainted with Bach's rhythms and harmonies. This inadverdant music education left its mark.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Every summer a Bach Festival is held in Leipzig. We are again at the right place at the right time. I am delighted that we are able to buy tickets for the organ concert in the Thomaskirche tonight where pieces by Bach and Mendelssohn-Bartholdy are played.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
We spend a lot of time strolling and cycling, stopping for pictures. We discover the Leipziger building style of the early 20th century with spacious inner courtyards and arcades, today often housing elegant shops.
We can't resist - and why should we? - going to the tourist attraction Auerbachs Keller. Goethe frequented the resaurant as a student and it achieved world fame due to the role it plays in Goethe's "Faust" as the first place Mephistopheles takes Faust on their travels. The food, by the way, was very good.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
On Monday evening we walk past the Nicholas Chruch, where the Monday Demonstrations were held in East Germany in 1989, a series of peaceful political protests against the authoritarian regime. Today a motley crowd still meets, protesting against social injustices of our century. I don't see many of the younger generation. To me the demonstration appears old fashioned, the form of protest out-of-date. Sadly, when I take a picture of this historic happening, one of the participants becomes irrate and shouts "Stasi" and "West German *?/&*". I can imagine this is someone seriously traumatized by the past.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
The weather isn't good, too bad for the drab photos that result, but we still prefer sightseeing in bad weather to cycling in the rain. We take time for some Internet, something we haven't been bothering with much on this trip, see an interesting exhibit of Tübke's work, an artist from the Leipziger school, get tickets for another concert, this time in the Nikolaikirche.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
In the streets of Leipzig, as in many other European cities today, you can find bikes for rent, a system that makes sense.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
We realize we could spend a week here without getting bored, but Berlin is calling.
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 0 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |