Germany Guide
Saxony
The Thomaskirche
Off the southwest corner of the Markt rises the Gothic Thomaskirche (tower €2). Its place in the classical music canon is as the church where Johann Sebastian Bach served as cantor for his last 27 years, nearly half the life of a composer who had previously flitted around courts of Thuringia. He was interred in the graveyard in 1750. Major renovation of the church in the 1880s provided an excuse to exhume his remains and bring some scientific discipline to a long-standing debate about Bach's appearance. Measurements of the skeleton were used to create the bronze (1894) outside the church – the out-turned pocket is said to be a reference to his poor finances. The sculpture was paid for by Mendelssohn, then director of Leipzig's acclaimed Gewandhaus Orchester and who did much to rehabilitate a then underrated composer. He lies interred beneath a plaque in the chancel, and the celebrated boys' choir, the Thomanererchor, sings works from his vast canon in services (Fri 6pm, Sat 3pm), and in weekend concerts, often with the Gewandhaus Orchester. The Bachmuseum opposite (daily 11am–6pm; €4) is due to reopen following renovation at the end of 2009, with visual mementoes of the composer's Leipzig years – manuscripts, portraits and instruments of his time – soundtracked by snatches of contemporary works. A small display (same times; free) is in the foyer in the interim.