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Published: June 17th 2017
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Up until now, we have been visiting smaller somewhat provincial cities and towns. What a change to arrive in Leipzig! It is the third largest city in Germany with a population of about 540,000 and over a million in its metropolitan area. It is also the fastest growing city in Germany. It was founded on trade and in Bach's time was an even more prosperous city relative to other German cities of the time. Bach and his family must have been overwhelmed after spending six years in tiny Kothen! We stayed in a lovely, recently remodeled VRBO in a beautiful neighborhood about two miles from the city center (Zentrum). Our daily walk into the old part of town took us through a beautiful park and over the Elster river. Once again, we were blessed with beautiful weather and we took full advantage of it. Leipzig was also hosting a major Bach Festival at the time of our visit. There were concerts and musical events all over the city over a ten day period. On Sunday morning the day after our arrival, we attended a church service at the St. Nicholas Church (Nikolaikirke) where a Bach cantata was performed with much additional
music. It was a rare treat to hear this music in a church where Bach would have performed. The service also included a number of good old Lutheran hymns with preludes and accompaniment on the magnificent organ. Needless to say, it was a tremendously moving experience!
We were also lucky enough to catch a rehearsal of the St. Thomas Boy's Choir and the Leipzig Chamber Orchestra at the St. Thomas Church. There seemed to be music everywhere! We spent a lot of time just wandering around or sitting in outdoor cafes sipping coffee and watching people.
On Monday we met our guide, Anna-Syvia Godammer. She was born in 1974 so spent her youth under the communist regime but was able to witness and participate in the re-unification process. Anna was absolutely wonderful and gave us a perspective on the city and its history that we would have totally missed. Her father was a Lutheran minister and, even though the communists tolerated the church, life was difficult for him and his family. Leipzig was one of the first East German cities to start organized protest. The pastor of the Nikolaikirke originated a series of Monday evening prayer vigils in
the square just adjacent to the church. This eventually evolved into marches involving thousands of people. The motto was "We don't want violence, we want change!". According to Anna, this was a very dangerous and unpredictable time. Things could have easily turned very violent but, ultimately change came without violence. I think most of us in the US are aware of the high level diplomatic initiatives and the actions of Gorbachev, Reagan and Kohl. But, Anna really helped us understand that the fall of the wall and German re-unification started as a grass-roots movement of courageous people.
We could easily have spent several more days in Leipzig learning more about its history and the other important people who were part of it.
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