Leipzig

We didn’t spend a lot of time in Leipzig but I decided that I’d like to live here so that I can go to Bach’s church on a regular basis. I even found a new back-of-the-bus stomping ground , Café Kandler. We went to St Thomas’s church for Sunday morning Epiphany service and it was very wonderful. The music was exquisite. The Thomanerchor, a boy’s choir sang. Bach sang in it too when he was a boy and was director of it during his years in Leipzig. They sang a beautiful variety of music. It wasn’t all Bach. The Bach they did do was the 6th cantata of the Oratorio much to my pleasure. But they also sang Mendellsohn and a beautiful contemporary version of “Es ist ein Ros entsprungen”. Most impressed I was with the power of the service. Yes, it respected and honoured the history of the church but was also very much steeped in the present. I loved that the ministers sat among the people in the pews. The altar table had been brought down in the ‘circle’ from where most of the service was led. The minister preached a good thought-provoking sermon that was relevant to our time and our issues and even tied in Bach’s cantata to the whole thing. It was a place of spirit, faith and music. It had a great sense of congregation, it was not a tourist trap though visitors were made to feel welcome, even non-German-speaking tourists. It felt natural and inclusive to go for communion.
After the service we walked around the sanctuary for a bit and found Bach’s grave stone and enjoyed the feeling of the church.
We had lunch at a lovely little café across the cobblestoned street, which included delicious Leipziger Lerchen. A baked delicacy with marzipan that some bakers had invented in the 19th century after all the swallows had disappeared.
We walked a little around the old town in Leipzig where they are building new and renovating too, saw the Nikolaikirche where prayer meetings in the 80s bread peaceful demonstrations and revolution that eventually helped bring down the Berlin Wall. Fritzl then brought us all the way to Berlin where we dropped him off and said goodbye. We visited with Mark last night. I’m now getting over a sinus infection that started Saturday afternoon was at its worst last night but seems to be on the mend again today. Low energy output today was good. It’s drizzly and rainy anyway. Not so much fun for being outside.