New Bach Monument
The New Bach Monument is a monument to the composer and cantor of the St. Thomas choir, Johann Sebastian Bach, located by the south wall of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, Germany. It was erected on the site of the Leibniz monument, which had stood there since 1883 and was moved to the inner courtyard of the Paedagogium. The bronze statue of Bach is 2.5 metres high and was created by sculptor Karl Seffner using funds donated to the city of Leipzig by Franz Dominik Grassi. Bach is shown standing before an organ and appears to be conducting, while the reverse side features a relief image of the old building of the St. Thomas School.
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Identification | |
| Title | New Bach Monument |
| German title | Neues Bachdenkmal |
| Type | Monument |
| Subject | Johann Sebastian Bach |
| Purpose | Commemorates Johann Sebastian Bach as the composer and Thomaskantor of St. Thomas Church |
Historical context | |
| Creation context | First proposed in Leipzig in 1885 in connection with the planned bicentenary of Bach's birth |
| Development trigger | Became more concrete in 1894 after the reconstruction of St. John's Church, when Bach's remains were discovered and identified |
| Original intended location | Inside St. John's Church in Leipzig, opposite Christian Fürchtegott Gellert's epitaph |
| Location debate | From 1899, locations including St. John's Church, St. Thomas Church, and St. Thomas School were discussed |
| Final site decision | In 1906 it was decided to install the monument in front of St. Thomas Church, on the site of the former Leibniz monument |
Creator | |
| Sculptor | Carl Seffner |
| Pedestal designer | Otto Wilhelm Scharenberg |
Discovery and provenance | |
| Funding | 5,000 gold marks from the estate of Franz Dominik Grassi, donated to the city of Leipzig in 1901–1902 |
| Head model source | A copy of Bach's presumed skull, identified by Carl Seffner in cooperation with Wilhelm His, was used to model the head |
Physical characteristics | |
| Pedestal height | 3.2 metres |
| Height | 2.45 metres |
Materials | |
| Material | Bronze |
Style | |
| Style | Neo-Baroque |
Appearance | |
| Depiction | A standing statue of Bach in front of an organ, shown as if conducting, with a roll of musical score in his right hand and his left hand reaching toward the organ |
| Reverse side detail | A bas-relief of the former St. Thomas School building appears on the back |
| Organ decoration | Jugendstil decorations |
Location and ownership | |
| Current location | In front of St. Thomas Church, Thomaskirchhof, Leipzig, Saxony, Germany |
| Adjacent landmark | St. Thomas Church |
| Nearby monument | Old Bach Monument |
| Previous monument on site | The monument to Leibniz, previously standing there since 1883, was moved to the inner courtyard of the Paulinum |
History and restoration | |
| Unveiling date | 17 May 1908 |
| Unveiling event | Festive church service at the culmination of a three-day Bach festival of the Leipzig Bachverein |
| Ceremonial speaker | Geheimrat Adolph Wach |
| City protection | At the unveiling, Mayor Carl Bruno Tröndlin placed the monument under the protection of the city |
Significance | |
| Associated former building | The relief on the back refers to the old St. Thomas School building, which stood on the western side of the square and was demolished in 1902 |