St. Thomas Church

St. Thomas Church is associated with a number of well-known composers such as Richard Wagner and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, but mostly with Johann Sebastian Bach who worked here as a Kapellmeister (music director) from 1723 until his death in 1750. Today, the church also holds his remains. Martin Luther preached here in 1539.

There has been a church at the current site of the Thomaskirche at least since the 12th century. Foundations of a Romanesque building have been discovered in the choir and crossing of the current church. Between 1212 and 1222 the earlier structure became the church of the new St. Thomas Monastery (Stift) of the Augustinian order.

The current building was consecrated by Thilo of Trotha, the Bishop of Merseburg, on 10 April 1496. The reformer Martin Luther preached here on Pentecost Sunday in 1539. The monastic buildings were demolished in 1541 following the monastery's dissolution. The current church tower was first built in 1537 and rebuilt in 1702. Chapels added in the 17th century and an ante-building along the northern front of the nave with two stairways were removed at the end of the 19th century.

References:

• Wikipedia

Address

Thomaskirchhof 18, Leipzig, Germany

Details

Founded: 1496
Category: Religious sites in Germany
Historical period: Habsburg Dynasty (Germany)