Thursday June 14

Bad Sulza to Bad Kösen to Naumberg to Weißenfels

Bike route from Bad Sulza to Weißenfels

In the morning we left Thuringia behind as we followed the Ilm River for a few kilometers until it flowed into the Saale River. We were now in Saxony. In Bad Kösen we stopped at the impressive graduation works, which, according to Wikipeida "is a structure used in the production of salt which removes water from a saline solution by evaporation, increasing its concentration of mineral salts. The tower consists of a wooden wall-like frame stuffed with bundles of brushwood (typically blackthorn) which have to be changed about every 5 to 10 years as they become encrusted with mineral deposits over time. The salt water runs down the tower and partly evaporates; at the same time some minerals from the solution are left behind on the brushwood twigs."

 Bad Kösen graduation works

Biking toward Naumburg...2

Biking toward Naumburg...1

While the entire trip was memorable, the next stop is right near the top of the list! Still following the Saale River, we biked for another 9 kilometers to the town of Naumberg, one of those pretty little medieval towns for which Germany is so famous. Its claims to fame are brief visits by Martin Luther (he stayed, preached, drank and taught here twice), and the fact that it was, for several years, the residence of Friedrich Nietzsch.

Hildebrandt Organ in Naumberg

Keyboards and Stops - some of the stops are original

But what made it so special for me was our visit to the Wenzelkirche, where, in 1748, Bach was invited to test a new organ built by his colleague Zacharias Hildebrandt. "On the 27th of August 1743, the Naumburg City Council entered into a contract with Zacharias Hildebrandt of Leipzig for the building of the new organ of 52 stops in the existing case of the organ by Zacharias Thayssner (built 1696 -1705). Previously a report from J. S. Bach about the organ had been obtained which was "most kindly found acceptable". Thus we can surely assume that Bach had an influential role in the drawing up of the specification, and that this instrument corresponded to his idea of a fine large organ." This is the final organ report attributed to Bach.

It is still in use today and we were treated to an amazing organ concert and then Anna-Luise, one of the founders of the tour and one our of leaders, appeared next to the organ and began singing "Bereite dich Zion" from Bach's Christmas Oratorio (click here for video).

After a refreshing lunch in the square outside the church we bicycled along the Saale through beautiful countryside to Weißenfels.

Lunch in Naumburg

One of many beautiful vistas along the ride to Weißenfels

Upon arrival in Weißenfels we checked into our hotel, the Jägerhof (more about this later), and then made our way to the Heinrich Schütz museum. He was Bach's German musical predecessor (1585-1672). I had low expectations about this exhibit but the 2-plus hours I spent there were incredibly informative and entertaining. I left with a very "up close and personal look" at the daily life of a composer/musician from his childhood through to his old age. Click here for a link to the Museum.

We returned to our hotel, the Jägerhof, where, on Feb. 23, 1713, Bach first performed his Hunt Cantata, BVW 208 "Sheep May Safely Graze" - his first known composition making use of horns as well as the modern Italian operatic forms of recitative and da capo aria. Click here for a YouTube recording. Once again, it was thrilling to sip a glass of wine in the very room where this historic event occurred.

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Weimar to Bad Sulza

Route from Weimar to Bad Sulza

Weimar is a city rich in historical heritage. In 1988 UNESCO listed Weimar as a "World Heritage Site". And, while Bach spent ten years here, longer than any where else other than Leipzig, he is not the town's most prominent luminary, nor even it's most honored musician.

Weimar is best known for its authors - Goethe, Friedrich Schiller (Ode to Joy), and Friedrich Neitzche, the Bauhaus art movement, and the Weimar Republic.

Bauhaus
The Bauhaus was founded in 1919 in the city of Weimar by German architect Walter Gropius (1883–1969). Its core objective was a radical concept: to reimagine the material world to reflect the unity of all the arts. Gropius explained this vision for a union of art and design in the Proclamation of the Bauhaus (1919), which described a utopian craft guild combining architecture, sculpture, and painting into a single creative expression. Gropius developed a craft-based curriculum that would turn out artisans and designers capable of creating useful and beautiful objects appropriate to this new system of living.

The Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic was Germany’s government from 1919 to 1933, the period after World War I until the rise of Nazi Germany. It was named after the town of Weimar where Germany’s new government was formed by a national assembly after Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated. From its uncertain beginnings to a brief season of success and then a devastating depression, the Weimar Republic experienced enough chaos to position Germany for the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.

Bach Connection

At age 17, Bach took a position in Weimar as "court musician" to Duke Johann Ernst. However, a scant six months later he left for a position in Arnstadt. Five years later he returned as court organist and concertmaster and remained for nine years. During this period, Bach wrote most of his organ works. Towards the end of 1716 Bach's relationship with Duke Wilhelm Ernst  had begun to sour, no doubt owing to the fact that Bach had been passed over for the position of kapellmeister. After aggressively seeking release from his position, Bach was actually imprisoned for a month. He likely conceived of and planned his Well-Tempered Clavier during this time. Eventually, he was given a "dishonorable discharge" by Duke Wilhelm Ernst and in Dec. 1717 moved to his new position in Kothen.


Coffee Cantata (BWV 221).


City Castle

Two of Bach's most illustrious sons, Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Phillip Emmanuel, were born and baptized in Weimar at the Church 

Lunch at the castle...statues

City Castle

Later in the afternoon we resumed our bike ride to Bad Sulza. Enroute we came upon a grove of cherry trees and decided to treat ourselves to the freshest cherries I've ever eaten.

we 

Tuesday, June 12

ARNSTADT-DORNHEIN-ERFFURT-WEIMAR

In the morning we visited the Bach exhibition at the Schlossmuseum (Palace Museum) in Arnstadt.

Dornheim Church where Bach got married

The next stop, only a few short kilometers away, was the Bartholomäuskirche in Dormheim, where Bach married Maria Barbara Bach, his second cousin, on October 17, 1707.

J.S. Bach met Maria Barbara in Arnstadt after his appointment as church organist in 1703 and for a time they lived in the same house. Historians believe that when Arnstadt authorities reprimanded J.S. Bach in 1706 for inviting a "strange maiden" into the church organ loft to "make music", the woman in question was Maria.

After a private tour of the church and organ concert, we were treated to a very special history of the church led by the 78 year old Siegfried Neumann.

Despite repeated repairs, Bach's wedding church was in such a wretched state in 1996 that even demolition was considered. Inspired local citizens, led by Siegfried Neumann (above) joined forces with the aim to save the building and enabled its comprehensive reconstruction. Sadly, Siegfried passed away in October, 2018.

Before departing outside for our picnic lunch, we gathered at the altar to sing The Quodlibet or Wedding Quodlibet, BWV 524, is a lighthearted composition by Johann Sebastian Bach which today exists only in fragmentary form. The line "In diesem Jahre haben wir zwei Sonnenfinsternissen" (In this year we have [seen] two solar eclipses) places the composition of the piece in or shortly after 1707, when central Germany was witness to two such celestial events. The extant source—a fair-copy autograph manuscript on three large, folded sheets—was not discovered until 1932.

The work itself is a loosely structured quodlibet for SATB and continuo. Bach likely did not write the text, which some attribute to the Leipzig poet Johann Christoph Gottsched. Though the cover sheet has been lost, the libretto of the remaining portion indicates that the quodlibet was to be performed at a wedding, possibly that of the composer himself to Maria Barbara Bach.

It is recorded that the couple had a contented relationship and their years together at Köthen, beginning in 1717, were probably the happiest of the composer's life. Four of their seven children lived to adulthood, including future musicians Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and the great Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.

In May of 1720 J.S. Bach accompanied his employer, Prince Leopold, to a spa in Karlsbad. He returned nearly two months later to discover that Maria Barbara had died from a sudden illness and was already buried at Köthen's Old Cemetery (now called the Friedenspark). She was only 35. In his grief he wrote the monumental "Chaconne", the fifth and final movement of the Partita in D minor for solo violin, which is still considered one of the most daunting and profound works in the instrumental repertory.  Written for solo violin, the Chaconne is one of the longest and most challenging entirely solo pieces ever composed for that instrument. Click here for link.

After a lovely picnic lunch on the church grounds, 

Picnic lunch at Bach Wedding Church

we continued along the Gera River to Thuringia's capital and largest city, Erfurt.

During the Middle Ages, Erfurt was the economic and cultural capital of Thuringia, as the medieval east-west trade route, via regia, led directly through Thuringia. Erfurt played a leading role in the lives and musical careers of five generations in the Bach family; but, not in J.S. Bach's. The site of many of the well-documented annual Bach family reunions and central to the towns and cities that J.S. Bach inhabited throughout his life, aside form assessing an organ in 1716, there is little evidence connecting Erfurt to J.S. Bach musically.

We visited The Kramerbrucke (Merchants' Bridge) which has been continuously inhabited for more than 500 years. I haven't a clue what the hanging shoes are all about (see picture below).

Kramerbrucke Bridge crosses the Gera River in downtown Erfurt

Finally, we made our way to Weimar for the evening. (On Wednesday, we visited the church were many of Bach's children are buried.  Here we listened to a beautiful and touching CD of Bach's Chaconne (see above) played by our own Mareike Neumann.

Monday, June 11

Ohrdruf to Arnstadt

Bach Monument at Michaelisplatz, near the Tower of the St. Michael's Church, Ohrdruf

This monument commemorates Bach's time in Ohrdruf. It shows both the tower of St. Michael's Church, where the young Bach learned to play the organ. The original quarry stone and pipe organ, which were incorporated into the sculpture, symbolizing the history of St. Michael's Church. The lattice window with the music paper alludes to an anecdote: So it is said that his older brother, Johann Christoph Bach, withheld from him some pieces of music, as he considered them to be too heavy for his younger brother.  But the young Johann Sebastian Bach was not deterred and, night after night, he secretly copied the sheet music to his notebook.  The sculpture was officially unveiled and presented to the public in May, 1999. 

[Bach Statues, Monuments, Memorials & Plaques. Bach Cantatas Website. Aug. 3, 2018. http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Memo/Memo-1229.htm]

After biking through the Thuringian Forest during the morning, we arrived in Arnstadt, the town where the young Bach (18 years old at the time in 1703) held his first position as a professional musician. 
One of the many highlights of our visit to this charming small town is the statue of Bach shown below. It has been controversial since it was created in 1985 by Professor Bernd Göbel to mark the 300th anniversary of J.S. Bach’s birth. It depicts the composer as an rather insouciant 18 year-old (as imagined by the artist as there is no known painting of Bach at this age).

J.S. Bach statue in Arnstadt

In the afternoon we toured St. Bonifatious Church, which was destroyed in the great town fire in 1581 and rebuilt between 1676 and 1683 as the "Neue Kirche" (New Church). Master organ builder Johann Friedrich Wender made an organ for the Neue Kirche in 1703, which 18-year old Johann Sebastian Bach examined and tested.

Bach was the organist here from 1703 until 1707. In 1935, the church was renamed the "Johann Sebastian Bach Church" to mark the musician's 250th birthday.

On the organ gallery on the west side is the Baroque Wender organ already played by J.S. Bach and beneath it, on its own gallery, the Romantic Steinmeyer organ dating from 1913.

We were fortunate to have had a private tour of the church followed by an extraordinary organ performance, both led by the current Bach Church organist.

Baroque Wender Organ from 1703

We concluded the tour by singing a Bach cantata to the organist's accompaniment (click here for video).

First day riding - depart Eisenach and bike to Wechmar and then onto Ohrdruf

Eisenach to Gotha to Ohrdruf 

Cycling along the banks of the Hörsel River which flows along the northern edge of the Thuringian Forest in central Germany, we made our way to Gotha, where we stopped to tour the early-modern Friedenstein Castle, one of the largest Renaissance/Baroque and first castles in Germany.

Friedenstein Palace (it's good to be the Duke)

While at the Palace we refreshed both body and soul. We ate a simple, yet quite tasty lunch while listening to a Bach Passion, parts of which were ultimately incorporated into his famous St. John's Passion BWV 245. 

There is evidence of only two Bach visits to Gotha in his lifetime; once in 1711 and again in spring of 1717 where he performed, for the first time, a Passion on Good Friday, March 26 at the Friedenstein Palace. It was quite thrilling inhabiting the very same space that Bach himself had 301 years ago and listening to the glorious music he composed and performed there!

After a short ride through lush fields of rye, we arrived at Wechmar, a small town about 10km southeast of Gotha. Wechmar is known as - the the "Home of the founding fathers of the Bach musical family" - the Bach ancestral home.

Bach Family Tree

In 1735 J.S. Bach himself wrote these words in the opening of Origin of the Musical Bach Family, the genealogy of the Bach dynasty: "No. 1. Veit Bach, a white-bread baker...settled at Wechmar, near Gotha, and continued his baker's trade there. He found his greatest pleasure in a little cittern (a stringed instrument similar to a lute), which he took with him even into the milland played upon while the grinding was going on...and this was, as it were, the beginning of a musical inclination in his descendants" (NRB, no. 303).

Veit was J.S. Bach's great-great grandfather. We visited the house, in existence since 1571, and the mill. There remain a few original remnants of both structures and both are now museums. 

Veit Bach House (now the Wechmar Bach Museum)

Yesterday was very busy - all ride participants arrived at hotel, we selected our bikes and helmets, received brief instructions on how to operate the bikes (really?) and then set out on a whirlwind tour of significant Bach-related sites throughout Eisenach.

Some of the highlights are featured below:

Bach's Birthplace - or so it was thought for many years. However, historians now believe that the Bachhaus (below) was not, in fact, the house were he was born on March 21, 1685 and lived until 1695. He most likely lived close by the Bachhaus but because of frequent house numbering changes as the town grew, what had long been orignially thought to be the actual house, and is now the official Bachhaus museum, was not. However, the museum is chock full of authentic Bach artifacts, including historic instruments.


Bach attended the St. George's Latin School, the same school that Martin Luther attended nearly two centuries earlier - 1498 and 1501. Martin Luther returned to Eisenach (1521/22) to take refuge in the Wartburg Castle where, in just eleven weeks, he translated the New Testament from Greek into German, crea­ting not only a best­seller but also the found­ation of written German.


Extant records strongly suggest that Bach was, at best, a middling student.

Entrance to St. George's Latin School (note plaques on either side of door)

Both Luther and Bach sang in the St. George's Church choir as a students. For more than 132 years members of Johann Sebastian Bach’s family made music on the organ bench of this baptistery.

One of the sublime highlights of the afternoon occurred when we visited the enclosed park at the rear of the St. George's Latin School. Our tour guides played a composition, Meine Freundin, du bist schön  (click here to listen) by Johann Christoph Bach, the organist and composer at St. George's (not to be confused with Johann Sebastin's brother, he was actually J.S. Bach's first cousin, once removed). Sebastian Bach described him in his Genealogy (1735) as "the profound composer", clearly indicating the high esteem in which he was held, both within the Bach family and throughout Germany. Sitting there, listening to music composed by one of his relatives, the organist at the church during J.S. Bach's time there, imagining the young Bach playing with his classmates in the very spot where we sat, was thrilling!

Actual Baptismal font in which J.S. Bach was baptized on March 23, 1685

Actual Baptismal font in which J.S. Bach was baptized on March 23, 1685

J.S. Bach Statue in front of the Bachhaus Museum in Eisenach