St. Thomas Church

In 1996, the executive board of the St. Thomas Church made the ambitious decision to have the restoration process of the church completed by the year 2000. Before the fall of communism and the reunification of the two German countries, the St. Thomas Church had been insufficiently maintained, and the building had already begun to show alarming signs of neglect.

Much time and effort were invested in the restoration of the weather-beaten sandstone walls. The eight stained-glass windows were also carefully renovated. In order to improve the heat insulation and sound-deadening, the church nave got a new isothermal glazing.

Another highlight of the reconstruction process was the restoration of the windows of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and of Doubting Thomas, for whom the St. Thomas Church is named, by Hans Gottfried von Stockhausen.

Furthermore, inside the church extensive changes took place. For example the colours of the floral ornaments of the ribbed vault were intensified. Moreover the roof truss was renovated.

Thanks to public investments of the European Union, the Federal Government of Germany, Saxony and Leipzig and the commitment of the association “Thomaskirche-Bach 2000”, which obtained 10 million DM of private donations, the restoration process was successfully completed.

Right in time of the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death the church was inaugurated.