Former School of the St. Thomas Boys Choir

The first historic document of the St. Thomas School dates back to the year 1254 and is connected with the Augustinian monastery. The school is supposed to be the oldest German public school, since it has been open for all children right from the very beginning. For more than 300 years, it was the only school in Leipzig.

With Leipzig's rapid expansion in the 19th century, the number of students increased from about 200 to more than 350 in 1877.

When the damages of the building of the St. Thomas School could no longer be restored, the school had to be torn down. On its foundation walls, a new institution was built in 1553, which was preserved until 1902.


about 1880

about 1895

about 1907


 

In 1902, the school moved to another place. The former building was used as the home and working place for the superintendent (lead pastor of the city of Leipzig) at that time.

Today, it houses the church office of the St. Thomas Congregation, the association "Thomaskirche-Bach 2000," the foundation "St. Thomas," and a branch office of the St. Thomas Boys Choir.

 
Thus, the former school became a center of the preservation of the cultural heritage of Johann Sebastian Bach. This is emphasized today by regular concerts and receptions that are held here. To keep the house where Bach once composed intact, the renovation of the front and the roof is urgently necessary. Therefore 850,000 EUR are still badly needed.