The renowned Gewandhaus Orchestra performs in a grand structure overlooking the Augustusplatz in Leipzig, Germany. Its name translates into “garment hall” because the city’s first concert hall was located in a textile-trading house. Completed in 1981, today’s hall can accommodate close to 2000 visitors and is known for its excellent acoustics. I had the good fortune of attending a recent concert at the Gewandhaus. It was directed by guest conductor Omer Meir Wellber. The performance of musicians and conductor was truly beyond words. What a treat for ears and eyes!
The current Gewandhaus was an East German cultural project. It is built in the style of an amphitheater. Its organ is the biggest musical instrument ever built in East Germany. The Gewandhaus Orchestra performs in the Gewandhaus, in the Leipzig Opera and, together with the Thomanerchor, in the St. Thomas Church. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/st-thomas-boys-choir-800-years/
According to Claudius Boehm (translated by Tom Greenleaves) the earliest roots of the Gewandhaus Orchestra can be traced to 1479. https://www.gewandhausorchester.de/en/gewandhaus/history/ At that time, Leipzig’s City Council hired three artistic pipers (Kunstpfeifer) to provide musical accompaniment at church services, theater productions and concerts.
First Gewandhaus
Leipzig’s earliest concerts took place in private homes. Then an inn hosted the events. As the concerts increased in popularity, a larger space became essential, and in 1781, the City of Leipzig constructed a concert hall. Because the textile merchants had no use for a substantial part of the upper floor in the Garment Hall between the Gewandgaesschen and the Kupfergasse, the space was converted into a concert hall. It accommodated up to 500 patrons. Mozart played in this hall. So did Carl Maria von Weber and Franz Liszt. Hector Berlioz, Johannes Brahms, and Richard Wagner conducted here. The popularity of Gewandhaus concerts increased beyond all expectation so that the auditorium was modified several times to increase audience capacity. Unfortunately, the acoustics suffered each time, and a new concert hall was discussed.
Second Gewandhaus
In 1884, the Second Gewandhaus opened its doors on the south side of the Augustusplatz. It was designed by Martin Gropius and consisted of a main concert hall and a chamber music hall. While the City of Leipzig owned the First Gewandhaus, the Gewandhaus Concert Board owned the Second Gewandhaus. Anton Bruckner performed here at the organ, Paul Hindemith on the viola, Igor Stravinsky at the piano. Johannes Brahms, Edvard Grieg, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Richard Strauss all conducted the Gewandhaus Orchestra at one time or another. The Second Gewandhaus was destroyed during bombings in 1944. For a while, the Gewandhaus orchestra performed in various halls throughout the city and moved into the zoo in 1947.
Third Gewandhaus
The conductor Kurt Masur initiated the campaign for the construction of the Third Gewandhaus on Augustusplatz. It opened in 1981, two hundred years after the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra had moved into the First Gewandhaus site.
The amphitheatrical Great Hall accommodates an audience of over 1,900; the Mendelssohn Hall approximately 500. The Great Hall is crowned by its imposing organ, with its four manuals, 92 stops and 6,638 pipes. Today’s Gewandhaus hosts approximately 800 events per year, which include its concert series, organ recitals, various chamber music series, conferences, symposia and lectures.
Inside the Gewandhaus, Photo © J. Elke Ertle. www.walled-in-berlin.com
For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page or feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic or current events, people, places or food.
Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.
