Sunday, March 2, 2014

We just arrived in Leipzig.  It is in the eastern part of Germany.  We had to travel almost 12 hours to get here by train.  And we had a few adventures.  

The Professor's itinerary showed that we got to Frankfurt at about 1 o'clock.  We did not take our next train until about 2 and changed in Kassel to get to Leipsig.  We had only 10 minutes to get from one train to the other in Kassel.  

In Frankfurt we got on the wrong car. Apparently we are not too bright because It took us awhile to realize that we were in a first class car not in 'wagen' no. 1.  Our tickets said that we were in wagen 1.  We were in car no. 12.  So we started off walking to the other end of the train dragging our luggage behind us.  The first four cars we walked through had people sitting all over the aisles and in the doorways.  It was crazy.  It was so difficult to get past all of them.  We finally made it to the last car.  The only problem was that it was car no. 6.  No wagen 1 on this train.  It was a very nice German woman who helpfully pointed out that our tickets were for an earlier train.  The tickets were for a train that left Frankfurt at 1:30.  

Oh boy.  We had not even looked at the time on the ticket since the itinerary said that the train left at 2:18.  We actually were in Frankfurt on time to catch the earlier train.  

The end of our journey trying to find the seats in the wrong train was that we ended up standing for 90 minutes in a hallway.  It was okay though because we were the only ones there.  Dad was so thoughtful and concerned, but I just laughed and told him this time I was not pregnant and was well enough to stand for 90 minutes.  (Last time we tried this was 40 some years ago when I was expecting our first child. I was so ill that we got off the train, turned around and caught the next train back to where we were living in Grenoble, France.  

When we got off in Kassel we had only 10 minutes to get to the next train.  And our train got in 3 minutes late.  Fortunately the train to Leipsig left four minutes late. Despite the fact that we had to walk up a huge ramp and across several tracks and back down another long ramp, we got on the train going to Leipzig.  Before we got seated the train had started to move.  

A little too close for comfort.  But we were so relieved to be on the train.  It was completely dark when we got here but we only had to walk across the square in front of the Hauptbahnhof to find our hotel.  So nice to be here and not have to move or do anything but relax until tomorrow.  

By the way, we have checked all of our other tickets and there will be no surprises on the rest of our trip.  

Our tickets match our itinerary.

Before the first World War, Leipzig was the fastest growing city in Germany.  Naturally the city built a huge central train station to accommodate the future population of their city.  Then came the war that was so devastating to both sides of the conflict.  Before Europe had fully recovered from the War to End All Wars, a new war broke out.  At the end of WW II Germany ended up divided in two parts. Leipzig was in the east so it fell under Russian rule.  Sine the reunification of Germany in 1990 Leipzig has begun to flourish.  It is a delightful place to visit and is considered to be the best living environment of all Germany's cities.  

In December 2013, according to a study by Marktforschungsinstituts GfK, Leipzig was ranked as the most livable city in Germany^[10][11] and is one of the three European cities with the highest quality of living (after Groningen andKraków).^[12] In 2010, Leipzig was included in the top 10 cities to visit by the New York Times,^[13] and ranked 39th globally out of 289 cities for innovation in the 4th Innovation Cities Index published by Australian agency 2thinknow.^[14] Wikipedia

If you look at this map of Leipzig, you can see that the balloon indicating where the Marriott is located is inside a yellow lopsided ring. Within that ring there is very little automobile traffic.  The yellow ring has heavy traffic on it.  nside that ring are several old buildings that have survived despite heavy bombing during the 2nd World War.  

One of the churches in that area is Thomaskirke or St Thomas church.  The original church on this site dates back to 1160.  

During his lifetime Johann Sebastian Bach worked at the Thomaskirke.  He was the cantor and he instructed the children in music at Thomasschule.  Although he worked at St Thomas for 27 years, when he died in 1750, he was buried in Old St John's cemetery in Leipzig. For nearly 150 years his grave was unmarked.  Then in 1894 his grave was located and was moved to a vault in St. John's church.  During the bombing of Leipzig during WW II, St. John's church was destroyed.  Bach's remains were recovered and in 1950 he was interred at St. Thomas church.  

 Looking up at the organ

Pews with donation envelops 

More than anything, I was impressed by the simplicity of this kirke. It felt bright and cheerful and as if it would welcome worshipers.  In 1539 Martin Luther preached here, introducing the Reformation in Leipzig. Before coming to Leipzig, all I could think was, "what survived Allied bombing of Germany?"  I am so grateful that this beautiful house of worship has survived and been renovated.

Statue of Bach standing outside of St. Thomas church in Leipzig.