Old Thomas School

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Krügner's copperplate engraving, 1723

The old Thomas School is the second school building including the alumni of the Thomas School in Leipzig at the western Thomaskirchhof from the 16th century. In the school there were also the rector and cantor apartments, u. a. Thomas Cantor Johann Sebastian Bach lived here. The Hiller memorial and the old Bach memorial were located on the Leipzig promenades, some of which are shown on views of the school. The building was demolished in 1902 and replaced by the Thomashaus (Superintendentur). The Thomas School and the alumnate moved to the Bachviertel at the end of the 19th century .

Renaissance construction

The new Renaissance stone building was built in 1553 and was in almost the same place as the early Gothic first school building of the St. Thomas Monastery . It was realized during Hieronymus Lotter's time as mayor by council mason Kunz Bundtschuh with the help of municipal and civic donations - after the collapse of a tower above the Thomastor - in about 28 weeks.

Krügner's copperplate engraving

An engraving from the 18th century by Johann Gottfried Krügner the Elder shows a plastered building with three floors. A total of ten window axes point to the square (Thomaskirchhof). On the north wing of the building there was a portal to the rector's apartment ( list of the rectors of the Thomasschule zu Leipzig ) and on the south wing one to the cantor's apartment ( Thomaskantor ), which are shown in the engraving on the left and right. A door with two wings leads to the schoolhouse in the middle of the building. In addition, there is another unwinded entrance on the gable side on the ground floor . Two wooden canopies cover a water point on the square. The building is covered with roof tiles, only interrupted by a small roof house , which most likely served as a pulley for supplies. In contrast to the upper attic storeys, which have only a few dormers , the lower one is combined into a pike. This is where the accommodations for the non-external students were.

The portal and window frames in the facade were probably made of Rochlitz porphyry tuff . You can see cross-frame windows , whereby the glazing with slug panes is assumed. The preserved old Nikolaischule at the Nikolaikirchhof is a comparison .

Floor plan around 1730

A floor plan for the period around 1730 (before the renovation in 1731/32) shows the rooms at that time in detail:

From the hall of the cantor's apartment, a small room with an iron stove opened on the left. Further back was a wash house with a door to the kennel and its own so-called secretion ( dry toilet ). The living rooms of the cantor's family, some of which were heated, were on the first and second floors . These could be reached via a staircase and included a living room and a bedroom as well as a forecourt (hallway) and a kitchen . There was also a further room (with an attached chamber) on the upper floors. The schoolhouse could be entered directly through a door in the hallway.

In the south-western part of the building there were room and chamber of the vice-principal and in the middle part the library of a master’s and another room. The rector's apartment was larger than that of the cantor. a. Living on the upper floors and utility rooms on the ground floor, a triangular courtyard and a cellar . The Thomaner had in the western and middle part - in addition to the already mentioned sleeping area - the auditoriums (for primary, secondary, tertiary, quarters), the school library and the detention center as well as a ground floor cenacle (with catheter ) as the largest room . The student toilets were in the city ​​moat .

Baroque renovation in 1731/32

The rectorate of Johann Matthias Gesner (1730–1734) led to the renovation and expansion of the building. The roof structure was demolished and the building was raised by two floors. A mansard roof was covered and an auxiliary building with three floors was built. Thomaskantor Johann Sebastian Bach created the cantata Happy Day, Demanded Hours ( BWV Anh. 18) for the inauguration on June 5, 1732 . The architectural drawings came from George Werner : According to this, the building has four floors and a mezzanine . The building and window axes are marked by prominent projections . There are now three-row dormer windows and chimney tops. In terms of color, the facade now appeared in light reddish beige , and there were also gray and white tones in the window and cornice area . Nikolaus Pevsner attested the school building a "sober [] practicality".

In terms of interior design, little was changed in the main building, apart from an additional room for the cantor and the concentration of the rector's apartment in the north wing. However, the Thomaner benefited from the renewed berths on the floors (32 each), the workplaces and the relocation of the toilets. The school kitchen, the home of the school attendant and the patient and bathing rooms found their place in the extension. Since there was no documentation of the holdings at that time, it is difficult to reconstruct the inventory of the time.

Small renovation in 1829

The dormitories and staircase area were remodeled in 1829.

Demolished in 1902

Memorial plaque for the Old Thomas School at the Thomashaus (1952)

In 1902 the old school building was demolished after the more spatial new buildings in the Schreber - ( Neue Thomasschule ) and Hillerstraße ( Thomasalumnat ) in the Bachviertel , which in retrospect met with incomprehension because it was significant in terms of the history of the humanities and music - this is where Thomaskantor Johann Sebastian lived Brook . Explanations for this can probably be sought in the deteriorating appearance, the simplicity and the dilapidation. According to the art historian Wolfgang Hocquél, it would be a listed building today and would probably meet the criteria for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage Site .

In 1904, in the style of historicism , the Superintendentur ( Thomashaus ) was built by Georg Weidenbach and Richard Tschammer .

literature

Web links

Commons : Alte Thomasschule  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Wolfgang Hocquél: Die Alte Thomasschule am Thomaskirchhof , in: Stefan Altner / Martin Petzoldt (eds.): 800 years of Thomana, commemorative publication for the anniversary of Thomaskirche, Thomanerchor and Thomasschule , Stekovics, Wettin-Löbejün 2012, p. 192– 207, contents of page 193.
  2. ↑ a b Wolfgang Hocquél: Die Alte Thomasschule am Thomaskirchhof , in: Stefan Altner / Martin Petzoldt (eds.): 800 years of Thomana, commemorative publication for the anniversary of the St. Thomas Church, St. Thomas Choir and St. Thomas School , Stekovics, Wettin-Löbejün 2012, pp. 192–207 , Content from page 194.
  3. ↑ Wolfgang Hocquél: Die Alte Thomasschule am Thomaskirchhof , in: Stefan Altner / Martin Petzoldt (eds.): 800 years of Thomana, commemorative publication for the anniversary of the St. Thomas Church, St. Thomas Choir and St. Thomas School , Stekovics, Wettin-Löbejün 2012, pp. 192–207, content from pages 195 f.
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Hocquél: Die Alte Thomasschule am Thomaskirchhof , in: Stefan Altner / Martin Petzoldt (eds.): 800 years of Thomana, commemorative publication for the anniversary of the St. Thomas Church, St. Thomas Choir and St. Thomas School , Stekovics, Wettin-Löbejün 2012, pp. 192–207, content from page 195.
  5. ↑ Wolfgang Hocquél: Die Alte Thomasschule am Thomaskirchhof , in: Stefan Altner / Martin Petzoldt (eds.): 800 years of Thomana, commemorative publication for the anniversary of the St. Thomas Church, St. Thomas Choir and St. Thomas School , Stekovics, Wettin-Löbejün 2012, pp. 192–207, content from pages 196 ff.
  6. ↑ a b Nikolaus Pevsner : Leipziger Barock: the architecture of the baroque period in Leipzig , unchanged reprint (1928), Seemann, Leipzig 1990, p. 117 f.
  7. ↑ Wolfgang Hocquél: Die Alte Thomasschule am Thomaskirchhof , in: Stefan Altner / Martin Petzoldt (eds.): 800 years of Thomana, commemorative publication for the anniversary of the St. Thomas Church, St. Thomas Choir and St. Thomas School , Stekovics, Wettin-Löbejün 2012, pp. 192–207, content from pages 199 ff.
  8. ↑ Wolfgang Hocquél: Die Alte Thomasschule am Thomaskirchhof , in: Stefan Altner / Martin Petzoldt (eds.): 800 years of Thomana, commemorative publication for the anniversary of the St. Thomas Church, St. Thomas Choir and St. Thomas School , Stekovics, Wettin-Löbejün 2012, pp. 192–207, content from page 206.
  9. ↑ a b Wolfgang Hocquél: Die Alte Thomasschule am Thomaskirchhof , in: Stefan Altner / Martin Petzoldt (eds.): 800 years of Thomana, commemorative publication for the anniversary of the St. Thomas Church, St. Thomas Choir and St. Thomas School , Stekovics, Wettin-Löbejün 2012, pp. 192–207 , Content from page 207.