Mendelssohn House is a museum in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, Germany. The composer

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...

lived here from 1845 until his death in 1847; it now contains a collection about the life and work of the composer.

Background

Mendelssohn was born in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

in 1809, and in 1811 the family moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

."Biography"
''Mendelssohn House and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Foundation''. Retrieved 3 June 2020. He moved to Leipzig in 1835, when he was appointed director of the

Gewandhaus Orchestra The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester; also previously known in German as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) is a German symphony orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. The orchestra is named after the concert hall in which it is bas ...

. In 1841 he left the city to take up the post of court composer to

Friedrich Wilhelm IV Frederick William IV (german: Friedrich Wilhelm IV.; 15 October 17952 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 to his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to ...

in Berlin; during his time there he remained guest conductor of the orchestra in Leipzig. He resigned from his posts in Berlin in 1844 and returned to Leipzig; he moved with his family in 1845 to an apartment on the second floor of this building (its address, then Königstraße 5, is now Goldschmidtstraße 12)."The Mendelssohn House"
''Mendelssohn House and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Foundation''. Retrieved 3 June 2020. During the time he lived here, his daughter Elisabeth was born. He was joint director, with

Niels Gade Niels Wilhelm Gade (22 February 1817 – 21 December 1890) was a Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher. Together with Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann, he was the leading Danish musician of his day. Biography Gade was born ...

, of the 1845–46 season of Gewandhaus concerts. In 1846 he completed his oratorio ''

Elijah Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) was, according to the Books of ...

'', and conducted its premiere in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England. Mendelssohn died in Leipzig on 4 November 1847.

The museum

Felix Mendelssohn Leipzig study; Contemporary view

The International Mendelssohn Foundation was founded in 1991, with

Kurt Masur Kurt Masur (18 July 1927 – 19 December 2015) was a German conductor. Called "one of the last old-style maestros", he directed many of the principal orchestras of his era. He had a long career as the Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Or ...

as chairman; its purpose was to save and restore Mendelssohn's last home in Leipzig. The museum was opened in 1997."The Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Foundation"
''Mendelssohn House and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Foundation''. Retrieved 5 June 2020. It has been restored to the appearance it had during the composer's time here, furnished in the style of late

Biedermeier The ''Biedermeier'' period was an era in Central Europe between 1815 and 1848 during which the middle class grew in number and the arts appealed to common sensibilities. It began with the Congress of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in ...

. There is information about Mendelssohn's life and work, particularly about his time in Leipzig; there are written documents, music scores, and watercolours painted by the composer. The museum has a music salon where concerts are held. The museum is included in the ''

Blaubuch The ''Blaubuch'' ("Blue Book") is an inventory of "cultural lighthouses": culturally important sites in the eastern ''Länder'' of Germany. It was first published in 2001, as an evaluation study proposed by the then Secretary of Culture of the Ger ...

'' (Blue Book) of the Federal Government, as an important cultural site."Kulturelle Gedächtnisorte von nationaler Bedeutung"
''Mendelssohn House and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Foundation''. Retrieved 3 June 2020.

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Foundation

The Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Foundation was formed in 2003, supported by the town council of Leipzig. It aims to support complete editions of Mendelssohn's works (of music, letters and paintings), and to support young musicians. The International Mendelssohn Academy at the Mendelssohn House was founded by Kurt Masur in 2008. It offers courses, led by highly regarded musicians, in singing, conducting or other aspects of music making.

References

{{Felix Mendelssohn Biographical museums in Germany Music museums in Germany Museums in Saxony Felix Mendelssohn

Background

The museum

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Foundation

See also

References