Mendelssohn House is a museum in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

, Germany. The composer

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

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 Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

in 1809, and in 1811 the family moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

."Biography"
''Mendelssohn House and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Foundation''. Version dated 3 June 2020 retrieved via

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...

. He moved to Leipzig in 1835, when he was appointed director of the Gewandhaus Orchestra. In 1841 he left the city to take up the post of court composer to Friedrich Wilhelm IV 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''. Version dated 3 June 2020 retrieved via Wayback Machine. 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, in the period known as ...

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

Elijah Elijah ( ) or Elias was a prophet and miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC), according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worsh ...

'', and conducted its premiere in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

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

The museum

The International Mendelssohn Foundation was founded in 1991, with

Kurt Masur Kurt Masur (; 18 July 192719 December 2015) was a German Conducting, 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 Gewand ...

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''. Version dated 3 June 2020 retrieved via Wayback Machine. It has been restored to the appearance it had during the composer's time here, furnished in the style of late Biedermeier. 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'' (Blue Book) of the Federal Government, as an important cultural site."Kulturelle Gedächtnisorte von nationaler Bedeutung"
''Mendelssohn House and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Foundation''. Version dated 3 June 2020 retrieved via Wayback Machine.

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

External links

''Mendelssohn-Haus'', in: Stadt Leipzig, Dezernat Stadtentwicklung und Bau (ed.), ''Leipzig-Innenstadt. Städtebaulicher Denkmalschutz 1994-2017'', Beiträge zur Stadtentwicklung (Blaue Reihe), issue 61, pp. 42-43, in German
{{Felix Mendelssohn Biographical museums in Germany Music museums in Germany Museums in Leipzig Felix Mendelssohn Historic house museums in Germany

Background

The museum

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Foundation

See also

References

External links