St. Thomas School, Leipzig (; ) is a

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

and

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

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 Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It was founded by the

Augustinians Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

in 1212 and is one of the oldest schools in the world. St. Thomas is known for its

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

and

music education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as primary education, elementary or secondary education, secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a rese ...

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

held the position of

Thomaskantor (Cantor at St. Thomas) is the common name for the musical director of the , now an internationally known boys' choir founded in Leipzig in 1212. The official historic title of the Thomaskantor in Latin, ', describes the two functions of Cantor ( ...

from 1723 until his death in 1750. His responsibilities included providing young musicians for church services in Leipzig. The Humanistic Gymnasium has a very long list of distinguished former students, including

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

(1813–1883) and many members of the Bach family, including

's son

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German composer and musician of the Baroque and Classical period. He was the fifth ch ...

(1714–1788). From the 800-Year Anniversary Celebration in 2012 the Thomanerchor and St. Thomas School has been part of Forum Thomanum, an internationally oriented educational campus.

History

St. Thomas School was founded in 1212 by

Margrave Margrave was originally the Middle Ages, medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or a monarchy, kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain Feudal ...

Dietrich von Meißen (1162–1221) making it among the oldest schools in Europe. It was run as ''schola pauperum'', meaning a free school intended to benefit the poor, by the Canons Regular of St. Augustine. The St. Thomas Church was founded with the school. The St. Thomas School is first mentioned in documents dating to 1254. In 1539 the city of Leipzig took over ownership of the school. All members (''Thomaner'') of the boys choir ''(Thomanerchor)'' attend the school along with other pupils. The Thomaner live in the school's own boarding school, ''Thomasalumnat''. The school's first building was in the present courtyard of the St. Thomas Church. In 1553 an outbuilding was built there. During Johann Sebastian Bach's time as Thomaskantor these buildings were extended; in 1829 they were reconstructed. In 1877 a new building was erected in the Schreberstraße to meet a shortage of space. In 1881 a new building for the boarding school was finished. The school was used as a barracks by a

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European paramilitary volunteer units that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenaries or private military companies, rega ...

unit during the Kapp Putsch. The staff had little sympathy for

Friedrich Ebert Friedrich Ebert (; 4 February 187128 February 1925) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD) who served as the first President of Germany (1919–1945), president of Germany from 1919 until ...

's government. During the Nazi era the school continued its normal curricula. The school endured the bombings of the night of 3 December 1943 with only the gym and the buildings across from the boarding school being destroyed. The then-rector, Günther Ramin, decided to move the choir boys to the ''Königlich Sächsische Fürsten- und Landesschule Sankt Augustin'' school in Grimma. Because of this, and because most of the older students were enlisted, the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

was allowed to use the school's building for its own purposes. The rector's decision to move the choir boys was proved right during the bombings of 20 February 1944 when the school's buildings were destroyed. After that, the remaining pupils attended ''41. Volksschule'' on the ''Hillerstraße''. At some stage, the choir boys rejoined these pupils at ''Hillerstraße''. In 1973 the school moved into a new building in the ''Pestalozzistraße'' (now ''Telemannstraße''), but the boarding school remained in the ''Hillerstraße''. The new

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

regime in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

tried to make an exemplar

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

school out of St. Thomas school, but the church's influence was immense. After the

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

in 1990 the pupil's numbers increased. Since 2008 the school offers its students mathematics, natural sciences, music, and linguistic courses. In September 2000 the school moved into the restored original building on the ''Hillerstraße''. In 2008, there were 485 pupils and 67 teachers. Prior to 1973, all the

s were also teachers at the school and the president of the choir was also the school's rector. Since 1973 those roles have been separated.

Foreign languages

Cultivating classical languages is an old tradition at St. Thomas School. All students study

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

as their first or second

foreign language A foreign language is a language that is not an official language of, nor typically spoken in, a specific country. Native speakers from that country usually need to acquire it through conscious learning, such as through language lessons at schoo ...

, including the Qualification in Latin (''Latinum''). Combined with the modern language English the pupils learn fundamental foreign language skills. Although there are offered advanced courses (''Leistungskurse'') in those subjects. Interested students are welcome to take the First Certificate in English (FCE). The tradition of the school and its roots in European culture are the motive for providing

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

classes from 8th grade as well as a Qualification in Greek (''Graecum''). Also St. Thomas offers

Romance languages The Romance languages, also known as the Latin or Neo-Latin languages, are the languages that are Language family, directly descended from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-E ...

, like French and Italian. Student exchange programs and stays in Europe and in Anglo-America are possible.

Notable alumni

* Carl Friedrich Abel – German composer and fine player on the viola da gamba, pupil of

* Franz Abt – German composer * Nicolaus von Amsdorf – German theologian and Protestant reformer * Johann August Apel – German writer and jurist * Armand Léon von Ardenne – German military writer and general, character in '' Effi Briest'' * Wilhelm Friedemann Bach – eldest son and pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach *

– German musician and composer, second son of Johann Sebastian Bach * Johann Christian Bach – composer of the Classical era, tenth son of Johann Sebastian Bach * Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach – ninth son of Johann Sebastian Bach * Johann Gottfried Bernhard Bach – fourth son of Johann Sebastian Bach * Karl Baedeker – German physicist * Fritz Beblo – German city planner, architect and painter * Christian Daniel Beck – German philologist, historian, theologian and antiquarian * Oskar Becker – German philosopher, logician and mathematician * Roderich Benedix – German dramatist and librettist * Theodor Bergk – German philologist * Otto Julius Bierbaum – German writer * Georg Christoph Biller – German choral conductor * Christian Ludwig Boxberg – German composer and organist * Albert Brockhaus – German publisher and politician * Eduard Brücklmeier – German diplomat and resistance fighter against the Nazi régime * Conrad Bursian – German philologist and archaeologist * Johann Benedict Carpzov II – German Christian theologian and Hebraist *

Carl Gustav Carus Carl Gustav Carus (3 January 1789 – 28 July 1869) was a German physiologist and painter, born in Leipzig, who played various roles during the Romanticism, Romantic era. A friend of the writer Johann Wolfgang Goethe, he was a many-sided man: a ...

– German physiologist and painter * Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld – German painter * Walter Cramer – German businessman and a member of the failed July 20 Plot * Karl Wilhelm Dindorf – German classical scholar * Max Dieckmann – German physicist *

Christoph von Dohnányi Christoph von Dohnányi (; born 8 September 1929) is a German conducting, conductor. Biography Youth and World War II Dohnányi was born in Berlin, Germany to Hans von Dohnanyi, a German jurist of Hungarian ancestry, and Christine von Dohnan ...

– German conductor * Klaus von Dohnanyi – German politician * Georg Dohrn – German conductor * Axel Eggebrecht – German journalist and writer *

Theodor Wilhelm Engelmann Theodor Wilhelm Engelmann (14 November 1843 – 20 May 1909) was a German botanist, physiologist, microbiologist, university professor, and musician whose 1882 experiment measured the effects of different colors of light on photosynthetic activit ...

– German botanist, physiologist and microbiologist * Georg Fabricius – German poet, historian and archaeologist * Johann Friedrich Fasch – German composer * Paul Fleming – German poet * Arnold Gehlen – an influential conservative German philosopher and sociologist * Reinhard Goerdeler – German accountant and founder of

KPMG KPMG is a multinational professional services network, based in London, United Kingdom. As one of the Big Four accounting firms, along with Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, and PwC. KPMG is a network of firms in 145 countries with 275,288 emplo ...

* Johann Gottlieb Görner – German composer and organist, pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach * Johann Christoph Graupner – German harpsichordist and composer of high Baroque music *

Andreas Gruentzig Andreas Roland Grüntzig (25 June 1939 – 27 October 1985) was a German radiologist and cardiologist, with foundational interest, training and research in epidemiology and angiology. He is known for being the first to develop successful balloon a ...

– German cardiologist * Karl Heine – lawyer and a major entrepreneur and industrial pioneer * Thomas Theodor Heine – German painter and illustrator * Johann David Heinichen – German Baroque composer and music theorist, Kapellmeister to the Royal Polish and Electoral Saxon Court in Dresden * Karl Heinrich Heydenreich – German philosopher and poet * Rudolf Hildebrand – Germanist * Karl von Hochmuth – Russian General * Otto Hoetzsch – German academic and politician *

Reinhard Keiser Reinhard Keiser (9 January 1674 – 12 September 1739) was a German opera composer based in Hamburg. He wrote over a hundred operas. Johann Adolf Scheibe (writing in 1745) considered him an equal to Johann Kuhnau, George Frideric Handel and Georg ...

– popular German opera composer, one time Kapellmeister of the Hamburg Opera and successor to

Johann Mattheson Johann Mattheson (28 September 1681 – 17 April 1764) was a German composer, critic, lexicographer and music theorist. His writings on the late Baroque and early Classical period were highly influential, specifically, "his biographical and the ...

as Cantor (church) of Hamburg Cathedral * Johann Friedrich Kind – German dramatist * Johann Ludwig Krebs – Rococo and Classical period musician and composer, pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach and son of Johann Tobias Krebs, another Bach pupil (during his tenure at

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

) * Sebastian Krumbiegel – German singer and musician * Victor Lange – German-born US-American Germanist at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Isaac Newton, Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in ad ...

– German mathematician and philosopher * Justus Hermann Lipsius – German classical scholar * Christian Gustav Adolph Mayer – German mathematician * Erhard Mauersberger – German choral conductor, 14th Cantor of the Thomaskirche zu Leipzig after Johann Sebastian Bach, brother of Rudolf Mauersberger (the composer, conductor, and Cantor of the Kreuzkirche Dresden) * Felix Moscheles – English painter, peace activist and advocate of

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

* Paul Julius Möbius – German neurologist * Georg Österreich – German Baroque composer * Carl Adam Petri – German mathematician and computer scientist * Eduard Friedrich Poeppig – German botanist, zoologist and explorer *

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...

– German-born British scholar of history of art at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

and

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

* Johann Georg Pisendel – German Baroque musician, violinist and composer *

Die Prinzen Die Prinzen ("The Princes") is a German pop rock band, consisting of former members of the Thomanerchor, and a former member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor. Overview Early albums consist of a cappella music. The band's first name was ''Die Herz ...

– German music group * Günther Ramin – influential German organist, conductor, composer, pedagogue, and 12th Thomaskantor after Bach * Carl Gottlieb Reissiger – German Kapellmeister and composer * Martin Rinkart – German clergyman and hymnist * Johann Friedrich Rochlitz – German playwright, musicologist, art and music critic * Johann Theodor Roemhildt – German Baroque composer * Johann Rosenmüller – German Baroque composer * Friedrich Ruge – Vice Admiral of the German Navy * Ernest Sauter – German composer * Daniel Gottlob Moritz Schreber – German physician and university teacher * Johann Andreas Schubert – German general engineer and designer * Johann Gottfried Stallbaum – German classical scholar * David Timm (born 1969) – German pianist, organist, choral conductor and jazz musician * Karl Wilhelm Valentiner – German astronomer * Eduard Vogel – German explorer in Central Africa *

– German composer, conductor, music theorist and essayist * Jörg-Peter Weigle – German professor of choir direction * Friedrich Wieck – German piano and voice teacher, teacher of

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

, and father of Clara Schumann * Friedrich Wilhelm Zachau – German Baroque musician and composer, teacher of

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

* Carl Friedrich Zöllner – German composer and choir director

Notable former teachers

– monumental German Baroque composer and organist * Karl Ferdinand Braun – German inventor, physicist and Nobel Prize laureate * Sethus Calvisius – German music theorist, composer, chronologer, astronomer and teacher of the late Renaissance * Otto Crusius – German classical scholar * Johann August Ernesti – German theologian and philologist * Georg Fabricius – German poet, historian and archaeologist * Johann Matthias Gesner – German classical scholar and schoolmaster, an ardent enthusiast of Johann Sebastian Bach * Moritz Hauptmann – German composer and writer, 6th Cantor (church) of the Thomanerchor after Bach * Sebastian Knüpfer – German Baroque composer, 3rd Thomaskantor before Bach * Johann Kuhnau – German Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist, immediate predecessor as Thomaskantor before Bach * August Leskien – German linguist *

Johann Adam Hiller Johann Adam Hiller (25 December 1728 – 16 June 1804) was a German composer, conducting, conductor and writer on music, regarded as the creator of the Singspiel, an early form of German opera. In many of these operas he collaborated with the poet ...

– German Classical and Romantic composer, conductor and writer on music, 3rd Thomaskantor after Bach, first Kapellmeister of the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig * Rudolf Hildebrand – Germanist * Johann Rosenmüller – German Baroque composer * Günther Ramin – influential German organist, conductor, composer, pedagogue, and 12th Thomaskantor after Bach * Georg Rhau – German publisher and composer, first Thomaskantor after church became Protestant, led the Thomanerchor in the opening Mass of the Leipzig Debate, published last known

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Hymnbook during

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

's lifetime * Ernst Richter – German musical theorist, 8th Thomaskantor after Bach and the immediate predecessor to the post of Wilhelm Rust * Wilhelm Rust – German musicologist, conductor, and composer, 9th Thomaskantor after Bach * Johann Hermann Schein – German composer and hymnist of the early Baroque era * Johann Gottfried Schicht – German composer and conductor, 5th Thomaskantor after Bach * Karl Straube – German church musician, organist, choral conductor, and teacher, 11th Thomaskantor after Bach, a friend and champion of Max Reger, instructor at the Leipzig Conservatory, and one of the teachers of Karl Richter (conductor); succeeded to the post of Thomaskantor by Günther Ramin * Jakob Thomasius – German academic philosopher and jurist * Christian Theodor Weinlig – German music teacher, composer and choir conductor *

Ernst Windisch Ernst Wilhelm Oskar Windisch (4 September 1844, Dresden30 October 1918, Leipzig) was a German classical philologist and comparative linguist who specialised in Sanskrit, Celtic and Indo-European studies. In his student days at the University o ...

– German scholar and celticist * Gustav Ernst Schreck – German composer, music teacher, choirmaster, 1983 Thomaskantor

References

* *

Bibliography

* Franz Kemmerling: ''Die Thomasschule zu Leipzig. Eine kurze Geschichte von ihrer Gründung 1212 bis zum Jahre 1227.'' Teubner,Leipzig 1927. * Michael Maul: ''„Dero berühmbter Chor“: Die Leipziger Thomasschule und ihre Kantoren 1212–1804.'' Lehmstedt, Leipzig 2012, ISBN 978-3-942473-24-8. * Corinna Wörner: ''Zwischen Anpassung und Resistenz. Der Thomanerchor Leipzig in zwei politischen Systemen.'' Studien und Materialien zur Musikwissenschaft, Bd. 123. Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim 2023
(Abstract)
ISBN 978-3-487-16232-4.

External links

Thomasschule zu Leipzig

Thomasschule
{{Authority control 1212 establishments in Europe Boarding schools in Germany Education in Leipzig Educational institutions established in the 13th century Gymnasiums in Germany Music schools in Germany Buildings and structures in Leipzig Schools in Saxony