Bosehaus

The Bosehaus is a historic Baroque townhouse on the south side of the Thomaskirchhof in Leipzig. It adjoins the south entrance of the famous St. Thomas Church and encloses a rectangular courtyard with its four wings. The architecture of the four-story front building is defined by a round-arched oriel window, flat pilaster strips, and three dormers. On the ground floor, you will find groin vaults, which are supported by columns in the entrance area. Particularly remarkable is the so-called Summer Hall (Sommersaal) in the rear building, which has an oval, raised ceiling section with a ceiling painting. This special construction creates unique acoustic effects that make the room a popular venue for concerts and even civil wedding ceremonies.

The history of the property is closely interwoven with the musical history of the city. As early as 1710, the merchant Georg Heinrich Bose had the house thoroughly remodeled to meet the modern standards of his time. When Johann Sebastian Bach moved into the neighboring St. Thomas School in 1723, a close friendship developed between the Bose and Bach families, expressed among other things through several baptismal sponsorships. Bach was a regular guest in the house. In the 18th century, the building also housed a significant art collection belonging to the Richter family, which was visited by prominent figures such as Goethe and Wieland. After various uses, including a private museum of music history and restaurants, the Bach scholar Werner Neumann recognized the site's value as a museum in 1970.

Today the Bosehaus is home to the Bach Museum and the Bach Archive. After a comprehensive reconstruction that largely restored the Baroque state of the building, the museum opened in 1985 on the 300th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach's birth. The exhibition now features modern, interactive, and multimedia elements that bring the composer's life and work to life. In addition to the exhibition space on the ground floor and the second floor, the Bach Archive uses the upper floors for its extensive library. You can explore the house's historic ambience, tour the restored rooms, and linger in the newly designed garden or in the museum café.