The St. Thomas Church () is a Lutheran church in Leipzig, Germany, located at the western part of the inner city ring road in Leipzig's central district. Martin Luther preached in the church in 1539. It is associated with several well-known composers, especially Johann Sebastian Bach, who was its Thomaskantor (music director) from 1723 until his death in 1750. The church holds his remains.
Although rebuilt over the centuries and damaged by Allied incendiary bombs in 1943, the church mainly retains the character of a late-Gothic hall church. The Thomanerchor, the church choir, likely founded in 1212, is an internationally known boys' choir.
History
The current property was the site of a church at least since the 12th century. Foundations of a Romanesque building were discovered in the choir and crossing of the current church.
Between 1212 and 1222 the earlier structure became the church of the new St. Thomas college of Augustinian canons founded by Markgraf Dietrich von Meissen. This college later became the core of the University of Leipzig (founded in 1409).
In 1217, the minnesinger Heinrich von Morungen bequeathed to the church a relic of St. Thomas as he entered the order of canons after a trip to India.
In 1355, the Romanesque choir was changed to Gothic style. Following an inflow of wealth into Leipzig from the discovery of silver in the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge), the Romanesque nave was demolished and replaced between 1482 and 1496 by the current late-Gothic hall church.
The current building was consecrated by Thilo of Trotha, the Bishop of Merseburg, on 10 April 1496. During the Reformation it was converted to Lutheranism. The reformer Martin Luther preached here on Pentecost Sunday in 1539. The collegiate buildings were demolished in 1541 following the college's dissolution.
The current church tower was first built in 1537 and rebuilt in 1702. Chapels added in the 17th century and an ante-building along the northern front of the nave with two stairways were removed at the end of the 19th century.
The composer Johann Sebastian Bach was Thomaskantor, director of music, from 1723 until his death in 1750 and taught at its affiliated school. A statue of Bach by the Leipzig sculptor Carl Seffner that stands next to the church was dedicated in 1908.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart played the church organ on one of his European tours in 1789. In 1806, the church served as a munitions depot for the French army. During the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, it was used as a military hospital.
Richard Wagner was baptized here on 16 August 1813. In 1828, he studied piano and counterpoint with the then Thomaskantor, Christian Th. Weinlig.
Most of the Baroque internal trappings of the church known to Bach were removed in a Gothic revival renovation between 1884 and 1889. The pulpit and the main portal in the west facade also date from this period.
During the Nazi era, the church office worked with government officials to identify which congregants were of Sinti-Romani heritage, ultimately leading to the death of certain parishioners at concentration camps.
On 4 December 1943, the tower was damaged in an Allied bombing raid on Leipzig, requiring repair. In 1949 the authorities demolished the St. John Church, also damaged by bombs in 1943, and in 1950 the remains of Johann Sebastian Bach were moved from there to the St. Thomas church.
In the 20th century, sulfur emitted from nearby coal mines, and other pollutants in the atmosphere caused the deterioration of exterior stonework and statuary, and even of interior Gothic paintings. In addition, the roof structure suffered from damage due to insects and moisture. For these reasons, the church was listed in the 2000 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund. Repairs were swiftly undertaken with financial support from the Fund and from American Express.
Repairs on the church in 1961 to 1964 also attempted to emphasize the Gothic hall church character of the building. Another renovation followed in 1991.
From 1993 to 2014, a 15th-century Gothic altar (originally in the St. Paul Church, the church of the University of Leipzig, destroyed in 1968 by the Communist authorities) was located in the St. Thomas Church. It was moved to the new St. Paul Church (2014) and replaced in 2016 with a Gothic-revival altar by Constantin Lipsius made in 1888, which had been removed in 1964.