St. Nicholas' Church, Leipzig

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St. Nicholas Church, Leipzig

The St. Nikolaikirche (St. Nicholas Church) has long been one of the most famous in Leipzig, and rose to national fame with the Monday Demonstrations in 1989 when it became the centre of the revolution.

The church was built around 1165 when Leipzig, or St. Nicholas's City was founded. It is named after St. Nicholas, the patron saint of merchants and wholesalers and is situated in the very heart of the city on the corner of two historically important trade roads. It is built partially in the Romanesque style but was extended and enlarged in the early 16th century with a more Gothic style. The interior was remodelled by German architect Johann Carl Friedrich Dauthe in the neoclassical style. The church has been a Protestant seat since 1539 after the Protestant Reformation, but the Catholic Church is allowed to use it too.

The church saw the first performance of the Johannes Passion by J.S. Bach on Good Friday in 1724.

Organ of the St. Nicholas Church.

The church organ is one of the best examples of the 'romantic' style of organ-building in Europe and was updated with pneumatic action in the early 20th century. More recently the church has been struggling to find the funds for interior restorations which have been ongoing since 1968. The church's current administration consists of Bernhard Stief.

“	There was no head of the revolution. The head was the Nikolaikirche and the body the centre of the city. There was only one leadership: Monday, 5 P.M., the Nikolaikirche.	”
—Cabaret artist Bernd-Lutz Lange, ^[1]

[edit] References

^ The rise and fall of the German Democratic Republic, 1945-1990, by Mike Dennis, Longman, 2000. p.278 ISBN 0582245621

Tower of the Nikolai Church	Sanctuary of the Nikolai Church	Nikolai Church column detail	Painting by Adam Friedrich Oeser
Stamp of the Monday demonstrations