Guide to Bach Tour

Contents

Description | Events in Life History of J.S. Bach | Performance Dates of J.S. Bach’s Vocal Works | Features of Interest | Information & Links | Photos | Maps

Description & History

Ohrdruf is a small town (6,100 inhabitants) in Thuringia, situated on the northern edge of the Thuringian Forest. Its origins date back to the period around 724/725 AD when St. Boniface was engaged in missionary work in Thuringia. In 777 AD Bishop Lullus consecrated St. Peter’s Church on the right bank of the River Ohra. In the 19^th century leading manufacturers of porcelein, dolls and toys made Ohrdruf a centre of the toy industry.

After the death of his parents, J.S. Bach came to Ohrdruf and lived in the house of his 14 years eider brother Johann Christoph who was organist at the Michaelis Church. Together with his brother Johann Jakob and his cousin Johann Ernst he attended the Latin School, a highly looked on educational establishment at the time in the Dukedom of Saxony-Gotha, and sang in the school choir whose job it was to perform in the Ehrenstein Palace and "Kurrende" singing. He learned to play the organ under the guidance of his brother. As an anecdote reports, he must have been a pupil with a great thirst for knowledge: "The enthusiasm of our little Johann Sebastian for music was already immense at this tender age. Within a short time he had all the pieces which his bother had given him to learn voluntarily completely in the hand." Only one of the books with compositions by Pachelbel and other famous composers was kept back from him by his brother. Johann Sebastian secretly fished it out at nights from the locked barred door with his small hands and copied it by the light of the moon. The home of the three Bach brothers fell victim to a large fire in 1753. At this time Johann Andreas Bach was organist at the Michaelis Church. Further members of the family took over this office afterwards, such as Johann Christoph Georg Bach and Ernst Carl Gottfried Bach.

Events in Life History of J.S. Bach

Date/Year	Event
Eisenach & Ohrdruf (1685-1700)
Oct 23, 1694	Wedding of brother Johann Christoph in Ohrdruf; Ambrosius Bach, Johann Pachelbel & others peform
1695	J.S. Bach, orphaned at age 10, and his brother Johann Jacob (13) join the household of their oldest brother, Johann Christoph Bach, in Ohrdruf
1695	Enrolment in Lyceum, Ohrdruf (studied there until 1700)

Performance Dates of J.S. Bach’s Vocal Works: None.

Features of Interest

Information & Links

Historic Market Square: with Engelsbrunnen fountain and Town Hall
Ehrenstein Palace: this four-winged Renaissance building houses the Ohrdruf Municipal Museum, Archives and library. Traditional concerts are held regularly in the Rococo Chamber and the palace courtyard.
Church of the Holy Trinity: consecrated on June 17, 1714
Sichhof Chapel: with the altar from the former Palace Chapel dating from the late 15^th century; the family progenitor Johann Christoph Bach played the organ here at the consecration ceremony in the 17^th century.
The Tobias Hammer: a monument to technology. First mentioned in 1482. It is now the last of some 40 hammer works and mills located along c.8km of the River Ohra.

Ohrdruf-Information
Marktplatz 1
D-99885 Ohrdruf
Tel.: +49-3624-3300 / Fax: +49-3624-313634
Website: Stadt Ohrdruf (Official Website) [German]

Cityreview: Thüringen > Ohrdruf [German]
Ohrdruf [German]
Ohrdruf (Meinestadt) [German]

Ohrdruf 1695-1700 (Koster)
The J.S. Bach Tourist 3: Ohrdruf (Koster)
On the Traces of J.S Bach: Ohrdruf (German Tourism) [German/English]
J.S. Bach Biographie: Ohrdruf 1695-1700 (Schlu) [German]
J.S. Bach Education & Career: Ohrdruf 1695-1700 (T.A. Smith)
J.S. Bach Biography: Childhood (Carolina Classical)

Prepared by Aryeh Oron (October 2003 – March 2004)

Back to the Top

Last update: ýAugust 24, 2004 ý21:19:03