Bach’s Organ World

Tour of Germany
July 20-31, 2009 (12 days, 10 nights)
Preliminary Itinerary

Monday, July 20 Departure

Arrive at New York’s JFK International Airport at least two hours in advance of
the group scheduled flight time to check in for your non-stop overnight flight to Berlin,
Germany.

Tuesday, July 21 Arrival/Dresden

“Guten Tag” and welcome to Germany! Morning arrival at Berlin’s Tegel Airport.
After claiming your luggage and clearing customs, you will be met by your English-
speaking German tour escort (who’ll be with you throughout the tour) and taken to
your private motorcoach. Transfer to the Saxon capital of Dresden where you’ll stay for
three nights. Check-in to your hotel upon arrival.
Group dinner and overnight in Dresden.

Wednesday, July 22 Dresden

After breakfast you’ll have a guided tour of Dresden. Long considered a
Kunststadt (City of Art) along the graceful Elbe River, most of the city was reduced to
rubble by the Allied air raid of February 13,
1945. Neglected during the days of
Communist occupation, much of Dresden’s
glorious architecture was reconstructed in
advance of the city’s 800th anniversary in 2006.
During your walking tour you’ll see some of
the city’s highlights. The elegant Zwinger is a
palatial complex that was once home to
Augustus (II) the Strong, Duke of Saxony and
King of Poland (and a famous patron of the
arts). You’ll visit the baroque Hofkirche
(Church of the Court), the largest Catholic
church in Saxony, which was built in response to the building of the Protestant
Frauenkirche in 1743. While there, you may have the chance to hear an organ recital or
public rehearsal on the Hofkirche’s carefully restored organ, the last instrument built by
the renowned organ builder Gottfried Silbermann.

Thursday, July 23 Dresden

Breakfast at your hotel.
Today, there may be the option to visit to an organ builder (e.g. Jehmlich in
Dresden; Eule in Bautzen; or Gross in Waditz) to see first-hand the process of restoring
an historical organ. Group lunch, with the balance of the afternoon and evening free.
Some options you may want to visit during leisure time:

155 W. 72nd Street, Suite 302, New York, NY 10023

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 • the gloriously restored Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), bombed in 1945 and left
in ruins for decades as a monument to the horrors of war;
• the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Painting Gallery of Old Masters) inside the Zwinger
to see the highlight of the collection, Raphael’s Sistine Madonna, as well as
Italian, Venetian, Spanish, French, Dutch, Flemish, and German paintings from
the 14th through 18th centuries;
• the majestic Semper Opera House;
• the Grünes Gewölbe (Green Vaults), considered one of the most impressive
treasuries in Europe;
• the Brühlsche Terrasse to relax and have a coffee.

Friday, July 24 Leipzig

After breakfast, check out of your hotel and depart to Leipzig. En route, you’ll
have a stop in Pomßen to see Saxony’s oldest organ (built in 1570) in the centuries-old
Romanesque church, Wehrkirche.
Leipzig is a grand city of German culture. It has always been a major musical
center: Johann Sebastian Bach is, of course, closely associated with the city, as are Felix
Mendelssohn and Richard Wagner (born here in 1813).
Leipzig is also home to one of Germany’s most
important universities and has long been a center for
publishing and trade. East Germany’s peaceful
revolution in the fall of 1989 began in Leipzig.
After checking into your hotel, you’ll take a
walking tour of Bach’s Leipzig, including the
Thomaskirche, where the monumental composer served
as chief organist and director of music for the last 27
years of his life; and the baroque Nikolaikirche, another
of Bach’s posts and the site for the premiere of his St.
John Passion and other works. You may have the
opportunity to attend a Motette at the Thomaskirche
(scheduled Fridays at 6:00 pm and Saturdays at 3:00
pm). In the evening take a stroll down Barfussgaesschen
(Barefoot Alley), a pedestrian area lined with restaurants
and pubs, some of which have been here for centuries.

Saturday, July 25 Leipzig

Breakfast at your hotel. You’ll have the opportunity to delve into the Bach
Archives in Leipzig this morning. Some of you may choose to explore other facets of
Leipzig on your own: visit the Mendelssohn House, where that composer stayed in
Leipzig while bringing about the important revival of Bach’s music, or simply enjoy a
stroll through Leipzig’s bustling streets, lined with bistros, shops and cafés. Be sure to
stop in the baroque cafe-restaurant Zum Arabischen Coffe Baum, which opened its doors
in 1694 and served as a meeting place for many notable figures (including Robert
Schumann, Richard Wagner, and Goethe) through the years.
This afternoon your trip to Naumburg will include visits to the Stadtkirche St.
Wenzel with its magnificent Hildebrandt organ (the largest instrument he built), and the
Naumburg Cathedral with its 13th century Stifterfiguren (Founders’ Statues).

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 Late afternoon/early evening return to Leipzig, where you’ll have dinner at the
famous Auerbachs Keller restaurant, immortalized in Goethe’s Faust. The balance of the
evening is free.

Sunday, July 26 Leipzig

Time available this morning to attend a church service.
You’ll then have the option to visit the Museum of Musical
Instruments of the University of Leipzig at the Grassimuseen.
Then depart for an excursion along the back roads of Saxony
to smaller towns where you’ll see some of Germany’s
precious, but lesser known, historical organs dating back to
Bach’s days. The Schlosskirche in Altenburg houses an organ
built by Heinrich Trost, and played by Bach in 1739. Eule
restored it in the mid-1970s. Störmthal’s village church holds a
Hildebrandt organ still in its original condition.
Return to Leipzig, with the balance of the day at leisure.

Monday, July 27 Halle/Wittenberg

Breakfast at the hotel, then check out and depart
Leipzig. On the way to Wittenberg, you’ll stop in Halle, the
birthplace of Georg Friedrich Handel. The city is known
internationally for its music and festivals. Its musical
reputation is not based solely on Handel; other renowned musicians closely connected
with Halle include Samuel Scheidt, Johann Fiedrich Reichardt, Carl Loewe and Robert
Franz. The Halle Philharmonic Orchestra, the Händel Festival Orchestra, the Halle
Madrigalists, the Robert Franz Choral Academy and the City Choir of Halle, one of the
oldest boy's choirs in Germany, carry on this musical tradition. You’ll see the
Marktkirche where Friedemann Bach was organist, and visit the Händelhaus museum.
Afternoon arrival in Wittenberg, best known as a key town of the Protestant
Reformation initiated by Martin Luther. It was on the doors of the Castle Church here
that, in 1517, Luther pinned up his famous 95 Articles condemning some practices of
the Roman Catholic Church. Though the original Castle Church burned down in 1760,
the rebuilt church contains the text, cast in bronze in 1855. Martin Luther's tomb is also
here.
Dinner and overnight in Wittenberg.

Tuesday, July 28 Berlin

Breakfast at your hotel and check out. If time permits, you may want to visit the
Lutherhalle to see in authentic detail how Martin Luther lived his everyday life before
departing Wittenberg. Next stop is the village of Belzig, for a visit to the Marienkirche
with its Papenius organ. Some free time in Belzig, with lunch on your own. Continue
on for a late afternoon arrival to your final tour destination, Germany’s capital city of
Berlin.
One of Europe’s largest metropolitan areas (with a population of 4 million),
Berlin can be easily navigated by its well-planned public transportation system. The city
was divided until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. While the disparities between the
former Eastern and Western halves are still apparent in some instances, the spirit of
unification is evidenced by recently completed restoration and construction projects.

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Panoramic city tour en route to your hotel, followed by check-in with the balance of the
day at leisure. Group dinner tonight.

Wednesday, July 29 Berlin

After breakfast, you’ll enjoy a half-day guided tour of the city including: the
Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate), regarded by many as the unofficial city symbol;
the Reichstag (Parliament); the site of Checkpoint Charlie and its nearby museum
(exhibiting artifacts from the city’s post WWII period); a fragment of the notorious
Berlin Wall; Die Siegessäule (Victory Column); the Tiergarten (Berlin's largest park);
Gendarmenmarkt (Berlin's most beautiful square) and Potsdamer Platz (Potsdam Square,
the old and new center of Berlin). Entrance to the
Berliner Dom included, perhaps with an organ
recital.
After the official tour, you can continue to
explore this fascinating city on your own. You may
want to visit one of the many worthwhile outdoor
options: the new Holocaust Museum which
incorporates over 5 acres “inspired by an Iowa
cornfield”; the Berlin Zoo or the Botanical Gardens,
each among Europe’s finest. For a true Berlin
experience, stroll down the Kurfürstendamm (Ku’damm) or the fashionable Unter den
Linden, the most notable street in the markedly Prussian area of Berlin-Mitte. Visit one
or more of Berlin’s many fine museums: the Gemäldegalerie; the Neue Nationalgalerie; the
Antikensammlung or the Pergamon Museums; the Ägyptisches Museum and Bodemuseum. If
you want to learn more about the cultural and architectural history of Berlin, tour the
Märkisches Museum. The Nikolaiviertal, rebuilt in time for Berlin’s 750th anniversary in
1987, offers a 16th century view of the city; its shops, taverns, and churches flank the
winding streets along the banks of the Spree River.
Group dinner this evening.

Thursday, July 30 Brandenburg/Berlin

Breakfast at the hotel. You’ll then venture out into the Brandenburg “organ
landscape” with visits to the towns of Brandenburg an der Havel and Tangermünde.
The Cathedral in Brandenburg (also known as Dom St. Peter und Paul) was built on the
site of an old Slavic castle, Hevellerburg, and holds a marvelous Wagner organ. In
Tangermünde you will find one of the oldest instruments of your tour: the 1624 Scherer
organ at St. Stephen’s Church (Stephanskirche). This late Gothic parish church was built c.
1376, but incorporates remains of an earlier Romanesque church. In addition to the
organ, other notable features of the interior are the pulpit (1619), the bronze font (by H.
Mente, 1508), and a number of monuments from the 15th to 19th centuries.
Later today you’ll return to Berlin for a festive farewell dinner at a fine local
restaurant.

Friday, July 31 Flight Home

Breakfast at your hotel. Then check out and transfer to Tegel Airport for your
return non-stop flight to JFK Airport.
Welcome Home!

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