Churches & Cemeteries

12.00 noon

Guided tour (in German): "Memento Mori. Sterben und der Tod im Paulinum" with Alicia Opitz and Nicola Sommer (art history students)

Skulls, bones and grim reapers - about the meaning of the symbolism of death in the memorial paintings in the university auditorium

Meeting point: Altar area of the Paulinum, entrance via the foyer of the Neues Augusteum, Augustusplatz 10

19.15

"Lebendige Friedhöfe” tour (in German)

You can expect exciting and informative facts about the cemetery not only as a place of decay, but also as a place of life.

Meeting point: Südfriedhof, west entrance Friedhofsweg 3

20.30

Bat stations with information (in German) about bats and their protection, followed by bat tracking

The Leipzig Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU), the Leipzig Nature Conservation Institute and the Borna-Birkenhain Ecostation jointly offer various insights into the world of the small fluttering animals. At the end of the evening, we invite you to explore the southern cemetery equipped with bat detectors.

Meeting point: Columbarium (the previous tour "Lebendige Friedhöfe” ends here)

15.00-16.00 and 16.30-17.30

Guided tours (in German): "Gräber, Grüfte und Geschichte(n)"

A cemetery to stroll through, a park full of gravestones - the Old Johannis Cemetery in Leipzig is both. Many famous personalities are associated with it. The guided tour follows in the footsteps of Johann Sebastian Bach, Richard Wagner's parents, Goethe's lover and the founder of the German allotment garden movement.

Meeting point: second inner courtyard of the neighbouring Grassi Museums, passageway to Johannisfriedhof.

18.00 - 19.30 (admission 17.30) and 21.00 - 22.30 (admission 20.30)

Concert: "STARLIGHTS LIVE - The big church organ show"

Nico Wieditz (And One & Condition One) is a rebel of church music who combines different musical genres on the organ in a surprising way: from pop and rock to classical music to the greatest film scores and musicals, accompanied by a witty moderation.

After the inspiring performances of the last two years, you can once again expect a WGT special with unusual versions of great melodies, including those by The KLF, The Cure, Faithless, The Prodigy, Depeche Mode, Marianne Rosenberg, as well as film classics and "evergreens" from rock and pop and, above all, lots of fun.

19.00

33rd Festival of Medieval and Renaissance Music
Concert with vocal and instrumental soloists of the Capella Fidicinia Leipzig, conductor: Martin Krumbiegel

Noel Bauldeweyn (ca. 1480 – ca. 1540): Missa "Da pacem Domine" as well as works by Guillaume Dufay, Heinrich Finck, Martin Luther, Caspar Othmayr and Hans Leo Hassler, among others

16.00 - 17.00

Tour and lecture (in German): "Friedhofsgeflüster" with the Schwarze Witwe
Meeting point: forecourt of the ceremonial hall

"Von Unruhfedern und Tröstelbier"
The "Cemetery Whispers" with the Black Widow invites you back to the Südfriedhof to listen to tales of old, bizarre and touching customs. The charming lady from 1898 will tell you what was done in earlier centuries to make dying a little easier. You will find out what turning over shingles, moving furniture and dropping clothes had to do with dying. What did a funeral look like back then? What is the so-called "Tröstelbier" and why was the funeral feast banned?

11.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.

The mourning halls and crematorium are open for viewing.

Roland Krawulsky (Dark Art Studios) presents photos from his series "Beauty & Death" with pictures of European cemeteries in the colonnade in front of the funeral halls.

16.00 in the main chapel

Choir concert for Pentecost with the Leipzig-Nord male choir
Conductor: Matthias Domsgen

The program includes works by Leo Haßler, Friedrich Silcher, Franz Schubert and Jakobus Gallus as well as some folk songs.

16.00 - 17.00

Tour and lecture (in German): "Friedhofsgeflüster" with the Schwarze Witwe
Meeting point: forecourt of the ceremonial hall

"Von Wiedergängern und Nachzehrern"
Immerse yourself in the superstitious world of our ancestors with the Black Widow. The great fear that the deceased loved one would not find peace and would return again and again as a ghost or the undead drove our ancestors to take unusual measures. The likeable lady from the 19th century explains what moving doorsteps, death doors or peas have to do with this. She also gets to the bottom of the question of why some children are born wearing caps.

14.00

Concert: Ashram - Neoclassical music from Naples

The trio emerged in June 1997 from a collaboration between singer Sergio Panarella and pianist Luigi Rubino, which was later completed by violinist Alfredo Notarloberti. In 1999, the band recorded their first demo - "For My Sun". In 2001 they received their first record deal with the French label Prikos-novenie, in 2006 the second album "Shining Silver Skies" was released on the label Equilibrium Mu-sic and in 2017 the latest work "Human And Divine" was released.

The musicians of Ashram compose hauntingly beautiful pieces that are reminiscent of the classical music of the early 20th century.

16.00 - 17.30 (Admission 15.00)

Concert: Janus - acoustic

Janus play their complete chamber music repertoire in the sublime ambience of Peterskirche with its special acoustics. The emotional performances of the Janus quartet always create an entertaining combination of tongue-in-cheek closeness to the audience and virtuoso, melancholy and intense performances by the four musicians, some of which are spontaneous improvisations.

18.00 - 19.00

Concert: Vkgoeswild - Dark elegance on the piano

Under the name Vkgoeswild, pianist Viktoriya Yermolyeva transforms the raw energy of Alternative, Metal and Gothic music into powerful solo piano interpretations. Classically trained yet rebelliously untamed, she combines the worlds of high art and subcultural passion. For the WGT, she presents a selection of intense, atmospheric interpretations of pieces by Black Sabbath, Nine Inch Nails, Bauhaus, Metallica and Massive Attack, among others. You can expect a performance where melancholy meets intensity and distorted guitar sounds are transformed into vibrations of piano strings, where silence can be louder than noise.

14.00 - 15.00

Tour and lecture (in German): "Friedhofsgeflüster" with the Schwarze Witwe
Meeting point: forecourt of the ceremonial hall

"Von Leichenfett und Totenhänden"
For centuries, corpses were considered miraculous and healing. This entertaining tour with the "Black Widow" explains what corpse fat and corpse hands helped against, what membra virilia and mumia are and what the executioner has to do with all of this.