Gewandhaus, Mendelssohn-Saal
Gewandhaus zu Leipzig
The Gewandhaus Orchestra owes its name to the place where it first performed, the hall opened in 1781 above the cloth store of the building of the clothmakers’ guild (Gewandhaus) in the historic Neumarkt. Just over a century later, on 11 December 1884, the New Gewandhaus, designed by the architects Martin Gropius and Heinrich Schmieden was officially opened in the »music quarter« of the city, opposite the University Library, earning praise for its outstanding acoustic qualities and the visual appeal of its inspired architecture. On 20 February 1944, it was badly damaged in an air raid and never rebuilt; the burned-out, shored up ruins were eventually demolished in 1968. For 35 years, the Conference Hall at the Zoo served as the base for the Gewandhaus Orchestra until, on 8 October 1981, the (second) New Gewandhaus was inaugurated on Karl-Marx-Platz (now renamed Augustusplatz) after a construction period of four years. In addition to the large hall with seating for almost 2000, the building has a smaller hall seating around 500 which, following renovations at the end of 1997, was named the Mendelssohn Hall.
Address
Augustusplatz 8
04109 Leipzig
accessible to wheelchair users
Public transport
Tram lines 4, 7, 15, 16 (Augustusplatz stop)
Traffic information via the Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe: https://www.l.de/en/mobility/trip-planner/
