TRADITION AND HISTORY
OF THE CHORHERREN FOUNDATION
The Chorherren Foundation of St. Thomas’s harkens back to the monastery of Augustinian canons in Leipzig, established by Margrave Dietrich of Meissen in 1212. The twelve canons (“Chorherren” in German) lived as a monastic community by the rule of Augustine (354-430) and also offered pastoral care and counselling. The monastery of St. Thomas developed into a place of public education. It was the origin of the still ongoing musical and educational tradition of the THOMANA, the triad of St. Thomas Church, St. Thomas Boys Choir and St. Thomas School. The monastery also gained economic relevance through its ownership of land and property which was increased by endowments and a well-planned acquisition policy.
On 2nd December 1409, the University of Leipzig was founded at the St. Thomas monastery. This started a phase of close cooperation between the monastery and the university. St. Thomas School, the university and later St. Nicholas School turned Leipzig into the centre of education in Middle Germany. With the introduction of the Reformation in Leipzig in 1539, St. Thomas monastery was taken over by the citizenry and continued as a civic institution to follow its educational and social mission as well as its musical tradition.
Following the Bachfest on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach’s death on 28th July 2000, St. Thomas Church, St. Thomas Boys Choir, Bach Archive Leipzig and the sponsoring association Thomaskirche-Bach as well as the City of Leipzig formed a community of interests. The urgent objective to secure permanent funding for the yearly Bachfest Leipzig led to the idea of establishing a capital foundation. Thus in 2001, the Chorherren Foundation of St. Thomas’s was established. By now, 42 Honorary Fellows are members of the Convent of the foundation. For many years, the Chorherren Foundation of St. Thomas’s has used its proceeds to facilitate church music performed by excellent ensembles and soloists in the masses, motets and services during the Bachfest.
Furthermore, the foundation acquired and renovated the villa thomana on Sebastian-Bach-Straße 3 and thereby laid the groundwork for the education campus forum thomanum. The foundation supports the activities of the forum thomanum on a yearly basis. During the Covid crisis, the foundation funded the payment for self-employed musicians performing in services, motets and concerts. The Chorherren Foundation of St. Thomas’s is one of the most successful foundations in the city of Leipzig.