The old Bach Monument, St. Thomas Church

The old Bach monument is located in the green areas on the Dittrichring, southwest of the St. Thomas Church, opposite building number 8. It is the world's oldest monument to Johann Sebastian Bach and was seeded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.

The idea of erecting a monument in honour of the former St. Thomas choirmaster in Leipzig was first formulated by Mendelssohn in a letter in 1838 with the words: "J. S. Bach was a capital fellow. We want to have a small memorial erected here in front of the St. Thomas School for him." Much of the money needed was collected through three charity concerts, including a concert at the Gewandhaus with the Gewandhaus Orchestra.

The sandstone monument with its four-sided relief shows different motifs of Bach. Herrmann Knaur, a Leipzig sculptor, built it according to the design by Eduard Bendemann, Ernst Rietschel and Julius Hübner. The inauguration took place on 23 April 1843 near the St. Thomas School.