TOUR TO THE KÖTHEN AUTUMN FESTIVAL (KÖTHENER HERBST)
Leipzig – Köthen (85 km)
This tour will not take place in 2022! Instead we cycle to the Köthener Bachfesttage
Try out Bach by Bike: this short tour begins in Leipzig, where Bach spent a large portion of his life as director of music at St. Thomas, and continues in two cycling stages via Halle on the river Saale to Köthen, where we will attend three concerts and a cantata church service at the Köthen Autumn Festival. Köthen has much to discover about Bach, who worked here for many years as court music director. Immerse yourself in Bach’s life for a short but intensive time: in addition to museums and churches, Köthen has in store for you a baroque evening meal, at which you can indulge in culinary preparation for the evening’s concert.
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ITINERARY
DAY 1, INDIVIDUAL ARRIVAL AND LEIPZIG
We meet at the hotel in Leipzig at 1 pm. In Leipzig, Johann Sebastian Bach spent the second half of his life here. After an extensive tour around the city’s many Bach sites there is an opportunity to visit the Bach Museum. In the evening, we enjoy the excellent cuisine of our hotel together.
DAY 2, LEIPZIG – HALLE A.D. SAALE, 40 KM
In the morning we start cycling, you will receive your rental bike at the hotel, if you booked one. We leave Leipzig behind and cycle along the dikes of the White Elster, including a swimming stop at a lake if the weather is nice, until we reach the city center of Halle. Here, we visit the Museum of the eldest Bach son, Wilhelm Friedemann-Bach-House, and the Handel-House, Handel being one famous Bach contemporary.
DAY 3, HALLE A.D. SAALE – KÖTHEN, 45 KM
We continue to the second stage of the trip to the residential city of Köthen. If the weather allows, we stop off at a lake. We spend the late afternoon discovering Bach’s traces during a tour of the city and will have a special baroque dinner like in Bach`s time. Afterwards, we listen to a concert in the city palace (Spiegelsaal) with sonatas for traverso and harpsichord by J. S. Bach.
DAY 4, KÖTHENER HERBST AND INDIVIDUAL DEPARTURE
We begin the last day of our short tour with a festive cantata service in St. Agnus. At 11.30 am, we visit a second concert of the Köthen Autumn Festival in the chapel of the city palace. We finish our tour with the final concert of the festival in St. Jacob Church at 4 pm with Brandenburg Concertos and Bach cantatas played by Le Concert Lorrain. Afterwards everyone will embark on their individual journey home. Alternatively, you can contact us regarding an additional night in Köthen.
If a festival has to be cancelled due to the pandemic, the tours will naturally be adapted to the situation, we will do our best to provide a replacement programme in cooperation with our many musical partners at the locations, and the discrepancy in the tour price will be refunded.
We have developed a sustainable tour concept and pay our tour guides, musicians and local partners fair wages.
INCLUDED IN THE PRICE:
- 3 nights at mid-range hotels incl. breakfast
- Lunch packs or picnics (on cycling days)
- 2 dinner in Leipzig and Köthen
- Guided tour
- Luggage transport from first to last hotel
- All entrance fees to museums and churches: Bach Museum Leipzig, Handel-House Halle, Wilhelm-Friedemann-Bach-House Halle, City Palace Köthen
- City tours in Leipzig and Köthen
- 3 concerts of Köthen Autumn Festival (Köthener Herbst):
- Saturday, September 4, 2021, 8 pm: Chamber music with Marten Root, traverso and Menno van Delft, harpsichord, Spiegelsaal city palace
- Sunday, September 5, 2021, 11.30 am: N. N. chapel city palace
- Sunday, September 5, 2021, 4 pm: Brandenburg Concertos e. g. with Le Concert Lorrain, Church St. Jakob
- Sheet music and information leaflets on Bach’s compositions
- List of equipment
PRICES:
Double room per Person:
Single room supplement:
Optional extras:
- Rental touring bike or rental e-bike: on request
GROUP SIZE AND MINIMUM NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS:
The minimum number of participants for our tours is 15. If the minimum number is not reached, we reserve the right to withdraw from the tour contract. The corresponding declaration must be sent to you at least 29 days before the scheduled beginning of the tour.
The average group size is approximately 15 to 25 people.
Changes reserved
