Why does the church carry Bach's name?

In the summer of 1703 the town brought in the eighteen-year-old Bach to inspect its brand-new organ, then kept him on as organist until 1707 — his first professional post.

Why did Bach leave Arnstadt?

After complaints about his playing and a disciplinary charge over bringing a "frembde Junfger" into the organ loft, he asked the council to release him from his contract shortly before his wedding at nearby Dornheim in 1707, and left for a post at Mühlhausen.

Can visitors still hear the organ Bach played?

The Wender organ still carries 320 of its original 1,252 pipes, alongside a second instrument built by Steinmeyer in 1913; both were restored between 1997 and 1999.

Church

Bachkirche Arnstadt

About This Site

The Bachkirche gave Johann Sebastian Bach his first professional post: at eighteen, in the summer of 1703, the town brought him in to inspect its brand-new organ, then kept him on as organist for four years.^[1] First documented as the Bonifatiuskirche in 1333,^[2] the church has carried Bach's name ever since.

An organ built for a teenager to test, 1703

The organ builder Johann Friedrich Wender finished the Neue Kirche's new instrument in the summer of 1703, and the town chose the eighteen-year-old Bach to inspect it — a serious commission for someone that age.^[1] He stayed as organist, and for the first time an organ was entirely his to use: as good a place as any to date the start of his life as a composer.

A strange young woman in the loft, 1703–1707

Bach's four years here were not smooth. The consistory recorded complaints about his playing — frequent modulation, dissonant accompanying chords the congregation could not follow — and, separately, that he had brought a "frembde Junfger" up into the organ loft to make music, a charge historians usually connect to Maria Barbara Bach, his cousin and later his wife.^[1] He asked the council to release him from his contract shortly before their wedding at nearby Dornheim in 1707, and left for a post at Mühlhausen.

The organ today, restored 1997–1999

The Wender organ still carries 320 of its original 1,252 pipes; a second instrument, built by Steinmeyer in 1913, stands alongside it. Both were restored between 1997 and 1999.^[3]

Questions visitors ask

Why does the church carry Bach's name?: In the summer of 1703 the town brought in the eighteen-year-old Bach to inspect its brand-new organ, then kept him on as organist until 1707 — his first professional post.^[1]
Why did Bach leave Arnstadt?: After complaints about his playing and a disciplinary charge over bringing a "frembde Junfger" into the organ loft, he asked the council to release him from his contract shortly before his wedding at nearby Dornheim in 1707, and left for a post at Mühlhausen.^[1]
Can visitors still hear the organ Bach played?: The Wender organ still carries 320 of its original 1,252 pipes, alongside a second instrument built by Steinmeyer in 1913; both were restored between 1997 and 1999.^[3]