［CITY］
Köthen … Germany
［SCHEDULE］
2026：8.30 … 9.6（Held every other year）
To the festival site ▷
About 50 km from Leipzig and about an hour by bus, Köthen is a small town with a population of less than 30,000. However, the city is well known to music fans as Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750) was responsible for the court music. Köthen Castle, where he worked, is now a museum, and the “Mirror Palace”, which was the venue for the performance, and the court chapel that hosted the wedding, have been renovated and opened to the public.
It was in 1717 that Bach was invited to Anhalt-Katen Leopold and moved to the city. Bach spent the city from the age of 32 to 38 until he headed to Leipzig, his last place in May 1723. It is in this city that he lost his first wife, Maria Barbara, and remarried Anna Magdalena. In this city, he also created masterpieces such as Brandenburg concertos and instrumental works without accompaniment.
The music festival was founded in 1967 during the former East Germany period. Held once every two years and lasts for about a week. The small music festival made its first leap at the start after Hans Georg Schaefer became the general director. He was the former general manager of the Berliner Philharmoniker and Ansbach’s Bach Week.
After then Authorities of Bach performances such as John Eliot Gardiner, Ton Koopman, Philippe Herreweghe, etc. have appeared one after another, and have grown into a presence that is also recognized by the general public. In 2016 the general director was retired, but “BachCollektiv” was founded as a resident ensemble. The venues include St. Jacob Church, St. Agnus Church, and Bach Hall that was born in Köthen Castle.
