Gewandhaus

From 1781, the home of the Gewandhaus Orchestra (the third building under that historical name). In 1743, sixteen merchants established a Concert Society and a sixteen-strong orchestra, which initially performed at the Three Swans Inn on the Brühl. From 1781, concerts were held in a concert hall built on the second floor (with a splendid acoustic) in the building of the former arsenal on Kupfergäßchen (now Kupferstrasse), which, after the first floor had been turned into a covered market for cloth traders, changed its name to Gewandhaus (Cloth Hall). In 1884, when a new seat for the orchestra was built in the Music District on Grassistraße (Beethovenstraße), the old building was renamed the Old (first) Gewandhaus and was soon converted into a department store. Edvard Grieg often led performances of his works in both the orchestral halls. The New (second) Gewandhaus was built to a design by Martin Gropius and was heavily damaged by bombing in 1943 and 1944. The decision was taken not to rebuild it, and in 1977 the foundation stone was laid beneath another (third) Gewandhaus, on what is now Augustusplatz (no. 8), opposite the Leipzig Opera House, which opened in 1981.