Neue Bachgesellschaft
The Neue Bachgesellschaft is a Leipzig-based organization dedicated to preserving, studying, performing, and promoting the music and legacy of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
The Neue Bachgesellschaft, or New Bach Society, is a German cultural and scholarly organization devoted to the music and legacy of Johann Sebastian Bach. Based in Leipzig, a city closely associated with Bach’s professional life and later an important center of Bach scholarship, the society was established in 1900 as the successor to the Bach Gesellschaft. The predecessor organization had been founded in the nineteenth century and completed the first collected edition of Bach’s works, known as the Bach-Ausgabe, between 1850 and 1900. With that editorial undertaking completed, the original society dissolved and the Neue Bachgesellschaft was created to continue the broader cultural, educational, and scholarly promotion of Bach rather than to function primarily as a score-publishing body. At its establishment, the Neue Bachgesellschaft adopted three principal long-term projects. The first was the publication of the Bach-Jahrbuch, an annual scholarly yearbook devoted to Bach research and related subjects. The yearbook became an important forum for musicological studies, source analysis, historical research, and discussion of performance and reception. The second project was the organization of Bachfeste, or Bach festivals. These festivals were initially held biennially and are now generally organized annually, bringing together performers, scholars, audiences, and Bach enthusiasts. Although the festivals have mainly taken place in German cities, the society’s activities have also reflected Bach’s international cultural reach. The 2012 festival, for example, had a cross-border character and was held in Görlitz and Zgorzelec on the German-Polish border. The society’s third founding project was the creation of a museum dedicated to Bach. In 1907 it opened the first museum devoted to the composer in Eisenach, the town traditionally identified as Bach’s birthplace. This institution developed into the Bachhaus Eisenach, one of the best-known Bach museums and visitor centers. The museum is operated by Bachhaus Eisenach gemeinnützige GmbH, a charitable company whose sole associate is the Neue Bachgesellschaft. Through this relationship, the society maintains a direct institutional connection with public interpretation, collections, exhibitions, and educational work relating to Bach. The Neue Bachgesellschaft has also played a role in the continuation of Bach’s complete-edition tradition, although it did not itself publish scores in the same manner as the Bach Gesellschaft. In 1950, it recommended that a second complete edition of Bach’s music be undertaken. This led to the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, or New Bach Edition, a major editorial project carried out by musicologists in Göttingen in West Germany and Leipzig in East Germany. The collaboration was especially significant in the context of the Cold War: it presented Bach’s music as a shared German and European cultural inheritance that could not appropriately be divided by political borders. Today, the society’s identity combines scholarship, performance culture, heritage preservation, museum stewardship, and public education. Its activities are centered on Bach’s compositions and biography, but they also support the wider transmission of historical knowledge about eighteenth-century music, instruments, institutions, worship, and performance practice. The organization is therefore best understood not as a commercial consumer brand but as a cultural and professional society whose public profile is expressed through festivals, publications, museum activity, research support, and international engagement with Bach’s work.
History
The Neue Bachgesellschaft was founded in 1900 in Leipzig as the successor to the Bach Gesellschaft. The earlier society had undertaken the first complete collected edition of Johann Sebastian Bach's works, publishing many compositions that had not previously appeared in a comprehensive scholarly edition. Once the Bach-Ausgabe was completed, the Bach Gesellschaft dissolved. The new society preserved the institutional commitment to Bach while adopting a wider cultural and educational mission. At its foundation, the Neue Bachgesellschaft defined three continuing projects. It established the Bach-Jahrbuch as a recurring scholarly publication devoted to research on Bach and his musical environment. It also organized Bachfeste, festivals dedicated to performances and public engagement with Bach's music. These festivals were initially held every two years and later became annual events. Their venues have generally been in Germany, although the festival tradition has included international and cross-border dimensions. In 2012, for instance, the Bachfest took place in Görlitz and neighboring Zgorzelec on opposite sides of the German-Polish border. The society's third major initiative was the creation of a Bach museum. In 1907 it opened a museum in Eisenach, the town traditionally regarded as Bach's birthplace. The museum developed into Bachhaus Eisenach, an institution dedicated to exhibitions, collections, interpretation, and educational work concerning the composer. Bachhaus Eisenach is operated by Bachhaus Eisenach gemeinnützige GmbH, a charitable company for which the Neue Bachgesellschaft is the sole associate. This arrangement gives the society a continuing role in one of the most prominent public institutions devoted to Bach. Unlike its predecessor, the Neue Bachgesellschaft was not primarily a publisher of complete musical scores. Nevertheless, it remained involved in the continuation of the complete-edition tradition. In 1950 it recommended that a second complete edition be undertaken. The resulting Neue Bach-Ausgabe was produced through cooperation between musicologists in Göttingen, in West Germany, and Leipzig, in East Germany. The project was culturally significant because it treated Bach's works as a common German and European inheritance during a period when political division separated the participating institutions. Over time, the society's work has combined musicological research, performance, festivals, publication, museum stewardship, and public education. Its activities support both specialists and general audiences, helping maintain Bach's position in concert life, scholarship, cultural tourism, and historical education. The organization is a heritage and professional society rather than a conventional commercial brand, and its principal outputs are cultural programs, scholarly knowledge, institutional partnerships, and public access to Bach-related collections and performances.
- 2012
Cross-border Bachfest in Görlitz and Zgorzelec
[1]The society's festival program extended across the German-Polish border, giving the Bachfest an explicitly international dimension.
- 1950
Recommendation of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe
[1]The society recommended a second complete edition of Bach's music, later developed through a joint scholarly effort involving Göttingen and Leipzig.
- 1907
Opening of the Bach museum in Eisenach
[1]The society opened the first museum dedicated to Bach in Eisenach, creating the institutional foundation for what became Bachhaus Eisenach.
- 1900
Founding of the Neue Bachgesellschaft
[1]The Neue Bachgesellschaft was established in Leipzig as the successor to the Bach Gesellschaft after the earlier organization completed its collected edition of Bach's works.
Products and positioning
A cultural, scholarly, and heritage organization preserving and communicating the music and legacy of Johann Sebastian Bach through research, publications, festivals, museum activity, and education.
Scholarly publication · 1900
Bach-Jahrbuch
The Bach-Jahrbuch is the society's recurring scholarly yearbook. It provides a publication platform for research on Johann Sebastian Bach, his compositions, historical context, sources, reception, and performance-related questions. It is one of the principal intellectual outputs associated with the Neue Bachgesellschaft.
Music festival · 1900
Bachfeste
Bachfeste are festivals centered on performances, interpretation, and public engagement with Bach's music. Originally organized on a biennial basis, the festivals are now generally annual and have mainly taken place in Germany, with occasional international or cross-border programming.
Museum and heritage institution · 1907
Bachhaus Eisenach
Bachhaus Eisenach is the museum institution that grew from the museum opened by the society in 1907. It presents Bach-related collections, exhibitions, and educational interpretation. The museum is operated by Bachhaus Eisenach gemeinnützige GmbH, with the Neue Bachgesellschaft as its sole associate.
Brand decisions
1950
Recommended a second complete edition of Bach's musicStrategyBackground
Although the society was not itself publishing scores in the same manner as the Bach Gesellschaft, it continued to support the editorial study of Bach's works.
Action taken
The organization recommended that a new complete edition be undertaken, leading to the Neue Bach-Ausgabe through cooperation between musicologists in Göttingen and Leipzig.
Aftermath
The project became an important postwar scholarly collaboration and emphasized Bach's status as a shared cultural inheritance across the political division of Germany.
1900
Adopted a broader mission after the Bach GesellschaftStrategyBackground
The predecessor Bach Gesellschaft had completed its first collected edition of Bach's works and dissolved, leaving the new organization to define a continuing role.
Action taken
The Neue Bachgesellschaft prioritized a scholarly yearbook, recurring Bach festivals, and the creation of a Bach museum rather than directly repeating the predecessor's publishing program.
Aftermath
This decision established the society's enduring identity as a cultural, scholarly, performance, and heritage organization.
Recent events
- 2012
Bachfest held across Görlitz and Zgorzelec[1]
Other
The society's 2012 Bach festival had an international and cross-border format, taking place in Görlitz, Germany, and Zgorzelec, Poland.
- 1950
Neue Bachgesellschaft recommends a second complete edition of Bach's music[1]
Other
The society recommended a new complete edition of Bach's works. The resulting Neue Bach-Ausgabe was developed through cooperation between musicologists in Göttingen and Leipzig, linking institutions in divided West and East Germany.
- 1907
Bach museum opened in Eisenach[1]
Other
The society opened a museum dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach in Eisenach, the town associated with his birth. The institution later became Bachhaus Eisenach and remains connected to the society through its operating charitable company.
- 1900
Neue Bachgesellschaft established as successor to the Bach Gesellschaft[1]
Other
The Neue Bachgesellschaft was founded after the Bach Gesellschaft completed its collected edition of Bach's works and dissolved. The new organization shifted emphasis toward yearbook publishing, festivals, museum development, and broader cultural promotion.
Sources2 sources
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