Leipzig: St. Thomas Church and the market square, 1937

Framed by chestnut leaves, the traceried west portal of St. Thomas rises behind parked cars and pigeons on the lawn; men and women climb the steps and pass through the open doors, and after the service come down again. Two sisters in dark habits and white-banded bonnets walk past; a young sister with dark hair laughs and talks toward the camera. On the Markt, cars and cyclists cross before gabled houses and the tower of the Old Town Hall, a banner advertising the underground fair hall across the street, and men browse a newsstand.

Johann Sebastian Bach was cantor of St. Thomas from 1723 until his death in 1750; in 1937 his remains lay in another Leipzig church and came to St. Thomas only in 1950. Beneath the Markt, the city had opened an underground hall for its trade fair in 1925.