“Thought is free”

Johann Sebastian Bach: Escapades in Arnstadt

If you look around the market square in Arnstadt you’ll notice the statue of a young man. Leaning casually against a milestone, legs stretched right out, his shirt half unbuttoned, using his frock coat as a seat cushion. Incredible as it may seem, this somewhat unconventional work commemorates the world-famous composer and musician Johann Sebastian Bach. 

Most people don’t realise that Bach was just 18 years old when he came to Arnstadt to work as an organist, and he seems to have had a head full of crazy notions. A number of his escapades have been preserved for posterity, among them his idiosyncratic interpretation of various hymns, playing music with an ‘unknown maiden’, coming to blows with a pupil and even his (unapproved) extension of a study trip from four weeks to four months. 

Yes, the young Bach was a headstrong libertine who took a lot of liberties during his time in Arnstadt and he had to justify himself more than once. But he was always driven by his love of music and by his desire to become an outstanding organist and composer. Surely we can all agree by now that he managed to achieve his aim.

Discover the home of Johann Sebastian Bach here.

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Bach Monument in Arnstadt, ©Clemens Bauerfeind, weimar GmbH

Friedrich Schiller: The ‘poet of liberty’

Friedrich Schiller, one of the leading figures of German literature, is sometimes also known as the ‘poet of liberty’. His plays are critical of absolutism and the social hierarchy of the time. They deal with the life of the bourgeoisie but also with the founding of nations. He was not only a free spirit but also a passionate visionary.

This was not merely confined to his writings. Having absconded from the Duchy of Württemberg, Schiller later became a subject of the Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, which caused quite a stir. Later still, he was also made an honorary citizen of France, giving him dual nationality. But Schiller did not take liberty for granted. Although the writer suffered poor health throughout his life he always had to keep working for financial reasons. His dependence on his sponsors had a significant effect on his work and stood in stark contrast to his desire for creative expression. All the same, he insisted on wearing what became known as the ‘Schiller collar’, i.e. a large open-necked collar, rather than the usual stiff neckcloth that was fashionable at the time.

Friedrich Fröbel: Discovering the world through play

When it comes to things that were invented in Thuringia, most people might think of optical instruments, the popular German card game Skat or even garden gnomes. To this (incomplete) list we definitely need to add the kindergarten, that is to say day nursery, as this too originated in central Germany. Its inventor, Friedrich Fröbel, realised how important early childhood was for a person’s development. He was convinced that every child is unique and develops at its own pace. Giving children the freedom to make their own decisions can be seen as an educational revolution from the Thuringian Forest.

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Permanent exhibition at the Friedrich-Fröbel-Museum Bad Blankenburg, ©Ulrich Fischer Photographie

Bruno Apitz: An artist in Buchenwald

The artist Bruno Apitz, who was a political prisoner in Buchenwald concentration camp from 1937 to 1945, represents freedom in a completely different context. He subverted the lack of freedom in the camp with art. “We didn’t just carve wood, people also painted, made music, composed and wrote in the camp – secretly, illegally, for the most part. What was it if not a self-liberation of the human being, an affirmation of one’s own humanity?” His carved figure of a clown, which represents himself, reflects how he saw his role as camp sculptor for the SS.

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Wood carvings by Bruno Apitz, ©Kunstsammlung der Gedenkstätte Buchenwald

AKUT alias Falk Lehmann: Social criticism through mural art

Born and raised in tranquil Schmalkalden, Falk Lehmann now travels the world as the celebrated street artist AKUT. This quote shows how for him art means freedom: “As the second child in a family where my parents and grandparents all lived together in one house, I was flying under the radar a bit. I was able to do what I liked, and for me that was painting, from quite early on.” (Quelle)

Having lost himself during his teenage years, Lehmann eventually found stability at Kulturverein Villa K., the Schmalkalden cultural association. This was followed by an intensive period of creative self-discovery and a testing of artistic boundaries that also took him abroad and utterly redefined freedom for him beyond provincial Thuringian.

His work includes both large-scale murals in public spaces as well as paintings on canvas that are now on display in galleries and museums around the world, for example in Paris, London and Los Angeles. Lehmann’s work continues to involve social criticism. One subject that keeps repeating in his art is the Holocaust, and the culture of remembrance associated with it. In his birthplace of Schmalkalden , for instance, Falk Lehmann has created a monument to Holocaust survivor Magda Brown in the form of a larger-than-life portrait.

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Graffiti art in Schmalkalden by Falk Lehmann aka AKUT, ©1000things, Fabienne Waitschacher

Isa Schreiber: Porcelain making reimagined

If there is one phrase that free spirits like Isa Schreiber cannot stand, it’s likely to be: “That’s how we’ve always done it!”. The Bauhaus graduate explores more resource-efficient manufacturing processes for porcelain, precisely because the traditional way is not always automatically the best. In her Weimar studio, which Isa Schreiber is in the process of setting up, she works on new products and enjoys the freedom to follow her intuition – both at a creative and an administrative level.

“Freedom is the highest good that man can possess.” All of the people described here would probably agree with these words by Friedrich Schiller. As visionaries and role models in their own eras, they represent forms of freedom that can still be discovered today at a wide variety of places throughout Thuringia.

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Product & production designer for porcelain: Isa Schreiber, ©1000things, Daniel Leeb

Text: Jessika Fichtel is a freelance copywriter, blogger and book author from Eisenach. She creates authentic content with passion and expertise.
Header picture: Florian Trykowski is a freelance advertising photographer and licensed drone pilot. In addition to his work as a concert and band photographer, he specialises in tourism.