Projects

Following an evaluation of its activities to date, the Foundation is committed to bringing a sharper focus to its support and promotion activities in public urban spaces. These activities can be assigned to the individual core themes of the Foundation – light, green or developed space - or simultaneously to more than one of these themes.

„Note Wall”

on the „Leipzig Music Trail”

The „Lebendige Stadt” Foundation is making 10,100 euros available for the construction of the „Note Wall”. The Note Wall is part of the Leipzig Music Trail which will soon connect the most important places of residence and work of Leipzig's famous composers. The Note Wall is being built directly next to Music Trail station no. 8 – the „Graphic Quarter – Music Publishing Houses”. With the friendly cooperation of the Pentahotel in Leipzig, the 2x3 meter Note Wall is being built in the hotel grounds.

 

With its interplay of visual and acoustic elements, the Note Wall designed by Moosbauer&Huennerkopf invites onlookers to discover music in a playful way. Information and sound samples depicting the development of music note writing are supplemented by a musical quiz. In this way, visitors to the Note Wall can find answers to both serious and whimsical questions – such as "How warm should a piano ideally be?" The upper section of the Note Wall piques the curiosity of adults, while children and grown-ups of a more playful nature will be more interested in the quiz in the bottom section, where they can call on the assistance of „Toni”, the musical tone mascot.


With its depiction of the development of musical note writing, the Note Wall forges a link with the music publishing houses in the Graphic Quarter that were destroyed during the Second World War and that symbolized the status of Leipzig as a worldwide center of music publishing in the 19th century. Integral loudspeakers turn the note examples into musical sounds. There is even „music braille” on the Note Wall, and this serves to create an awareness for the importance of music in the lives of those with sight impairments.

Dr. Tatjana Böhme-Mehner, a music expert who played a major part in compiling the note examples, says: "The Note Wall offers everyone an opportunity to become acquainted with the world of music, regardless of social background and musical preference. The texts, examples, quizzes and discovery tasks are designed to appeal to people with widely differing levels of musical knowledge. It would be nice if this means the Note Wall has a kind of integrative effect. What's certainly the case is that no one will have to overcome the kind of fear or inhibitions they might have if they wanted to go to a concert or a museum."


The surface facing the restaurant of the Pentahotel is also in „Music Trail design” and draws in the hotel patrons with interesting questions on the musical tour of discovery. Hotel Director Veit König is delighted that the Music Trail makes a stop at his establishment: "The Music Trail is a further tourist attraction that highlights the cultural heritage of our city in a lively and entertaining way." Which means that the people of Leipzig will not be the only ones to benefit: the tourism industry will also profit from the Music Trail project.

 

The Note Wall is an excellent example of how the Music Trail project aims to allow different generations to experience music and its history. The interplay of the city routing system and the musical experience trail brings music right to the heart of the city's public spaces – in a way that ensures that both music aficionados and experts as well as those people with little prior knowledge of music can become trail-seekers and discoverers of Leipzig's musical heritage.

 

Thanks to its cross-generational design, the Note Wall is also in keeping with the motto of the inner city playscape concept entitled „Play along the Way”. The Music Trail initiative and the „Play along the Way” concept come together to create a integrated overall attraction in the area inside the ringroad and around the city center. The Note Wall also communicates the idea of a public playscape beyond this quarter all the way into the inner eastern part of the city, and this is something that the urban planners truly appreciate in view of the developmental deficits in this part of Leipzig.

 

The Note Wall is also in line with the goals of the „Lebendige Stadt” Foundation, whose aim is to combine the revitalization of cultural values with the development of vibrant urban centers by upgrading public spaces and making the cities more „livable” by promoting cultural diversity. The special way in which the Music Trail project allows other developmental aspects of the city to benefit from this cultural „flagship” also serves as a model for other towns and cities.

 

Like many other parts of the project, the Music Trail is being developed by unpaid volunteers. The aim of the "Small Leipzig Music Trail" project group, who are doing the lion's share of the work on the project, is to develop music trail features that will also attract the interest of children.

 

Music Trail initiator Werner Schneider is particularly delighted that the involvement of the „Lebendige Stadt” Foundation is promoting the cross-generational and „interdisciplinary” character of the Music Trail project. He not only hopes but also believes that "external specialists are sometimes faster than one's own city. The generous financial support from the „Lebendige Stadt” Foundation will act as an incentive for Leipzig to underpin its own commitment".