* 8 March 1714, Weimar – † 14 December 1788, Hamburg
After almost 30 years as court harpsichordist to Frederick II of Prussia, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach moved in 1768 to the Hanseatic city to take up the post of cantor at the Johanneum and music director of the five main churches - as direct successor of his godfather Georg Philipp Telemann.
The new post required a large number of compositions to be rehearsed and performed. In addition to his official duties, Bach regularly organised public concerts. These were usually held in the concert hall on Valentinskamp, which had opened in 1761, and were very popular with Hamburg society. Bach’s oratorios were also highly successful and were known and appreciated even outside Hamburg.
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach had a large circle of friends in the Hanseatic city. These included the poets Lessing and Klopstock, the founder of the Hamburg Commercial Academy, Johann Georg Büsch, and other members of Hamburg’s educated middle classes. Within this wide-ranging circle, Bach passionately discussed the Enlightenment worldview of his time.
The KQ presents the versatile artist C. P. E. Bach as the leading exponent of the so-called ‘sensitive style’. A master of numerous genres, he wrote the most important musical treatise of his time on the subject: "Treatise on the True Art of Playing the Piano". His approach is guided by the idea that music should ‘above all move the heart’. The partly reconstructed furnishings bring the elegant atmosphere of Bach’s home to life and paint a multifaceted picture of Bach the man and his surroundings. Here, visitors can immerse themselves in the composer’s magnificent music, discover its distinctive characteristics and learn how his contemporaries reacted to his works.
Bach remained active as a musician and composer right up until the final years of his life, even though illness and depression made this increasingly difficult. Bach was buried in the crypt of St Michael’s Church, where his gravestone remains accessible to the public to this day.
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The Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Society of Hamburg (e.V.) was founded back in 1974, largely on the initiative of Günther Jena.
From the very beginning, the Society’s primary aim has been to keep the life and work of the ‘Hamburg Bach’ in the city’s consciousness. The opportunity to fulfil this aim with the establishment of the KQ in 2015, through a dedicated C. P. E. Bach Museum, was therefore seized with great enthusiasm. In the meantime, the Society’s tasks are largely carried out by the Carl-Philipp-Emanuel-Bach Academy Hamburg, which was founded a few years ago, in close collaboration with the Carl-Philipp-Emanuel-Bach Choir.
"Since its foundation in 1974, the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Society in Hamburg has devoted itself with great energy and passion to the cultural and historical legacy of the Bach family in Hamburg. C. P. E. Bach’s oeuvre is a cornerstone of European musical history whose importance cannot be overstated. ‘He is the father, we are the boys,’ Mozart is said to have remarked. The KomponistenQuartier, which honours the famous Hamburg Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel, with its own museum, is a wonderful venue for the preservation of the Bach legacy in Hamburg, where, alongside interactive displays, the autograph manuscript of ‘Treatise on the True Art of Playing the Piano’ is also on display."
Sophie Werkmeister on behalf of the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Society in Hamburg on the occasion of the KQ’s 2025 anniversary
Opening hours
Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Admission fee
€11 / concessions €8
Free admission for children under 6, €2 for children aged 7 to 12
Public holidays
Good Friday, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve and New Year’s Day:
CLOSED
Easter Sunday/Easter Monday, 1 May, Ascension Day, Whit Sunday/Whit Monday, 3 October, 31 October:
OPEN 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Accessibility
The KQ’s exhibition spaces are largely accessible. The historic building housing the Brahms exhibition (Peterstraße 39) requires visitors to have a sure footing (there are uneven surfaces, a steep historic staircase and no lift).
Guided tours
You can explore the museums perfectly well on your own. However, if you prefer a guided tour, we are happy to offer you various tours. Available languages: German, English, Ukrainian, Spanish, French.
The KomponistenQuartier Hamburg (Hamburg Composers' Quarter - KQ) unites six small museums dedicated to Georg Philipp Telemann, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Johann Adolf Hasse, Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn, Johannes Brahms, and Gustav Mahler. Located on the historic Peterstrasse, one of the Hanseatic city's most beautiful streets, visitors can explore their lives and works. All of them were connected to Hamburg through family, creative periods, encounters, or professional experiences.