Old Bach-monument Leipzig, Cultural heritage monument near Thomas Church, Leipzig, Germany

The Old Bach Monument is a neo-Gothic sandstone structure on the Dittrichring near St. Thomas Church. It rises from an octagonal base through a pillar ringed by four spiral columns to an open, gabled canopy. The north face bears a relief bust of Bach in a wig, above a panel inscribed "JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH"; an octagonal iron fence surrounds it.

Felix Mendelssohn, then director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, proposed a Bach monument in 1840. Three concerts raised most of the money, with Mendelssohn covering the rest from his own fortune. Designed by Eduard Bendemann with Ernst Rietschel and Julius Hübner, carved in Elbe sandstone by Hermann Knaur, it was unveiled on 23 April 1843; the Thomanerchor sang Bach's motet Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 225.

The monument's name, Altes Bachdenkmal, distinguishes it from the New Bach Monument nearby. Its north relief shows Bach's bust; the west side an angel teaching boys to sing, the south two angels beneath a cross, the east an angel playing the organ. The Thomanerchor sang at the 1843 unveiling.

The monument stands on the cobbled Dittrichring, near St. Thomas Church, enclosed by an octagonal iron fence with scrolling ornaments and pointed finials. It is an outdoor public sculpture viewable at any hour; the fence keeps visitors at a short distance, so the reliefs are best examined from outside the railing.

The stone finial crowning the monument has been replaced and reshaped at least twice; the second finial has been kept in the Leipzig Bach Archive since the early 1980s, and a wood engraving shows the first was much larger than today's.