Leipzig is known as an important center for commerce and publishing, and has hosted annual trade fairs since the Middle Ages. As home to such musical giants ans Bach, Wagner, and Mendelssohn, however, the city is perhaps best known for its contribution to the world of music. Moreover, a famous scene in Goethe's Faust takes place in Leipzig, and has immortalized the city's "Passagen" in the annals of world literature. Leipzig gained its reputation in the music world through the Choir of St. Thomas, the Gewandhaus Orchestra, and the Mendelssohn Bartholdy National College of Music. Visitors can now hear the world renowned Gewandhaus Orchestra play in the New Concert Hall, which seats 1900 people and is located on Augustusplatz. The influence of Johann Sebastian Bach can be felt throughout the city. The Bach Research Institute and Museum is located across from the Church of St Thomas, where Bach enjoyed 27 years as choirmaster. The Church of St. Thomas was built between 1212 and 12222 for canons of the Augustinian order. This church was also where Marting Luther's sermon on Whit Sunday took place in 1539, which inaugurated the Reformation. The church of St. Nicholas boasts a striking 245-foot, 12th century tower and a neo-classical interior. More recently, this church was at the center of the famous Monday demonstrations in 1989 that preceded the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the East German state.