The "C.P.E. Bach" concert hall, a former Franciscan church dating back to the 13th century, invites visitors to enjoy a wide variety of art all year round. Visitors are fascinated by the combination of architecture and music, the Music Festival Days on the river Oder, the cultivation of the heritage of C.P.E. Bach, the concerts of the Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt, the Singakademie and the Orchestra of the Frankfurt Friends of Music. The brick building was once the convent church of a Franciscan monastery, first mentioned in old chronicles in 1312. Like most of the monasteries of the mendicant orders, this monastery was located right next to the city wall, which ran directly along the banks of the Oder River. During the Reformation the monastery was closed and the Franciscans were expelled. The property of the monastery fell to the Viadrina University. A university printing office was established in the library, and a boarding house for poor students was set up in the monastery. This later became a poorhouse. At the end of World War II, the monastery buildings were destroyed; the church survived as one of the few buildings in the city center. In 1966, the church congregation and the city of Frankfurt (Oder) decided to convert the decaying building into a concert hall under preservation orders. Already one year later the first concert took place. From 1969 to 1970, the monastery church was renovated. In the following years, parts of the building were renewed again and again. The church houses two organs. Today, the former monastery church is an internationally recognized concert hall and the home of the "Brandenburg State Orchestra". In addition, the sacristy of the concert hall houses the world's only permanent exhibition on the composer and church musician Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714 - 1788). The second son of the world-famous musician Johann Sebastian Bach, he studied at the Frankfurt University Alma mater Viadrina from 1734 to 1738 and during these years had a significant influence on the musical life of the Oder city. Valuable portraits, first prints of Bach's works, and original historical instruments from the Viadrina Museum's important collection enrich the exhibition. Visitors can deepen their knowledge with the help of videos and tours with a tablet. At a listening station, Bach's compositions can be followed in interpretations by renowned artists and ensembles.