Chemnitz is in the starting blocks as Capital of Culture 2025

While the 2024 Capital of Culture year in the Salzkammergut is entering the home stretch, Chemnitz is preparing for its start in the anniversary year of 2025. The concept of the European Capital of Culture was created 40 years ago and was launched for the first time in Athens. The symbolic handover of the baton to Chemnitz as part of the European Peace Ride bike tour on Friday in Bad Ischl provided an opportunity to take stock and draw parallels, but above all to look ahead to the future Saxon Capital of Culture.

The motto of Saxony’s Capital of Culture year, “C the unseen,” is to show and rediscover what has never been seen before. Over 100 projects and around 1,000 events are being organized primarily by local actors. “Over 80 percent of the projects here are not set up by professionals,” explained Schmidtke. Laypeople and civil society form the main basis of the events. “At our core, we are a major civil society effort, a city-wide participation project,” said Schmidtke.

In Chemnitz, the Capital of Culture project is once again reaching out into the regions. 38 municipalities from the Erzgebirge, Central Saxony and Zwickau districts are on board. “The difference to Bad Ischl is that Chemnitz itself is the only center with the title,” said Schmidtke. Some of the projects in Saxony are intended for the entire region, others only for the regions. As an example, Schmidtke cited the “maker hubs” that are intended to set up workshops in the municipalities to enable crafts there again, rethought and accessible to visitors.

Another project is the art and sculpture trail “Purple Path”, which is intended to capture over 30 contemporary artistic positions in the public space of the surrounding communities. 17 of these works of art have already been installed. These interventions are intended to offer added tourist value for the period after the Capital of Culture year.

Of course, the major institutions in Chemnitz will also be involved. The art collection at Theaterplatz, for example, is working on a major Edvard Munch exhibition, and the State Museum of Archaeology Chemnitz (smac) is putting on the exhibition “Silver Shine and Miner’s Death” on the history and present of mining, which has had a significant impact on the economy and culture of the Ore Mountains in the region.

Schmidtke also confirms that it is not so easy in Saxony to involve and activate the regions outside the city. “Like everywhere else, we have the problem that people in the country think a little differently. There are municipalities that are setting up their own things like rockets, organizing themselves. And then there are those where that is much more difficult, because, for example,” “The mayor is only a volunteer,” said the program director.

It is a very slow process for people to recognize their activities as a European achievement. A lot is happening anyway, the only thing missing is the “awareness that we are doing things together and for the community. We are working very hard on that,” says Schmidtke.

Schmidtke does not see the AfD’s results in the state elections in Saxony as a problem for the Capital of Culture project. The funding is already secured and everything is being implemented according to plan. “Of course there are certain media scenes in which we are being attacked. We can see that,” says Schmidtke. On the other hand, this election result is also a motivation for many people in the state. They increasingly want to get involved themselves. “As Capital of Culture, we can give them a space, and interest has definitely increased.”

The starting point and idea for the application to be a Capital of Culture were the events that had brought Chemnitz into the international headlines in 2018. A murder at a city festival was followed by right-wing extremist riots. “In order to address these problems affecting society as a whole – for example a lack of civil society – and to dedicate ourselves to coming to terms with the GDR, the decision was made to apply to be a Capital of Culture,” explained Schmidtke.

The media response is already huge. Correspondents from major German media companies traveled to Bad Ischl for the start of the peace bike tour, including live broadcasts. The program will be officially presented on October 25th, and the large exhibition “Silver Shine and Buddies’ Death” will open the day before. Chemnitz’s year as Capital of Culture officially begins on January 18th, 2025.