Chemnitz is an 800-year-old city in the heart of Saxony, at the gateway to the beautiful Ore Mountains and close to the border with the Czech Republic. The name comes from the Sorbian word kamje (the stone) and means something like Steinbach or stony stream. Anyone who sees the Chemnitz, the river of the same name that flows through the city, outside the urban area will know that ‘stones’ here can be the size of delivery vans.
Almost 250,000 people live here. Around 9,000 of them study at Chemnitz University of Technology. Chemnitz can look back on an exciting history characterised by ups and downs.
Chemnitz is considered the gateway to the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains). This is also where the original prosperity came from: iron and silver ore and later uranium were either processed in Chemnitz or transported to the world via Chemnitz. In the 19th century, the textile industry flourished here, followed later by car manufacturing. This is how Chemnitz once became prosperous. And although the Second World War and socialist urban development took away some of the old beauty, there is still plenty to see.
Chemnitz is European Capital of Culture 2025!
Flourishing during the period of industrialisation and thus known as the ‘Saxon Manchester’, Chemnitz quickly grew into a major city and was the richest city in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Entrepreneurial spirit, coupled with Chemnitz’s can-do mentality, led to innovative inventions and modern achievements. At the same time, the entrepreneurs also ensured that the city flourished culturally. Cultural treasures such as the Chemnitz Art Collections, impressive Wilhelminian-style neighbourhoods and villas that still characterise the city today were created during this period.
Over the years, the city has reinvented itself several times: Chemnitz became Karl-Marx-Stadt, the GDR era characterised the city with prefabricated buildings, garages and allotments, thousands of people left the city during reunification, Karl-Marx-Stadt became Chemnitz again and one thing remained: a culture all of its own. A culture characterised by machismo.
The makers are also the focus of the European Capital of Culture 2025 and will spin the thread into the future based on history. Under the motto “C the Unseen”, undiscovered places will be brought to life and the invisible made visible.
Discover these places in Chemnitz as well as the renowned art houses, the five-section theatre, the industrial culture, the palaces and castles of the region and the first works of art of the Purple Path and get to know the creators personally.