Bettina and Bodo live in Neukirchen in the Ore Mountains and work in the volunteer editorial team. Bettina has been a volunteer since 2024 and contributes her valuable voluntary experience to Kulturhauptstadt gGmbH. Bodo has been a volunteer from the very beginning and has been involved with Chemnitz 2025 for several years. He uses his organisational expertise in the volunteer editorial team and takes care of archiving the texts.
Dear Capital of Culture enthusiasts, we are now writing the very last volunteer report: the curtain has fallen on the Capital of Culture 2025. Everything comes to an end - and we are glad to have experienced this exciting and overwhelming time. On the last day, even the weather played along and rounded off the experience perfectly.
There were countless events, so there really was something for everyone. On some days we would have had to split up in order to fully enjoy the wide range of activities on offer. This meant that everyone could choose exactly what they wanted to do.
As volunteers, we took the opportunity to experience this special highlight first-hand and are a little proud to have actively helped. Most of the events ran like clockwork. Of course, the Capital of Culture year was not without its mishaps - such as the drone ballet on Opening Day, for which the performers had rehearsed for days and which unfortunately had to be cancelled due to force majeure. We thought that was a shame!
One particularly positive fact for us: there were no nasty surprises or dangerous situations during the Capital of Culture year! Everything went peacefully and was characterised by cheerfulness and mutual respect. That gives us hope for the future.
The numerous highlights from 2024 and 2025 can be found in the volunteer reports on the Internet. The result is a chronicle full of eventful moments. Of course, we cannot fully describe the more than 45,000 volunteer hours worked, but the texts written by the 31 volunteers provide a lively overview of the varied events that took place during the Capital of Culture 2025 in Chemnitz. The variety of events, experiences and very personal impressions are reflected in the articles.
But the best thing for us cannot be summarised in numbers: new friendships, shared experiences, unforgettable hours - and the good feeling of having helped here and there.
We, Bettina and Bodo, would like to thank all the members of the volunteer editorial team for their dedication and commitment. A big THANK YOU also goes to the other authors for their enthusiasm in writing reports.
Conclusion of our volunteer editorial team
We produced a total of 115 volunteer reports (in German and English), 31 of which were about the anticipation and beginnings in 2024. We would never have thought it possible that we would be able to look back on so many reports in the end! Our texts are authentic voices of volunteers, expressing emotional closeness and personal impressions.
This unique collection of experiences will last forever!
