Gabriele is 61 years old and works as a customer advisor. She lives in Schloßchemnitz and enjoys doing her bit for her home town. That's why she can be found volunteering at various events, which she then writes about for the volunteer editorial team.
Just in time for the 25th anniversary of the Museumsnacht Chemnitz, visitors were also able to visit the new "gem" of the city of Chemnitz, the newly renovated hall of the former Hartmann factory, which is the future information centre for the Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025.
The hall itself exudes industrial charm. The large glass façade in particular will arouse the curiosity of visitors and encourage them to visit the hall. The lower, larger section can be used and booked for events and functions in future. Beautiful offices have been created in the upper part, where employees of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 gGmbH have already moved in. For future visitors, there is a beautiful reception desk with information material about the European Capital of Culture and Chemnitz. An employee of the Capital of Culture gGmbH is always available there as a contact person.
A small stage was also created and visitors were able to visit the hall on 4 May 2024 from 6.00 pm to 11.30 pm and take part in guided tours.
I was working as a volunteer from 8pm to 10pm at the volunteers' counter at reception.
Our task was to direct the flow of visitors, inform them about the evening's programme and organise their participation in the guided tours. The material, such as the event calendar for May 2024 for the Capital of Culture and various stickers, were gladly taken along.
The rush of visitors was huge. We counted around 900 visitors in these 2 hours alone. They were very curious, as the Hartmannhalle was the first time that the Capital of Culture Chemnitz was really tangible. Of course, everyone also wanted to know what has become of the ruins that were once almost ready for demolition.
The reactions were very positive and surprising.
Our information on the events organised by the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 gGmbH, which have been on offer since November 2023, was also very well received and one or two people probably changed their minds on the subject. It's a good feeling to have contributed to this. We also did some advertising on our own behalf, as many more volunteers are needed to make 2025 a success.
I think we will see one or two of them again as volunteers at our events.
Anyone who is interested can sign up on the Capital of Culture website .
A guided tour with tour guide Ms Ramona Wagner was offered once an hour. With her costume and her stories about the manufacturer Mr Richard Hartmann, his sphere of activity in Chemnitz and the special history of the Hartmannhalle, she informed the participants very well and transported them to another time.
The interest of the visitors was so great that the guided tours would have been fully booked after a short time even if there had been twice as many places available. It was a very successful event that showed that the people of Chemnitz and visitors to the city are very interested and can be enthused about the Capital of Culture if there is enough information and events about it.
I have personally been involved in several events.
This one was particularly nice and I'm glad I signed up for it.
