Gablenz blossoms

As early as 2015, she had obtained permission for the switch cabinet on her doorstep and had Friedrich Benzler design it with poppies. She and her family financed this work of art themselves back then. They regularly talked to many neighbors, but also to pedestrians, about the colorful electrical box.

When Manuela Tschök-Engelhardt then heard the call for micro-projects in 2017, she decided to apply for funding and have more electricity boxes in her neighbourhood decorated with local flowers: “I hope it will have a positive effect on the mood of passers-by. Everything went incredibly fast, both from eins Energie in Saxony and from Telekom to obtain the permits for the campaign. I have perceived a culture of enabling that gives me hope.

The Head of Finance and Construction and press spokeswoman in Penig also hopes that this publicly visible micro-project will help the idea of applying for the Capital of Culture to find open ears and eyes among other Chemnitz residents and be imitated: “Voluntary commitment and assistance from citizens are important – not always just grumbling, but doing. I think the idea of micro-projects is very good because they tickle out this energy and minimize the economic risk.