Chemnitz City Council has decided by a large majority on the basic content of the programme implementation for the application for the title of European Capital of Culture 2025.

Mayor Barbara Ludwig: “A strong Europe together is the best thing that can happen to us, but this is not a matter of course today. With the Capital of Culture, we want to continue to think and develop our city together. We want to tell Europe our story, learn from Europe. And show many visitors in 2025 what Chemnitz is capable of achieving. I am sure that, if the application is successful, many Chemnitz residents, who are still sceptical today, will see their city in a completely different light”.

By 30 September 2019, Chemnitz must submit an application book, the so-called bidbook, to the Cultural Foundation of the Federal States, which provides answers to a predetermined list of questions. The city council must decide on the main answers to the questions in the bid book (19 in total). The answers were formulated in cooperation between the Capital of Culture Office and the Programme Council. The jointly drafted answers form the content of the submission to the City Council and relate to the part of the application book for which, according to the recommendation of the European Commission, the vote of the City Council is required.

Among other things, Chemnitz will be presented under the motto “Aufbrüche. Opening minds, creating spaces” in the bidbook, Chemnitz will show that the city has experienced repeated ruptures and contradictions in the past centuries, and then again and again new departures. In many ways, it is linked to the eventful history of Europe and also provides a reflection of the challenges in Europe today. Chemnitz wants to stand up for a diverse society and for a diverse Europe. Culture becomes the key to creating open encounters. To preserve European values in a changing society and to continue the European peace project. At the same time, Chemnitz wants to revive a traditional cultural area with the region in an exemplary way and, against the trend of migration from rural areas, make the advantages of an extensive urban region “tangible”.

A key question in the Capital of Culture process is: “How do we want to live together?” Together with the citizens, an answer to this question has been sought over the past two years. We are looking at objects, squares and areas for whose conversion and redesign the Capital of Culture application could be the catalyst. These proposals were discussed together with committed citizens. Six areas are highlighted as examples in the bidbook:

    <The railway arch (viaduct at the Annaberger Straße).
    <The Cultural Quarter.
    <The town by the river.
    <The sports forum.

  • The public space – public places

    • <Places of new beginnings – new uses, new partnerships

The bidbook also describes the initial situation in the city with its cultural infrastructure and cultural strategy until 2030, but most of the questions are about the budget. The organisational structure in the event of winning the title should also be presented, with Chemnitz favouring a gGmbH.

The other questions in the bid book, which do not have to be decided by the city council, largely concern the artistic-cultural programme for the European Capital of Culture 2025 and are subject to the principle of freedom of science and art. For this reason, a core working group has been set up to work on this catalogue of questions, which includes representatives from Chemnitz on the one hand and external European experts on the other. The answers developed by the working group will be treated confidentially with regard to the competitors for the title of European Capital of Culture 2025 until they are confirmed by the Programme Council and the Steering Group.