At its meeting yesterday, the city council decided to develop the former Stadtwirtschaft on the southern Sonnenberg into a creative courtyard with space for creative makers.

The Stadtwirtschaft is an intervention area of the European Capital of Culture 2025. On the municipal property between Augustusburger Straße, Zietenstraße, Jakobstraße and Schüffnerstraße – in the middle of the “Sonnenberg redevelopment area” – three courtyards connect five buildings with approx. 6,000 sqm of usable space, which have only been partially used so far.

The buildings are to be refurbished at a low level and better equipped in terms of technical facilities. With a mixture of art and culture, production with local relevance, handicrafts and social encounters, a place of exchange and togetherness is to be created – a district centre and centre of attraction for Chemnitz residents and start-ups from all over Europe.

The Kreativhof creates offers that support the pre-start-up phase (development of the business idea, feasibility studies, development of prototypes) and ideas from crafts, small businesses and citizens. Each courtyard will be dedicated to a specific maker activity and will be surrounded by workshop spaces. There will also be space for community activities, theatre projects, an event space e.g. for district meetings and workshops, or the Kiezkantine for working together while having a coffee. A district warehouse will be available to tenants and the neighbourhood.

Children will find just as much to offer in the “Stadtwirtschaft” as hobby tinkerers and start-ups. Lighting concepts, flexible street furniture and a “Stadtwirtschaft” brand are being developed together.

The already resident tenants are brought together with the future user and the neighbourhood. Everyone can participate. The development scenario provides a good basis for this. The first phases with Haus D Jakobstr. 46 are already a reality and were made possible with the help of European funding and the municipal project “KRACH – Kreativraum Chemnitz”. The redevelopment of the Haus A complex is currently being planned.

The development of the area will take place in three phases. Phase one, “Aneignen + Anzeigen”, comprises the short-term development of the site. The first pioneer uses and existing tenants are to establish themselves on the site. New entrances with “gatehouses” indicate the opening of the site to the neighbourhood. In phase two, “Ergänzen + Erweitern”, further existing buildings will be converted and renovated. The area will be expanded by adding storeys and bridges and supplemented by the use of adjacent areas and the creation of new green spaces. Access to the site will be created via roof terraces, neighbouring gardens, stairs and ramps on all sides. By 2025, a place with space for makers of the Capital of Culture will be created. Phase three “Verdichten + Verstetigen” will establish the urban economy in the long term. Private investment can complement the existing stock and close the block edges.

Total costs for the development of the areas and buildings are estimated at around 7.1 million euros. About half of this comprehensive urban development project is to be financed from the city’s own funds and support money from various funding programmes, some of which have already been approved. The implementation is subject to the provision of these funds and subsidies.