Logo of the Capital of Culture 2025

Moving sounds

A series of events celebrating the diversity of the concertina, the bandoneon and the Argentine tango

Illustration of a couple dancing elegantly in blue against a red background. They are positioned between two large, stylized accordions, creating a dynamic and lively composition.
Illustration of a couple dancing elegantly in blue against a red background. They are positioned between two large, stylized accordions, creating a dynamic and lively composition.
Illustration: Ulrike Schell (Bikini Kommando)

If you would like to learn more about the concertina, you can find examples of it in various museums in the city of Chemnitz. There will also be a themed tour of the city telling the story of the instrument, its in­- ventor and his relationship to the city. But even better than that, come and experience the concertina or its successor, the bandoneon, in action at one of the many concerts. If tango is more your thing, you can dance it at one of the 50 or so milongas held at the historical Braunsdorf weaving mill, Chemnitz Museum of Industry, or other sites of industrial culture. Alternatively, head straight to the Chemnitz Tango Argentino Festival in Chemnitz, from 27 May – 1 June 2025, where you can experience all of the above, do a dance tour of the city, attend a tango church service and take a trip to Waldheim and Carlsfeld, where the bandoneon was produced.

various locations and times, Chemnitz, to be announced

Saxon Mozart Society e.V.

Place of interest

Tango Argentino is characterised by the bandoneon, an instrument that European migrants brought to the harbour taverns of Uruguay and Argentina around 1870. In the border region along the Río de la Plata, different musical styles mingled. Those that African slaves had brought to the plantations of Uruguay and those that the Spanish colonisers introduced to Argentina. Experts argue about whether Bohemian polka also influenced the tango. The instrument from which the bandoneon developed, the German concertina, originated in this region. Its origins have a rich and ramified history, which has not yet been fully analysed scientifically. Part of this history comes from Carl Friedrich Uhlig, who is credited with inventing it in Chemnitz in the 1830s and who first built and presented it to the world in 1834. A very similar instrument was created in England at the same time, but the two inventors were unaware of each other.

In Saxony (Chemnitz, Waldheim and Carlsfeld), an instrument with more keys and registers was expanded and further developed. The Krefeld instrument dealer Heinrich Band gave the new instrument its name: Bandoneon. The more than 50,000 instruments exported to Latin America by the Carlsfeld company Alfred Arnold "AA" from the Ore Mountains are still legendary today and the musical soul of Tango Argentino. However, nothing in Chemnitz commemorates this world-shaking connection. No monument, no landmark.

European Capital of Culture The Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media Free State of Saxony European Capital of Culture

This project is cofinanced by tax funds on the basis of the parliamentary budget of the state of Saxony and by federal funds from the Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media), as well as funds from the City of Chemnitz.