In 2025 Chemnitz wants to become “European Capital of Culture”. On 1 March 2017, the steering group for steering the application was constituted. As chairperson of the steering group, Mayor Barbara Ludwig welcomed the committee to this premiere:

“The application for the Capital of Culture is the largest project in the recent history of the city. The steering group has the responsibility of preparing this application for Chemnitz in terms of content and strategy. For Chemnitz, the application is an outstanding opportunity to be seen as what we are: a city of change, in which people have been able to change difficult phases for the better, to invent and create new things by their own efforts.

The city council decided to establish the steering group at its meeting on 8 February 2017, which is responsible for the strategic direction of the application. Its task is to identify opportunities and risks in the application process, to prevent undesirable developments and to exploit the potential of the City of Chemnitz in terms of sustainable urban development when preparing the application.

The aim of the work in the steering group is to submit a decision for the confirmation of the application strategy and writing by the Chemnitz city council in spring 2019. The steering group is committed to ensuring that the ideas and needs of Chemnitz are taken into account in the application process.

To this end, the Steering Group took a decision at its first meeting and launched a call for five cultural ambassadors for the Programme Council. The Cultural Ambassadors are Chemnitz citizens of all generations, whose commitment enables the city’s citizens to participate in the Capital of Culture programme and influence the application process.

In preparing the application, the Steering Group will promote the European dimension of the application and, together with the future Programme Council and stakeholders from all sectors of the city’s society, will develop solutions that can serve as examples for other European cities.

Voting members of the steering group appointed by the city council:

    <Mayor Barbara Ludwig, Chairwoman of the Steering Group,
  • Ferenc Csák, Head of the Cultural Department of the City of Chemnitz and the Capital of Culture Project,
  • <Dietmar Berger, Almut Patt, Dr. Alexander Haentjens and Ulf Kallscheidt as representatives of the city council,

    <Katja Uhlemann, head of the mayor's office
    <Börries Butenop, head of the city planning department
    <Sören Uhle, Managing Director of the Chemnitzer Wirtschafts- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH,

    <Dr. Christoph Dittrich, General Director of the Chemnitz Municipal Theater gGmbH
    <Egmont Elschner, Chairman of the Cultural Advisory Board of the City of Chemnitz,

    <Prof. Dr. Gerd Strohmeier, Rector of the Chemnitz University of Technology
    <Gunnar Bertram, President of the Regional Assemblies of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce Chemnitz,

    <Dr. Micaela Schönherr, President of NINERS Chemnitz e. V. as honorary representative of sports and
    <Lisa Lotze from the festival "ArschKreativ" as a representative of the young generation.