Chemnitz - European Capital of Culture 2025
White paper on the future of the European Capitals of Culture presented
Conference: 40 impulses for the further development of Europe's largest cultural programme
The white paper "40 recommendations from 40 years of European Capitals of Culture" was presented in Chemnitz at the conference to mark 40 years of European Capitals of Culture. The paper, initiated by Chemnitz and Nova Gorica, the two European Capitals of Culture 2025, contains 40 concrete proposals that are to be incorporated into the redesign of the legal basis of the programme for the future.
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Regional showcase opened
38 cities and municipalities make culture visible - TIETZ forecourt goes green
The regional showcase will make the Capital of Culture Region 2025 visible in the centre of Chemnitz. Until the end of the year, all 38 municipalities will be presented on ten pillars next to the Petrified Forest on the ground floor of the TIETZ with information, event details and QR codes for further offers. Two of the main projects of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 are also on display: Makers, Business & Arts and the Purple Path art and sculpture trail.
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All the latest information on the way to the European Capital of Culture:
City portrait and press photos
"C the unseen" is the motto of Chemnitz's application to become European Capital of Culture 2025. Chemnitz is the city of makers.
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Chemnitz 2025: This is the programme
Cultural beacons and diverse projects from civil society in the European Capital of Culture
"C the Unseen": Chemnitz, together with 38 municipalities from the region, presents itself as a lively, hospitable and surprising place in eastern Germany, in the centre of Europe. With around 150 projects and more than 1000 events, people from Chemnitz, the Ore Mountains, Central Saxony and the Zwickau region are putting themselves and their region on the cultural and tourist map. The focus is on local stories and faces that blend with European narratives and well-known names.
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80,000 celebrate the opening in the city centre
Big show on Brückenstraße - Ceremony in the opera - A look at the programme in the Stadthalle - Varied stage programme
Chemnitz experienced an overwhelming start to the European Capital of Culture 2025 on 18 January.
An estimated 80,000 people from Germany and abroad celebrated a huge opening party. Bright weather ensured a great mood and a good atmosphere on all streets and squares.
Intervention areas
The urban development project of the Capital of Culture
The city will change in the coming years, as the European Capital of Culture 2025 is also an urban development project. Places will undergo a transformation in very different ways on a total of 30 so-called intervention areas: From the traditional Hartmann Factory (the visitor centre of the European Capital of Culture in the festival year and headquarters of Kulturhauptstadt Europas Chemnitz 2025 gGmbH), to a new district park on a small, renaturalised river (the Pleißenbach) on a former railway site, to a fairground in a rural district where Christmas markets and village festivals will be held in future.
The Chemnitz 2025 budget
The budget (as at February 2025, values rounded)
| Total | 116 million euros |
|---|---|
| City of Chemnitz | 35 million euros |
| Free State of Saxony | 25 million euros |
| Federal Government | 25 million euros |
| Third-party funds (specialist funding programmes, sponsors, ...) | 31 million euros |
(as of February 2025, values rounded)
Background:
- The total budget for the Capital of Culture has increased in recent years from just under 81 million to around 116 million euros. The city has increased its own contribution, which has made it possible to attract further funding. The Free State of Saxony has also increased its share once again. Sponsorship funds were also raised.
- Of the approximately 116 million euros for the European Capital of Culture 2025, around 80 million euros will come from outside the city of Chemnitz, which is around 70 per cent of the total funding.
- The Capital of Culture programme for the years 2021 to 2026 (incl. Theatre of the World) accounts for around 58 million euros. The development of long-term and sustainable intervention areas in the city accounts for around 58 million euros of the total budget.
"Visions of Europe"
1st Legacy Conference on the long-term effects of the European Capital of Culture
On 12 April 2024, the first legacy conference of the city of Chemnitz came to an end under the title "Visions of Europe". The three-day conference marked the start of a process aimed at securing the legacy of Chemnitz's title as European Capital of Culture 2025 in the long term.
Around 200 participants from Chemnitz, the region, the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 gGmbH and many other representatives from the Saxon State Chancellery and state ministries, organisations, associations and urban society discussed expectations, experiences and challenges of successfully implementing the legacy with experts from six former European Capitals of Culture.
EUJA! Initiative projects for the Capital of Culture year!
The funding programme supports projects in the intervention areas as well as initiatives throughout the city and in the digital space that are to be implemented in the Capital of Culture title year 2025.
The current, final round of applications runs until the end of May 2025.
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Chronicle: On the way to the title
Co-operation
In Nova Gorica on 29 October, the Lord Mayors of Gorica, Nova Gorica and Chemnitz, Ziberna Miclavic and Schulze, agreed to work together intensively and to strengthen the European level of the European Capitals of Culture 2025 with joint ideas and projects.
Financing agreement
Minister of State for Culture Monika Grütters, Minister President Michael Kretschmer and Lord Mayor Sven Schulze signed the agreement on joint funding on 2 July 2021. A total of 66 million euros is available from the federal, state and city governments, which makes up part of the total budget of 91 million euros.(more ...)
Conference of Culture Ministers
The Conference of Culture Ministers has nominated Chemnitz as the European Capital of Culture for 2025. In doing so, it followed the professional vote of the European expert jury.
Under the motto "C the Unseen - European Makers of Democracy", Chemnitz has also presented a convincing concept in the opinion of the Conference of Culture Ministers.(more ...)
Jury decision
The decision in favour of Chemnitz on 28 October 2020 marks the end of a four-year application process that was supported by many tireless players, volunteers and civic initiatives. And so it is no coincidence that the programme year focuses on the movers and shakers.(more ...)
Bid Book: "C the unseen"
Bid Book: "C the unseen"
Chemnitz has won with an impressive bid book. With the motto "C the unseen", Chemnitz2025 focuses on the unseen: on the unseen of the "quiet centre". On the unseen city, the unseen European neighbours, the unseen places and biographies, the unseen talents in each individual.
The programme also includes many other unseen cities or regions in Europe that contribute a strong statement for democratic coexistence and, in particular, the people who help to live a cosmopolitan community across national borders.
Financed and supported by:
This measure is co-financed by tax funds on the basis of the budget adopted by the Saxon State Parliament and by federal funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.