Open Monument Day 2023
Karl Marx Monument
Bridge road
The large sculpture was created in 1967-70 by the Soviet sculptor Lew Kerbel. It was erected in 1971 on what was then Karl-Max-Allee. The 7.20 metre high bronze head sculpture is part of the listed complex, consisting of the individual monuments of the administration building with the plaque by Heinz Schumann and Volker Beyer as well as the framing landscaped grounds.
10.00 - 12.00 hrs
Guided tours "The monument and post-war modernism in Chemnitz" by Bettina Schülke and Carina Berger, City of Chemnitz Monument Protection Authority and Kerstin Hegewald, honorary monument conservator
Craft workshops for young and old under the motto "Greetings from the Kopp to the world" with the friends of the "Nimm-Platz project"
Meeting point: at the monument
Palace of Culture
The so-called "Kulturpalast" is a unique example in Saxony of the special "cultural centre" building concept developed in the young GDR and throughout the Soviet sphere of influence. The Kulturpalast in Chemnitz is the forerunner of all subsequent cultural centres of the 1950s in the GDR and thus unique in its significance. Overall, the building is an architecturally remarkable cultural monument in a striking urban setting.
10.00, 11.00 and 12.00 a.m.
Guided tours of the property with employees of GRK Immobilien GmbH
maximum 30 participants per tour, registration required on 0371 488 6351
Meeting point: main portal Kulturpalast (House A)
Railway scene
Frankenberger Straße 172
As the shunting yard capacities at Chemnitz main station and in Kappel were no longer sufficient due to increasing freight traffic at the end of the 19th century, the Deutsche Reichsbahn planned a new large shunting yard in Chemnitz-Hilbersdorf, which went into operation on 2 July 1902. Utilising the natural gradient of the terrain, the trains were uncoupled on the hump and then slowly rolled down the 6 run-off tracks. From 1930 onwards, the specially developed "rope discharge system" was used.
10.00 - 17.00 hrs
Public guided tours of the building by members of the local associations
Regular museum opening with associated offers (subject to charge)
Historic wooden hall
Zwickauer Straße 137 (in the rear area)
The cultural monument is a completely preserved production hall with a remarkable wooden supporting structure. It was built in 1866 for the embroidery machine manufacturer M. A. Voigt. The building is one of the earliest large-scale industrial buildings in Saxony in its original preserved wooden construction with solid outer walls. The hall is unique in Germany in terms of its type of construction and good degree of preservation. It is currently being renovated and put to a new use.
10.00 - 13.00 hrs
Guided tours of the building under renovation with Lars Dubberke (owner) and Kerstin Bochmann (architect)
Tenement house
The apartment block was built in 1912/13. The façade is rather plain. Inside, in addition to the period features (front door, terrazzo floors, wrought-iron banisters, tiled stove), a remarkable and high-quality decorative painting has been preserved. The hand-painted bouquets of flowers on the ceilings are particularly impressive, with different flowers such as anemones, forget-me-nots and roses taking centre stage on the individual floors.
10.30 a.m.
Explanations on the design of the staircase by Edgar Rüberg, City of Chemnitz Monument Protection Authority
Tram depot
Zwickauer Straße 164
The tram depot in the Kappel district of Chemnitz was the first tram depot to be built around 1880 for the horse-drawn tram lines in the city centre. After electrification and the increase in the number of carriages from 1893, the depot and carriage depot were expanded in stages. Today, parts of the depot are home to the "Chemnitz Tram Museum", where listed historic tramcars are restored and presented.
For the Capital of Culture 2023, the property will be presented as a "Garage Campus", the renovation and conversion work for which is currently underway.
10.00 am
Sleep concert for children with parents in hammocks (recommended for ages 3-10)
With Julia Buch, Julian Buch and Vincent Wieg
12.00 - 16.00
Opening of the tram museum
13.00 - 14.30
Guided tours of the building (current developments - construction site tour)
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Mill
Limbacher Str. 382
It is a residential and mill building built in 1893-94 with historical mill technology. The location of the Rottluffer Obermühle mill has been documented since 1548. In addition to its value in terms of local and technical history, the building is also significant as the childhood home of one of the leading artists of German Expressionism. Karl Schmidt-Rottluff spent his childhood and youth here and the building has now been largely renovated and the historic mill technology was put back into operation this year.
13.00 - 15.00
Guided tours of the building with members of the Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Association.
Küchwald Clinic
Bürgerstraße 2
The Küchwald Clinic complex is a medical facility with a group of regularly arranged, interrelated wards and ward blocks as well as irregularly arranged service buildings in front, plaster buildings in the style of the reform architecture of the early 20th century, surrounded by park-like green areas with old trees.
13.00 and 14.30
Guided tours of the grounds by employees of the clinic
Meeting point: main entrance house 10
Memorial site "GEDENKEN"
Flemmingstraße 8c
The GEDENKEN was created in 2007 by the artists Gregor-Torsten Kozik and Frank Maibier in collaboration with trainees from the SFZ Förderzentrum gGmbH and commemorates the terrible events that took place during National Socialism in the former "Royal Saxon State Educational Institution for the Blind and Feebleminded".The work commemorates the terrible events that took place in the former "Royal Saxon State Educational Centre for the Blind and Feebleminded" during National Socialism. The artwork GEDENKEN commemorates the 232 inmates of this institution who were systematically murdered as part of "Aktion T4".
13.00 - 15.30
Welcoming speeches by the "Unantastbar" network
Exchange on the memorial "GEDENKEN"
Musical accompaniment
Chemnitz Industrial Museum
Zwickauer Street 119
The Chemnitz Industrial Museum is located in an industrial-historical and architecturally valuable factory complex, which was one of the most important factories in Chemnitz after industrialisation. It consists of the former Hermann Escher AG tool factory with foundry hall, fettling shop, workshop buildings and the machine house, built in 1897-1907, and the neighbouring foundry of Schubert & Salzer AG, built in 1910. The sophisticated façade architecture with its high round arches is extremely effective in the cityscape.
14.00 hrs
Guided tour on the history of the architectural and monument ensemble with Mrs Karin Meisel, tour guide
Meeting point: ticket office area of the Industrial Museum; free admission to this tour, otherwise regular admission to the museum
Pre-registration under 0371/ 3676410 is recommended
New town hall
Market 1
Since autumn 2021, the Saxony State Office for Archaeology has been investigating the area between Augustusburger Straße and Theresenstraße on the edge of Chemnitz city centre. Between the foundations of a cellar, the archaeologists uncovered the remains of a mikveh, a ritual Jewish immersion bath. The exact dating is still being researched. The Chemnitz mikvah is one of the few older architectural testimonies to Jewish culture in Saxony and therefore has a special significance that extends beyond the city.
15.30 - 18.00 Exhibition opening
on the discovery of the mikvah during archaeological excavations in Johannisvorstadt
Greetings from representatives of the State Office for Archaeology of Saxony and the City of Chemnitz
Vehicle museum
Zwickauer Street 77
The multi-storey car park & motel building was built in 1928 as one of the first high-rise car parks in Germany using modern reinforced concrete construction. In response to the increasing parking problems, rental space for around 300 cars and motorbikes was offered here on 6 floors. The vehicles were taken to their parking spaces by lift. In addition to a petrol station, there was also a repair workshop, a battery and tyre service, as well as washing bays on each floor. The garage was open around the clock.
6.30 pm
Lecture on the history and construction of the historic multi-storey car park
with Karin Meisel, tour guide
Churches and cemeteries open on Open Monument Day
Municipal cemetery, Wartburgstraße 47
The municipal cemetery was opened in 1874 as an extensive complex, which was partly designed as a park. It is home to the cemetery hall built in 1872-73 and the laying-out house, the cemetery administration built in 1909, as well as the cemetery chapel, five memorials to the fallen, a memorial and numerous gravestones. The cemetery has outstanding historical significance as the main cemetery of the city of Chemnitz and as a valuable garden complex.
11.00 am - 1.30 pm
Guided tour of the cemetery with Mike Hähle, Chemnitz History Society
Meeting point: entrance cemetery side Reichenhainer Straße
Grove of honour of the socialists, Wartburgstraße 47
The Grove of Honour of the Socialists was inaugurated in 1982. This place of remembrance honours anti-fascist resistance fighters and people who used their strength and skills for reconstruction in 1945.
14.00 hrs
Lecture on the Grove of Honour of the Socialists by Grit Linke, city guide
Meeting point: on site
Evangelical Methodist Peace Church, Kaßbergstr. 30
The Protestant-Methodist Friedenskirche was built in 1893-94 in neo-Gothic style as a brick building according to plans by the architect Carl Bieber. The church has been almost completely preserved in its original design and is a key feature of the Wilhelminian-style residential neighbourhood of "Kaßberg".
11.30 - 15.00
Half-hourly guided tours of the church with members of the parish,
Offer of coffee and cake
St Jodokus Church Glösa, Kirchberg 2
The church on Glösa's "Eierberg", first documented in 1269, was later joined by a vicarage with a rectory and a church school. A defence wall with two towers served to fortify and defend the ensemble on the hilltop.
After the church was partially destroyed by bombing on 5 March 1945, it was rebuilt according to plans by architects Gerlach and Dr Laudeley. The rebuilt choir tower church was re-consecrated in 1954. The rectory, which was also the retirement home of Abbot Heinrich von Schleinitz of the Chemnitz Benedictine monastery from 1522, still contains a number of architecturally significant spolia.
14.00 hrs
Lecture on the subject of "500 years of the Glösa Altar" with qualified restorer Anne-Kathrin Lässig
15.30 hrs
Lecture on the topic: "The Glösa Altar and its surroundings" with Ramona Wagner, tour guide
4.30 pm
"Festive brass music" with the Glösa brass choir
St Nikolai cemetery and church, Michaelstraße 15
The church of St Nicholas was originally built in 1891-92 as a cemetery chapel in neo-baroque style. Since the church of St Nicholas was demolished after 1945, the chapel has served as a place of worship ever since.
St Nicholas' Cemetery was consecrated in 1815. The regular, rectangular-shaped cemetery is characterised by its park-like tree planting and the numerous, artistically designed graves.
15.00 hrs
Thematic cemetery tours at the Nikolai cemetery
17.00 hrs
Concert with the Kroning brass trio in the church of St Nikolai
Ebersdorf Collegiate Church, Lichtenauer Str. 56
The collegiate church in Ebersdorf forms a late Gothic ensemble with St Mary's Chapel, the two defence towers and the remains of the fortified churchyard. The church gained widespread importance as a pilgrimage church to the Virgin Mary from the middle of the 15th century. The ensemble is of particular urban significance in its central position in the village of Ebersdorf. For several years now, the natural stone façade of the collegiate church has been renovated in sections in line with its listed status.
2.00 pm
Lecture on the exterior renovation of the church by Dipl.-Ing. Andreas Lippmann, planning company Heidelmann & Klingebiel Dresden
3.30 pm
Lecture on the Hesse altar and wooden artworks in the church, as well as the history of the church by retired priest Horst Oertel
St Francis Catholic Church, An der Kolonie 8i
The Catholic church with parish hall, rectory and open spaces was built in the style of the 1970s during the GDR era. The architecturally sophisticated group of buildings is of architectural, historical and urban significance. The slightly hidden location in the centre of a residential area corresponds to the requirements of the time, which did not allow churches to be built in the public eye.
09.00 - 11.00 a.m. open
10.00 a.m.
Guided tour of the church on the history and detailed description of the altarpiece, followed by a small organ concert
St Mark's Church, Theodor-Körner-Platz
The neo-Gothic central building made of brick with a double-helmeted tower was built in 1893-95 according to plans by the architects Kröger and Abesser. Its elevated urban location in the centre of the Sonnenberg is outstanding. The church is architecturally rich in detail, which accounts for its special architectural value.
14.00 - 16-00 open
Guided tours of the tower every half and full hour
St Jakobi City Church, Jakobikirchplatz 1
Official closing event of the monument day
The Stadt- und Marktkirche St. Jakobi is located on one of the oldest church sites in Chemnitz and was the spiritual and social centre of the city for centuries. Situated in the immediate vicinity of the two town halls from the Middle Ages and early 20th century and using a shared tower as a bell tower, the sacred building is still part of an important urban ensemble today.17.00 hrs
Presentation of the restored apostles with words of welcome from representatives of the city of Chemnitz, prayer by the parish
The sculptures Jacobus, Petrus, Paulus and Johannes were created by the sculptor Anton Theodor Händler during the remodelling phase of St. Jakobi in 1875-79 and repeatedly changed their location at the church. The sculpture of St Paul was probably lost due to the destruction of the war around 1945. In recent years, the three remaining figures have been restored and have now been given a new location on the north side of St Jakobi Church.
5.30 pm
Official closing concert of the Monument Day in the church of St Jakobi
with Janis Neteler (guitar) and Christopher Fischer (vocals)