Open Monument Day 2024: Description of the monuments
Küchwald open-air theatre
Küchwaldring 34
The open-air theatre in Küchwald was built in 1956-63 on the ruins of the war-damaged "Küchwaldschänke" as part of the National Reconstruction Work (NAW) according to plans by Chemnitz architect Roland Hühnerfürst. With its ensemble of buildings, striking tower and large flight of steps, it occupies a prominent position on the large festival meadow at Küchwald. The building ensemble is part of the traditional post-war architecture characterised by neoclassicism.
Organiser: Küchwaldbühne e. V.
10.00 a.m.
Musical entertainment on the staircase platforms by -Traveler-
11.30 a.m.
Guided tour of the Küchwaldbühne
12.30 pm
Film screening in the Bildwerferhaus - "In einer lauen Sommernacht"
Kaßberg prison as a place of learning and remembrance
Kaßbergstraße 16c
This building has a long history: built in 1867/77 as a prison according to the standards of Victorian prison architecture at the time, it was used by the National Socialists from 1933-45 as a remand and penal prison and finally by the NKVD from 1945-52 and the MfS as a remand centre from 1952. It was from here that the German-German prisoner release programme took place in the years 1963-89.
After the entire building was renovated, part of it now houses a memorial and learning centre, which has been taken over by an association.
Organiser: Lern- und Gedenkort Kaßberg-Gefängnis e.V.
11.00 a.m.
Guided tour on the topic: "Double dictatorship history of the former political prison, prisoner release and presentation of the memorial site concept", accompanied by contemporary witness Rolf Kiesel
14.00 hrs
Guided tour with Marc Rennfleisch (rennfleisch ARCHITEKTEN) from the former prison wing B to the new learning centre
Castle Hill Museum
Schloßberg 12
The property was originally a former Benedictine monastery, which was converted into a Saxon official castle in the 16th century. The monastery building now houses the Schlossberg Museum. The cloister building and the remains of the cloister have been preserved from its origins. The monastery church, which later became the castle church, has also been preserved.
Organiser: City of Chemnitz
11.00 a.m.
Guided tours through the two special exhibitions "Between guild and factory" and "Chiselled in stone"
Apartment blocks
Fritz-Reuter-Strasse 33-35
The properties are tenement buildings from the pre-founding-era development of Chemnitz's southern suburbs. The area of today's Reitbahnviertel was located south of the medieval city centre. With the rapid development of Chemnitz due to industrialisation from the mid-19th century and the associated development into a major industrial city, the area was increasingly expanded with residential and commercial buildings.
Organiser: Dinero Portfolio GmbH
11.00 am and 2.00 pm
Explanations of the properties undergoing refurbishment
by Olaf Köhler (Dinero Portfolio GmbH) and Carina Berger (City of Chemnitz Monument Protection Authority)
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Residence
Limbacher Street 382
The building is the former country house of the family of mill owner Friedrich August Schmidt in the Rottluff district, which was built above the mill building in 1913-14 in the Jugendstil and Heimatstil styles. The architect was Oskar Hempel. The artist Karl Schmidt-Rottluff lived on the upper floor of the building from 1943-46. Some of his surviving drawings and watercolours show the village landscape around the building.
Organiser: Heidelmann & Klingebiel Planungsgesellschaft mbH
10.00 - 11.30 a.m.
Guided tours of the building site, maximum 10 people
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Mill
Limbacher Street 380
The location of the Rottluffer Obermühle mill has been documented since 1548. The existing property is the residential and mill building of Chemnitz-Rottluff, built around 1893-94 in place of a burnt-down predecessor building, with historical mill technology. In addition to its value in terms of local and technical history, the building is also significant as the childhood home of Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, who spent his childhood and youth here.
Organiser: Förderverein Karl Schmidt-Rottluff e.V.
13.00 - 15.00
Guided tours of the building, maximum 25 people
Chemnitz Industrial Museum
Zwickauer Street 119
The Chemnitz Industrial Museum is an extensive, industrial-historical and architecturally valuable factory complex that represents one of the most important industrial facilities in Chemnitz. 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 is extremely effective in the cityscape.
Organiser: Chemnitz Industrial Museum
14.00 hrs
Guided tour on the history of the architectural and monumental ensemble - with tour guide Karin Meisel
Meeting point: IMC entrance hall
Schillerplatz
Street of Nations / Georgstraße / Richard-Tauber-Straße
Schillerplatz is an ornamental square from around 1860 that was designed in several planning phases to commemorate the 100th birthday of Friedrich Schiller. The final design was a combination of the designs by Lenné, Götze and Klensky. The construction of the Petrikirche church and the "Chemnitzer-Hof" hotel significantly reduced the original ornamental square. Changes were made around 1890, around 1910, after 1945 and around 1960.
Organiser: City of Chemnitz
10.30 a.m.
Press conference on the redevelopment of the park with restoration of the historic 19th-century paths
with Michael Stötzer, Mayor of Construction
Küchwald Clinic
Bürgerstraße 2
The Küchwald Clinic complex is a medical facility with a group of regularly arranged, interrelated ward and bed buildings as well as irregularly arranged service buildings in front of them - plaster buildings in the style of the reform architecture of the early 20th century, surrounded by park-like green areas with old trees.
Organiser: Klinikum Chemnitz gGmbH
13.00 - 16.00 hrs
Guided tours of the grounds by employees of Chemnitz Hospital
Meeting point at the main entrance to House 10
Boiler house of the former power station of the Chemnitz-Hilbersdorf marshalling yard
Frankenberger Street 153
The railway power station was built around 1900 and extended in the 1920s. It mainly consisted of the old boiler house, the new boiler house, the engine house, the switch house, the administration building and other annexes and connecting buildings. With the exception of the new boiler house from the end of the 1920s, all of these buildings were demolished in 2021/2022. The new boiler house was preserved and the roof and façade were renovated. Some of the historical technical equipment is still in place.
Organiser: Fahrlogistik Götze
10.00 and 11.00 am
Guided tours of the boiler house with Jan Götze (owner) and Cathrin Fuchs (City of Chemnitz heritage protection authority)
Place of learning and remembrance at 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".
Organiser: SFZ Förderzentrum
12.45 - 16.30
Musical and creative contributions to the culture of remembrance, test call for app-supported, historical terrain rally
13.00 hrs
"What happened to Günter Neubauer", a family research project
(on the grounds of Flemmingstraße 8c at GEDENKEN and in House 35 of the Chemnitz State School for the Blind and Visually Impaired)
Guided tour of Chemnitz landmarks
Organiser: Tour guide Grit Linke
14.00 hrs
Meeting point: Karl Marx Monument
Guided tour of the city centre, including stops at the Red Tower, Old and New Town Hall
Churches and cemeteries open on Open Monument Day
St Jakobi City Church, Jakobikirchplatz 1
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 neighbourhood 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.
12.00 - 14.00
open church
13.00 hrs
Guided tour of the church with Regina Reichel
Ebersdorf Collegiate Church, Lichtenauer Str. 56
Together with St Mary's Chapel, the two defence towers and the remains of the fortified churchyard, the collegiate church in Ebersdorf forms a late Gothic ensemble. The church gained widespread importance as a Marian pilgrimage church from the middle of the 15th century. The collegiate church is of urban planning significance due to its central position in the village centre of Ebersdorf. In the Baroque period, a stately rectory building was added to the east side of the ensemble.
from 14.00 hrs
Festive event - church service and matinee to mark the completion of the façade renovation
Lecture by Dipl.-Ing. Andreas Lippmann (Heidelmann and Klingebiel Dresden planning company) on the subject of façade refurbishment
Castle church, Schloßberg 11
The monastery and later castle church of St Mary's, part of the former Benedictine monastery (12th century), is a church building surrounded by the extensive former monastery grounds and later castle, which has survived in the Upper Silesian late Gothic style with remnants of the original Romanesque predecessor buildings.
14.00 - 18.00 hrs
Open church with accompanying programme - "Catering as in monastery times", children's activities, opportunity to climb the tower until 5 p.m., exhibition of paintings by Marc Chagall and Salvador Dalí
14.00 and 16.00
Guided tour of the church
3.00 pm
"Clever. Brave. Beautiful. - The women of St Catherine's Altar" - explanations of the altar
17.30 hrs
Organ music on the day of the open monument
St John's Church Chemnitz-Reichenbrand, Zwickauer Straße 514
The large classicist hall church was built in 1804-10 by Johann Traugott Lohse. The exterior is characterised by simple monumentality. The eastern façade with portal and a triangular pediment supported by sturdy columns was emphasised. Inside, it is an excellently preserved example of a preaching church in the transition from Baroque to Classicism. The interior with galleries, pulpit altar and organ are largely original.
14.00 hrs
Guided tour of the renovation and restoration work in the church interior, with musical accompaniment
Evangelical Methodist Church of Peace, Kaßbergstraße 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".
11.00 - 15.00
open church with guided tours
St. Peter's Church, Theatre Square 3
St Peter's Church was built in 1885-88 following an architectural competition based on designs by Leipzig architect Hans Enger in neo-Gothic style. It was the first building on the communal edge of Chemnitz's new town and is still one of the largest churches in the city today, seating 1,200 people.
14.00 - 18.00
open church
St Mark's Church, Theodor-Körner-Platz 12
Neo-Gothic central building made of brick, built in 1893-95 by the architects Kröger and Abesser with a double-helmeted tower. In the tympanum of the entrance portal there is a colourful mosaic of St Mark the Evangelist. In the interior there is further evidence of the original painting and coloured stained glass windows. Open seating since the 1992-2000 renovation, used for church services, concerts and events.
13.00 - 17.00
open church, guided tours and tower tours possible on request
Nikolai Cemetery, Michaelstraße 15
The Nikolai cemetery was consecrated in 1815. The regular, rectangular-shaped cemetery is characterised by its park-like tree planting and the numerous, attractively designed graves.
15.00 hrs
Thematic guided tours of the cemetery
St Nikolai Church, Michaelstraße 15
The building was originally erected in 1891-92 as a cemetery chapel in neo-Gothic style according to plans by Christian Schramm. Since the church of the St Nicholas parish had to be demolished after 1945, this chapel has served as a place of worship ever since.
Organiser: Ev.-Luth. Kirchgemeinde St.-Nikolai-Thomas and City of Chemnitz
17.00
Official closing concert of the memorial day
"Time stands still", English music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods
with Janis Neteler (lute) and Christopher Fischer (vocals)