On Europe Day - Friday, 9 May - from 3 pm, Lord Mayor Sven Schulze will welcome numerous guests from politics, business, EU work and urban society as well as representatives of European institutions to the Garage Campus, Zwickauer Straße 164. Representatives from the embassies of the Netherlands, Poland and Slovenia will also be in attendance.
Representatives of the media are also invited.
The afternoon will focus on mutual exchange and the presentation of Chemnitz as European Capital of Culture 2025. Speeches from the Netherlands, Poland and Slovenia are planned. Lord Mayor Sven Schulze will also take stock of the Europe Week and invite further networking.
Guests will be able to see at least one of the results for themselves. The reception will take place on the Garage Campus, one of the intervention areas of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025. A cultural venue has been created on the site of the former tram depot, offering space for workshops, exhibitions and encounters. It has been open since March 2025 and is already being used as a venue for the City of Chemnitz's twin city conference during Europe Week. From Wednesday, 7 May, around 30 representatives from seven partner cities will discuss their future cooperation with Chemnitz stakeholders in workshops.
In addition, the "#3000Garages" exhibition will be opened following the reception at 5 pm. It presents the phenomenon of the East Garage in all its facets and brings together works of art, documentation and curious finds.
Background
A significant date for Europe was chosen for the reception in the European Capital of Culture: 9 May 1950 is considered the birth of the European Union. On this day, the then French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman presented his plan to establish the European Coal and Steel Community. This grew into today's European Union. The number of member states rose from six to 27 and the range of topics covered also became more diverse. Since 1985, for example, the confederation has awarded the title of European Capital of Culture every year. In 2025, Chemnitz and the border towns of Nova Goriza (Slovenia)/Gorizia (Italy) will be honoured with this title.