Discover cultural niches

Ingo Scheller & Matthias Döhler

In the backyard of Weltecho, one of the most beautiful subcultural meeting places in the centre of Chemnitz, you can sit in the shade and chat in summer. But it is even more than that: a place for arthouse cinema, experimental music and art. The two associations Das Ufer e.V. and Oscar e.V. have been running the Weltecho for ten years. We spoke to Ingo Scheller and Matthias Döhler about their cultural programme, which has become an integral part of Chemnitz.

What does Weltecho stand for?
Matthias Döhler: It is important to us to have an exciting and broad mix of genres. Many different genres come together here in the theatre: Cinema, theatre, exhibitions and clubs. We see the cultural focus in the contemporary exhibitions in the gallery or the concert series for new music. But we are actually a general shop of subculture.
Ingo Scheller: We naturally cater to the tastes of the public. We cross-finance ourselves by filling the house with good parties. And then we can also afford something for a smaller audience.

In the evening, a pleasantly dim light shines from the lamps in the backyard café. The lights were built more than twenty years ago by Ingo Scheller from the Das Ufer e.V. association for the former VOXXX club. This is where the joint club history began 25 years ago. The two organisations Das Ufer e.V. and Oscar e.V. started the off-culture project in 1992. While Oscar e.V., founded and consisting of Chemnitz artists including Carsten Nicolai, Steffen Volmer and Frank Maibier, is responsible for the gallery programme and provides artistic impetus, Ufer e.V. contributes its experience in the cinema and event sector. VOXXX quickly developed into a platform for contemporary, young art and a popular and alternative meeting place. After 13 years, what was probably the deepest break in the association's history followed: VOXXX had to close. This was followed by the interim project Kapital behind the Karl-Marx-Kopf. And in 2007, the two clubs started all over again - in the former Chamber of Technology as Weltecho. "It took a lot of imagination to turn this into a cultural meeting place," recalls Ingo Scheller of the first visits.

What do you say to people who say there's nothing going on in Chemnitz?
Matthias Döhler: That's not true.
Ingo Scheller: That's rubbish. (both laugh) That's all there is to it.

So it's all prejudice?
Ingo Scheller: There are already many initiatives here and also many opportunities to go out. There is sometimes a lack of young people who like to go out. You have to take advantage of the offers that are there. A lot of things have been created in recent years that are good for the city: the Kosmonaut Festival, the Fête de la musique, the Fuego a la isla.
Matthias Döhler : The people who organise things usually know each other. There are also collaborations between the organisers. For example, we organise the live concert here and the after-show party is then held at Tesla. But it also works the other way round. This year, for example, the aftershow of the Fête de la musique was at Weltecho.

How do artists who perform with you see the city?
Ingo Scheller: When I pick up artists from the train station, they often ask: Is it a public holiday here? They're not used to things being more tranquil here. But most of the time we don't have time for a city tour. The bands often arrive just before the concert. But many still want to see the Nischel. And they also leave with a good feeling because our location is just right. Of course, it always depends on how many people turn up and what the atmosphere is like.

Are you happy with the audience numbers?
Ingo Scheller: Chemnitz is very special. Sometimes only a few people come to really good things. That's disappointing for us and especially for the artists. But we don't let that discourage us, we prefer to look for niches. For example, we are currently trying out a new series in which we want to do something on one day where nobody else is doing anything. Together with Wolkenkuckucksheim, the festival at the Spinnerei, we are organising Monday concerts. The main thing is to be weird. And that's going pretty well at the moment.

Watching Tatort together on Sundays is also popular with you. Was that also a niche?
Matthias Döhler: That arose out of personal interest. Instead of everyone watching it alone at home, we wanted to turn it into a joint event. A hard core quickly emerged that wanted to watch it regularly.

A highlight of the Weltecho programme is the KammerMachen festival, which celebrated its tenth edition last year. An entire week revolves around theatre, music and sound art. The tangomarx series has also been established for many years. The café then becomes a dance venue and people dance and party to music from Argentina and other parts of the world.

How do your jazz formats and new music concert series go down?
Matthias Döhler: Both musical genres have a special, but also loyal audience. They also expect sophisticated music and are keen to experiment. I have often found that our Klangwerk series and our jazz formats are successful because they are recommended time and time again.
Ingo Scheller: We don't expect full halls here either. It is something elitist that is part of our cultural programme. We also organise composition competitions with the music school, for example, as a further building block for new music. That's not common nationwide.

You are planning to expand and open up new rooms in the building for club events. When will this happen?
Ingo Scheller: We will open the new club in September. The previous rooms will no longer be used for club events in order to avoid trouble with the neighbours. Instead, the owner, GGG, is extending the first floor. The room is quite large and gives us completely new possibilities.
Matthias Döhler: In future, we will be able to use the room where our parties usually take place more for cinema events. Previously, we always had to move the cinema seating out when parties were planned at the weekend. That will no longer be necessary.

Where do you see Chemnitz heading? What will the city look like in 2025?
Ingo Scheller: We need even more people to move into the city. You can still tell in Chemnitz today that many people left the city in the 1990s. Chemnitz had around 1,500 new residents in 2016, Leipzig almost ten times as many. I hope that will come at some point. We have been offering culture in Chemnitz for 25 years now and are making our contribution. Of course, we want the city to grow and become more attractive. We take a positive view of it all and continue to fight, otherwise we wouldn't be here.
Matthias Döhler: And the people who live in the city should perhaps simply take more notice of the cultural events. Chemnitz is an economically strong city after all. I would hope that this would also leave a stronger mark on the cultural scene.