Chemnitz Valley cycle path rest area
For the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025, the open space on Chemnitztalstraße near Heinersdorfer Straße was selected as an intervention area for the Chemnitz-Nord citizens' platform. The aim was to create a new rest area on the city's longest cycle path near the historic Fischwegbrücke bridge.
The 130-year-old bridge structure, already unused at the time, was moved as part of the project and incorporated into the design of the rest area. It not only serves as a striking backdrop, but also makes the history of the place directly tangible.
The rest area invites cyclists and guests to linger and combines recreation, culture and city history in a special way.
Historic bridge as a backdrop in a new location
The bridge, which was built in 1891/1892, changed its location several times and had been unused since 2005. The search for a suitable location for the rest area and the fishway bridge was a lengthy one, as environmental and nature conservation requirements as well as available land had to be taken into account. In the end, the city and citizens agreed on the current location through dialogue.
Final journey of a bridge
Construction began in June 2024. The implementation planning was presented to the Chemnitz-Nord citizens' platform and interested citizens at the beginning of July 2024. On 11 and 12 July 2024, the fishway bridge, which had previously been stored on a neighbouring property, was moved to its new location at the rest area using a crane. The project was completed in February 2025.
This created a public square in the north of Chemnitz with various seating elements, a pavilion, bicycle racks (five standardised and eight bicycle racks in the letters CHEMNITZ) and an orchard of 13 fruit trees (apple, cherry, pear and plum). The Fischwegbrücke bridge is once again accessible and can be used for small-scale art performances, for example. 325,000 euros from the Capital of Culture budget were available for the design of the public square.
Opening with a big bike tour
On 28 March 2025, Mayor Michael Stötzer, together with the Chemnitz-Nord citizens' platform, ceremoniously handed over the new rest area with the Fischweg bridge not far from the Chemnitz Valley cycle path on Chemnitztalstraße near Heinersdorfer Straße to the people of Chemnitz and their guests.
Beforehand, interested parties were invited on a cycle tour along the Chemnitz. This starts at the Klapperbrunnen fountain at the bus station and leads via "Helgoland" to the new rest area. Together with Mayor Michael Stötzer and tour guide Ramona Wagner, the participants explored further intervention areas by bike along the route to Draisdorf.
Art installation: A forest of light and fabric
On the evening of 23 August 2025, the rest area at the Fischweg Bridge in Chemnitz became part of a site-specific art installation by Slovenian artists Simon Skalar and Irena Gayatri Horvat. Under the title "Reforestation of Failed Industry", the artists presented their work as part of the fertsch - the weekend of IF programme in the context of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025.
The installation used over fifty silk panels attached to the bridge and illuminated in the twilight by projections, laser beams and LED lights. This was accompanied by wafts of mist, which emphasised the atmosphere between reality and artistic interpretation of industrial history.
The work was accompanied by a sequence of spherical sounds that merged into a minimalist piano composition entitled "The Last Train". Film projections on the fabric panels showed shadows of trains, historical figures and relics of industrial history. An experimental film about capitalism rounded off the presentation.
The installation made the transience of industrial structures visible and at the same time thematised the reconquest by nature. It offered visitors a visual and acoustic experience as well as stimuli for analysing the transformation of former industrial areas.
