Speech OB 16.10.2013

Dear city councillors,

Dear citizens of Chemnitz,

Honoured citizens, presidents, managing directors

Dear Mr Superintendent

Dear professors,

Dear guests of honour.

The people of Chemnitz have entrusted me with the task of leading their city for another seven years. I am grateful for the trust placed in me. I accept this task in the knowledge of the great responsibility, with experience and great passion for my home city.

What can, what should and what will characterise our city in 2020 - 30 years after German reunification? What goals have we set ourselves and how do we want to achieve them?

Chemnitz, more than almost any other city, will be a place of successful change.

What characterises Chemnitz at its core as an industrial city is its ability to change. As a conscious decision, not as an unwanted adaptation. Here in the City Council, we decide which priorities we want to set for this.

It is no coincidence that the two pictures here in the town hall are apt metaphors for this: "Labour, Prosperity, Beauty" by Max Klinger and "Weighing up" by Neo Rauch.

I would like to address this change in my speech. We will also have to negotiate and decide here in the City Council what this means in detail for all areas of life in our city.

Chemnitz as a successful place of change, that is

A city of innovation through business and science, which requires the most important raw material we have: Education. This means that we must continue to invest in the education of our children.

By 2020, I want all schools and all daycare centres to be good, modern buildings. Places where people enjoy learning and playing. Schools and daycare centres must remain an investment priority.

I assume that the state government and the state parliament will also take their responsibility seriously and invest even more in the quality of education. This means, for example, a better childcare ratio in daycare centres.

It also means, for example, an increase in the childcare allowance and it also means ensuring that our schools have sufficient and well-trained teachers for our children.

To achieve this, it is necessary for the teacher training programme that has just been launched at our university to become firmly established. The teacher training programme in Chemnitz is also a clear sign of change: young teachers are needed again.

Industrial cities such as Chemnitz are the places where the future is conceived. This is why Germany is doing comparatively well despite global crises and competition.

Excellent teaching, research, development and training are the key to success.

Our Technical University is our basis for this. You can see and feel that it is developing in an excellent way.

The remodelling and new buildings on campus are the obvious signs of this development, from which not only our university itself, the two Fraunhofer Institutes, but above all many of our companies benefit in many ways.

The planned Unikarree am Brühl is driving us forward. The rector, chancellor and professors are involved in the development of the city. Students from other countries and regions come to us and get involved in life in our city. They bring a new perspective on our city and its culture. That's right and it's expressly wanted. That is good for us.

By 2020, the university square with the central library and the Brühl will have established itself as a city centre driving force. A new tram line will connect the university campuses with the surrounding area through the city centre. In the immediate vicinity of the campus, the Smart Systems Campus and the Fraunhofer Institutes, we will develop new areas to create space for companies and other research institutes.

We will support our university wherever we can. It is a place for scientific innovation and excellence, but also a place for social and cultural impulses.

We experience this, for example, at the International Stefan Heym Conference, at the running cult tour, in the art collections, at the discussion at Brühl or in alternative projects such as Kompott on Leipziger Straße.

A city of innovation through business and science, this includes not only the important industrial companies but also the many craft businesses in Chemnitz.

When I became mayor in 2006, there were still too few apprenticeships for the many school leavers. Today, that has changed.

The skilled trades in particular have accepted this new challenge and recognised it early on:

The companies are active and are recruiting young people in imaginative ways. Early career guidance is becoming common practice.

The Chamber of Crafts' summer camps are also a good way of giving all young people a chance. Young people at risk of leaving school are motivated, looked after, challenged and given guidance.

Ladies and gentlemen,

A city of innovation through business and science needs a strong economic development programme. I would like to align it even more closely with the tasks of the future, both in terms of content and structure.

For our medium-sized companies, many of which now operate internationally, research and development are a prerequisite for continued success. Many start-ups in Chemnitz are the result of innovative product ideas.

In the future, we will not only need commercial space - which we also need - but we also need an economic development agency that acts as a strong network and service provider, supporting and accompanying the various and differently organised companies, regardless of their size. And just as actively recognises new trends and entrepreneurial ideas and helps drive their implementation.

I also mentioned demographic change at the beginning.

So what does successful demographic change mean?

When I, as Mayor of Chemnitz, am invited to a discussion or a lecture outside the city, I often hear: "Chemnitz is the oldest major European city, how do you do it? How do you cope with demographic change?"

On the one hand, this says something about the view of us from the outside - and on the other, it is an opportunity to counter several prejudices. Like many German and European cities, we have a new task:

We will develop our community, our coexistence, in such a way that the many older people feel looked after.

There is still a lot to do to achieve this:

When today's older people were young, they were in the majority. Chemnitz / Karl-Marx-Stadt was a young city for a long time. Like many cities. That has changed.

We need a climate of acceptance and tolerance for very different lifestyles. That applies to all generations. And not just Chemnitz.

Part of successful demographic change is that we utilise all opportunities and potential to inspire young people for our city and give them a perspective here.

The majority of the older generation want their children and grandchildren to start their families here, to have a place to live. And we need immigration.

We have a lot to offer:

What we sometimes lack is

And we have to want that! Young people should be able to try out and establish their own culture. Regardless of whether they are from Chemnitz or perhaps want to become one.

That means change, yes, just like on the Brühl.

And just as the old need understanding, the young also need tolerance, open-mindedness, respect and sometimes simply indulgence.

And if you want Chemnitz's somewhat dismal image to change, you need to be part of it.

Today, the younger generations have alternatives. There are often many options and they are needed in many places. We must succeed in attracting them to us or keeping them here, because this is one of the key issues for the future and successful change. Without qualified young talent, there are no prospects for companies. Without the ideas of young people, there can be no sustainable development. I will always advocate a climate of openness in Chemnitz and, if necessary, take sides in favour of the young.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I have already briefly touched on the image of Chemnitz.

Almost all of you have already experienced that the view of Chemnitz from the outside is often not quite so favourable. But we Chemnitz residents are also quite good at badmouthing our city. The question is: does it have to stay that way? I think not.

The people of Chemnitz have achieved so much without a rich heritage, the quality of life is high and the city has history, potential and prospects: solid fuel for authentic civic pride.

Of course, the best and most convincing advertisers for a city are still its citizens.

But we also have considerable reserves when it comes to city marketing.

What, how and where do we tell people about Chemnitz? What messages, what stories? Who are our partners and advertising media? Who do we want to reach?

Changing the image of Chemnitz can only succeed as a joint effort by all of us who have something to say, to tell, to decide, to show, who make up this city.

A great joint endeavour that embodies pride and identity, despite Chemnitz's endearing modesty. Credibility. That makes it attractive.

In September, MDR devoted a programme focus to the city of Chemnitz. The title of the central discussion was: "Chemnitz, the faceless city".

I want Chemnitz to receive respect and interest rather than pitying ignorance by 2020.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In its transformation processes, Chemnitz is part of a global world. We want to be shapers, not drivers. That is my mission. That is also your mission as a city councillor, professor, president of a chamber, president of an industrial association, theatre director, managing director of a housing association or journalist.

Between now and 2020, many international and national events, decisions, elections, coalitions and laws will influence our city.

The effects of the 2008 financial crisis alone will affect our creative power far beyond 2015. The upcoming negotiations on the financial equalisation of the federal states, which will have to be reorganised after the Solidarity Pact expires, harbours risks and opportunities.

Almost all German cities suffer from inadequate financial resources.

Patched-up roads, an increasing number of bridges in need of renovation, old swimming pools and ageing sports facilities, collective wage agreements and staff cuts in public services are not just a problem in Chemnitz.

It is simply impossible to invest sufficiently and finance adequately with the city's own tax revenues - which are constantly growing thanks to the strong economy - and the declining key allocations from the state.

Almost all cost increases in culture, sport and social services in Saxony are also borne by the local authorities alone.

I think I can say that the majority in this House of the City Council are in favour of this: We want a strong offering of top-class culture and the independent scene, good sports facilities, successful athletes, appropriate support for our clubs and, above all, we want a social city.

However, this will become increasingly difficult if there is no change in thinking - and here, of course, I am also thinking of our own federal state.

Despite our own budgetary discipline and debt reduction, we are increasingly being forced to make savings, the effects of which will be much more expensive than their financial benefit can ever be.

The regulation of financial resources is an example of the limits of municipal self-determination.

Our common goal should be to work across party lines in Saxony and in the Bundestag to strengthen the municipalities.

I also address this appeal to the basic understanding of our joint work here in the city council. We are elected by the citizens and our first duty is to the citizens. That is our oath.

Good solutions must also be fought for in the face of conflicting arguments. Yes, that is part of a vibrant democratic culture. Recognition and

However, our work is recognised and appreciated above all by the quality of the results of our decisions.