Dear readers, dear guests of Chemnitz,
in the summer of 2016, first public discussions came up whether Chemnitz should apply for the title of ‘European Capital of Culture 2025’. At the time, Chemnitz had just completed a number of hapless applications and the local media tended to write: ‘If we're going to hand in another application, it has to work this time. We have to win!’ Not an easy demand to fulfil in the face of competitors such as Dresden, Goerlitz, Magdeburg, Nuremberg, Hildesheim and Hanover – all major German cities of culture and some of them capital cities in federal Germany. So why us?
We believe we have something to say to Europe. We can talk about the renamings of our city, about upswings, crises and transformations. We can tell stories of difficulties with foreigners, of wide-open arms and open hearts. Of times when we felt we were at the centre of Europe, and of times when we thought we were on the forgotten periphery. We can talk about how we experience the division in society today and how we are trying to piece it back together again. How we learn to endure contradictions or practise discourse and democracy. We are the westernmost city in Eastern Europe and the easternmost city in the West. Unusual, but central (which you can’t really believe when you’re trying to travel here).
Our magazine Chemnitz Inside has been following the city’s development for 17 years now. And, of course, we have also closely followed the process of Chemnitz becoming an European Capital of Culture 2025 – from the initial idea in 2016 to the two-stage application process and the programme announcement in October 2025. Now we are just as excited as you are to see what events the title year will bring us, which people we will meet (maybe even you!) and what both we ourselves and Europe will think about us after this year.
This special edition of our magazine, is welcoming you to our city. We don't want to present you with a glossy brochure that shows you all the sights in our city and the upcoming highlights in our city – you can easily find such brochures and books at the Tourist Information or the Welcome Centre. Instead, we would like to tell you about the process: How does one become a Capital of Culture? What discussions are necessary? What plans are made at the beginning? What ideas are lost and why?
To this end, we have compiled our most important ‘ECoC texts’ from the past eight years, gently updated them and subjected plans to a reality check. We hope that this idea will help you to understand Chemnitz and everything you experience here a bit better. And maybe by the end you’ll be thinking: yes, we should return here again in 2026, 2027 or 2030 at the latest.
We are delighted to have you as a guest in our city. We are pleased that you have picked up this magazine. We hope you enjoy reading it.
The editors of Chemnitz Inside!