The countdown has already begun: with a series of amazing events, Chemnitz will celebrate on January 18 the city’s declaration of European Capital of Culture for 2025.

The city is expected to welcome around 80,000 visitors, while the opening ceremony of the celebrations at the iconic Monument to Karl Marx will be attended by prominent figures – with the organizers not wanting to reveal any further details. “It will be a big surprise,” program head Stefan Schmidke told the German News Agency (dpa).

What we do know is that events are scheduled to take place in various parts of the city, a special ceremony at the opera house and a rave party at the town hall. The first day of the celebrations will end with parties in various clubs of the city.

More than 200 projects

Within the next few days, the extensive program of events, which includes 229 projects, will be published, says Schmidke.

Among other things, there will be, for example, a path with artistic works and sculptures, the “Purple Path”, which will connect the city with the countryside, as well as an exhibition with works by Edvard Munch. Of course, there will be dance, music and art festivals, high-level exhibitions on the transformation of European industrial cities and on European artistic currents. In addition, the opera “Rummelplatz”, based on the novel of the same name by Werner Breuning, will be presented for the first time.

80 years after its end World War IIwar and peace will once again be at the forefront of the event’s theme, Schmidke said, and the cyclists of the European Peace Ride will once again revive the idea behind the International Peace Ride.

5 May will also see various actions for peace in the city – on 5 May 1945 part of the city was destroyed by Allied air raids, which resulted in the death of around 2,100 people.

At Chemnitz preparations have already started since… 2017. Many argue that the declaration of the city as a Capital of Culture was actually a reaction to the far-right uprisings of 2018. But according to Schmidke the process had started even earlier – and the events of 2018 they merely enhanced its importance.

Edited by: Giorgos Passas