The opening of the European Capital of Culture 2025
On January 18, 2025, the official starting signal for the Capital of Culture year will be given in Chemnitz. Experience the third-largest city in Saxony and 38 municipalities in Central Saxony, the Ore Mountains, and Zwickau as you have never seen them before - true to the motto "C THE UNSEEN". More than 1000 events are waiting to be discovered.
The opening programme on January 18, 2025 offers a first glimpse into the Cultural Capital year. In a 'Programme Showcase', over 60 of the total 160 Cultural Capital projects will present themselves on three stages at the Chemnitz Stadthalle with short individual insights into their plans. Furthermore, the tourism associations will present attractions from the region in the Stadthalle. In the afternoon, three open-air stages in the city center will feature a programme that changes every half hour. In Rosenhof, the 'Plates of the World' invites you to taste the culinary diversity of the city.
120 volunteers have come together in eight teams to pull the historic steam locomotive 'Hegel' of the Chemnitz machine builder Richard Hartmann through the city center in several stages in the evening. The event is a look back at the past and at the same time a vision for the future: The 'pulling along' illustrates the last 140 years up to the year 2025. Furthermore, it demonstrates the maker qualities of the people in Chemnitz, who are characterized by their collective strength and democratic attitude. The highlight is at 7:00 PM with the grand opening show in front of the Karl Marx head in the Chemnitz city center. Following the stage show, there will be a rave in front of the town hall and aftershow parties in clubs around the city.
On Sunday, the 19th of January 2025 at 12:00 PM, a European policy discussion will take place at the Hartmannfabrik (the visitor and information center of Chemnitz 2025). The panel will include programme directors from Bad Ischl Salzkammergut 2024 (Dr. Elisabeth Schweeger), Chemnitz 2025 (Stefan Schmidtke), and Trenčín 2026 (Lenka Kuricová - pending confirmation). The event is free of charge. Please register in advance. Participation only possible after registration. There will be a musical programme on the stage at Neumarkt from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
Throughout the weekend, Chemnitz and the Capital of Culture region with its 38 municipalities offer a varied accompanying programme. Detailed information can be found in the event calendar at chemnitz2025.de/en/events.