Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

state of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a ...

after

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

and

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

after ( East)

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

, Leipzig and Dresden. The city is part of the

Central German Metropolitan Region The Central German Metropolitan Region (german: Metropolregion Mitteldeutschland) is one of the officially established metropolitan regions in Germany. It is centered on the major cities of Leipzig and Halle, extending over Central German parts ...

, and lies in the middle of a string of cities sitting in the densely populated northern foreland of the Elster and Ore Mountains, stretching from

Plauen Plauen (; Czech: ''Plavno'') is, with around 65,000 inhabitants, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the largest city in t ...

in the southwest via

Zwickau Zwickau (; is, with around 87,500 inhabitants (2020), the fourth-largest city of Saxony after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz and it is the seat of the Zwickau District. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ' ...

, Chemnitz and Freiberg to Dresden in the northeast. Located in the

Ore Mountain Basin The Ore Mountain BasinCentral Saxon Hill Country to the north. The city stands on the

Chemnitz River The Chemnitz is a river in Saxony, Germany, a right tributary of the Zwickauer Mulde. It gave name to the city of Chemnitz, where it is formed by the smaller rivers Zwönitz and Würschnitz. It joins the Zwickauer Mulde near Wechselburg, sout ...

(progression: ), which is formed through the confluence of the rivers

Zwönitz Zwönitz () is a town in the district Erzgebirgskreis, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated 9 km south of Stollberg, and 24 km southwest of Chemnitz. Parts of the town Zwönitz consists of: Population * 1542 – 570 * 1697 – 7 ...

and

Würschnitz The Würschnitz is a river of Saxony, Germany. At its confluence with the Zwönitz in the southern suburbs of Chemnitz, the river Chemnitz is formed. See also *List of rivers of Saxony A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or list ...

in the borough of Altchemnitz. The name of the city as well as the names of the rivers are of Slavic origin. Chemnitz is the third largest city in the Thuringian-

Upper Saxon Upper Saxon (german: Obersächsisch, ; ) is an East Central German language spoken in much of the modern German state of Saxony and in adjacent parts of southeastern Saxony-Anhalt and eastern Thuringia. As of the early 21st century, it's mo ...

dialect area after Leipzig and Dresden. The city's economy is based on the service sector and manufacturing industry.

Chemnitz University of Technology Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germ ...

has around 10,000 students. Chemnitz will be the European Capital of Culture of 2025.

Etymology

Chemnitz is named after the river Chemnitz, a small tributary of the Zwickau Mulde. The word "Chemnitz" is from the

Sorbian language The Sorbian languages ( hsb, serbska rěč, dsb, serbska rěc) are the Upper Sorbian language and Lower Sorbian language, two closely related and partially mutually intelligible languages spoken by the Sorbs, a West Slavic ethno-cultural min ...

( hsb, Kamjenica), and means "stony rook. The word is composed of the Slavic word meaning "stone" and the feminine suffix . It is known in Czech as and in Polish as . There are many other towns named Kamienica or Kamenice in areas with past or present Slavic settlement.

History

Free imperial city

An early Slavic tribe's settlement was located at , and the first documented use of this name was in 1143, as the location of a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery around which a settlement grew. Around 1170,

Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt ...

granted this the rights of a

free imperial city In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...

. Kamienica was later Germanised as Chemnitz.

Meissen and Saxony

In 1307, the town became subordinate to the Margraviate of Meissen, the predecessor of the Saxon state. In

medieval times In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, Chemnitz became a centre of textile production and trade. More than one third of the population worked in textile production. In 1356 the Margraviate was succeeded by the Electorate of Saxony. Geologist Georgius Agricola (1494-1555), author of several significant works on mining and metallurgy including the landmark treatise ''De Re Metallica'', became city physician of Chemnitz in 1533 and lived here until his death in 1555. In 1546 he was elected a Burgher of Chemnitz and in the same year also was appointed Burgomaster (lord mayor), serving again in 1547, 1551, and 1553. In spite of having been a leading citizen of the city, when Agricola died in 1555 the Protestant Duke denied him burial in the city's cathedral due to Agricola's allegiance to his Roman Catholic faith. Agricola's friends arranged for his remains to be buried in more sympathetic Zeitz, approximately 50 km away. Chemnitz became a famous trading and textile manufacturing town. In 1806, with the end of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

, the Electorate was renamed as the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony (german: Königreich Sachsen), lasting from 1806 to 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. The kingdom was formed from the Electorate of Sax ...

, and this survived until the revolutions of 1918 which followed the Armistice ending the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. By the early 19th century, Chemnitz had become an industrial centre (sometimes called "the Saxon

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

", german: Sächsisches Manchester, ). Important industrial companies were founded by Richard Hartmann, Louis Schönherr and Johann von Zimmermann. Chemnitz became a centre of innovation in the kingdom of Saxony and later in Germany. In 1913, Chemnitz had a population of 320,000 and, like Leipzig and Dresden, was larger at that time than today. After losing inhabitants due to the

Chemnitz grew rapidly again and reached its all-time peak of 360,250 inhabitants in 1930. Thereafter, growth was stalled by the world economic crisis.

Weimar Republic

As a working-class industrial city, Chemnitz was a powerful center of socialist political organization after the First World War. At the foundation of the German Communist Party the local Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany voted by 1,000 votes to three to break from the party and join the Communist Party behind their local leaders, Fritz Heckert and Heinrich Brandler. In March 1919 the German Communist Party had over 10,000 members in the city of Chemnitz. Chemnitz was one of the big German industrial centers. Due to the export traffic a modern marshalling yard was erected 1929 in Chemnitz-Hilbersdorf. At that time it was a leading city in the European textile market.

Auto Union Auto Union AG, was an amalgamation of four German automobile manufacturers, founded in 1932 and established in 1936 in Chemnitz, Saxony. It is the immediate predecessor of Audi as it is known today. As well as acting as an umbrella firm f ...

(today Audi) was founded 1932 in Chemnitz.

World War II

Allied bombing destroyed 41 per cent of the built-up area of Chemnitz during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Chemnitz contained factories that produced military hardware and a Flossenbürg forced labor subcamp (500 female inmates) for Astra-Werke AG. The

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liq ...

was a target for bombers during the Oil Campaign of World War II, and

Operation Thunderclap In 1944, during World War II, a plan called Operation Thunderclap was proposed. The idea was to bomb Berlin , which would inflict many casualties. However, the project was never put into action. General Laurence Kuter, the Assistant U.S. Chief o ...

attacks included the following raids: * 14/15 February 1945: The first major raid on Chemnitz used 717 RAF bombers, but due to cloud cover most bombs fell over open countryside. * 2/3–5 March: USAAF bombers attacked the marshalling yards. * 5 March: 760 RAF bombers attacked. The headquarters of the auto manufacturer

was based in Chemnitz from 1932 and its buildings were badly damaged. At the end of the war, the company's executives fled and relocated the company in

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Ba ...

, Bavaria, where it evolved into

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. ...

, now a brand within the Volkswagen group. The World War II bombings left most of the city in ruins and post-war, the East German reconstruction included large low rise (and later high-rise ) housing. Some tourist sites were reconstructed during the

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

era and after German reunification. The city was occupied by Soviet troops on 8 May 1945.

GDR

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-W0525-0101, Karl-Marx-Stadt, V

After the dissolution of the Länder (states) in the GDR in 1952, Chemnitz became seat of a district (). On 10 May 1953, the city was renamed by decision of the East German government to after

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

, in recognition of its industrial heritage and the Karl Marx Year marking the 135th anniversary of his birth and the 70th anniversary of his death. GDR Prime Minister Otto Grotewohl said: After the city centre was destroyed in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the East German authorities attempted to rebuild it to symbolise the conceptions of urban development of a socialist city. The layout of the city centre at that time was rejected in favour of a new road network. However, the original plans were not completed. In addition, the rapid development of housing took priority over the preservation of old buildings. So in the 1960s and 1970s, both in the centre as well as the periphery, large areas were built in apartment-block style, for example . The old buildings of the period, which still existed in the Kassberg, and especially, were neglected and fell increasingly into dereliction.

After reunification

Das ehemalige Karl-Marx-Forum in Chemnitz 2015

On 23 April 1990, a referendum on the future name of the city was held: 76% of the voters voted for the old name "". On 1 June 1990, the city was officially renamed. After the reunification of Germany on 3 October 1990, the city of Chemnitz faced several difficult tasks. Many inhabitants migrated to the former West Germany and unemployment in the region increased sharply; in addition Chemnitz did not have adequate shopping facilities, but this was increasingly demanded."Kurzfassung zur Promotion des Dipl.-Pol. Alexander Bergmann zur Thematik 'Deutschlands jüngste Innenstadt – Rekonstruktion in Chemnitz verstehen'"
/ref> Large shopping centers were constructed on the city periphery to the early 1990s. Chemnitz is the only major German city whose centre was re-planned after 1990, similar to the reconstruction of several other German cities in the immediate post-war years. Plans for the recovery of a compressed city centre around the historic town hall in 1991 led to an urban design competition. This was announced internationally by the city and carried out with the help of the partner city of . The mooted project on an essentially unused area of the former city would be comparable in circumference with the in Berlin. Numerous internationally renowned architects such as , and provided designs for a new city centre. The mid-1990s began the development of the inner city brownfields around the town hall to a new town. In Chemnitz city more than 66,000 square meters of retail space have emerged. With the construction of office and commercial building on the construction site "B3" at the court, the last gap in 2010 was closed in city centre image. The intensive development included demolition of partially historically valuable buildings from the period and was controversial. Between 1990 and 2007 more than 250 buildings were leveled. WirSindMehr2018-FeineSahneFischfilet-22

In late August 2018 the city was the site of a series of protests that attracted at least 8,000 people. The protests were attended by far-right and Neo-Nazi groups. News outlets reported about mob violence and riots. The protests started after two immigrants from the Middle East were arrested in connection with the murder of Daniel H., a 35 year old German man, the son of a German mother and a Cuban father, which had happened on 26 August. Violent clashes occurred between far-right protesters and far-left counter protesters, leading to injuries. The mobs outnumbered the local police presence. There were reports that rightist protesters chased down dark skinned bystanders and those that appeared to be foreigners on the streets before more police arrived and intervened. The riots were widely condemned by media outlets and politicians throughout Germany, and were "described as reminiscent of civil war and Nazi pogroms." The reports of mob violence and riots were criticized as incorrect later on. The German language Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung corrected its earlier reports, stating that there had evidently been no mob violence but there have been sporadic encroachments. Minister President of Saxony Michael Kretschmer came to the same conclusion: "there were no mobs and man hunts". One week after the protests, a free "Concert against the Right" under the motto "We are more" (#wirsindmehr) attracted an audience of some 65,000 people. A one-minute silence commemorated the murdered Daniel H., the son of a German mother and a Cuban father. The concert itself has been criticized for far-left activities and violent song texts of some of the participating bands.

Culture and sights

The city won the bid to be one of the two European Capitals of Culture (in 2025) on 28 October 2020, beating Hanover, Hildesheim, Magdeburg and Nuremberg. Theater Chemnitz offers a variety of theatre: opera (opera house from 1909), plays, ballet and (puppets), and runs concerts by the orchestra Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie (founded 1832). Tourist sights include the Kassberg neighborhood with 18th and 19th century buildings and the

Karl Marx Monument The Karl Marx Monument (german: Karl-Marx-Monument) is a 7.10m (23.29ft)-tall stylized head of Karl Marx in Chemnitz, Germany. The heavy-duty sculpture, together with the base platform, stand over 13 meters (42 feet) tall and weighs approxima ...

Lev Kerbel Lev Yefimovich Kerbel (russian: Лев Ефимович Кербель; – 14 August 2003) was a sculptor of Soviet realist works. Kerbel's creations included statues of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Yuri Gagarin, which were sent by Soviet Gove ...

, nicknamed (a Saxon dialect word for head) by the locals. Landmarks include the Old Town Hall with its Renaissance portal (15th century), the castle on the site of the former monastery, and the area around the

opera house An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically fo ...

and the old university. The most conspicuous landmark is the red tower built in the late 12th or early 13th century as part of the city wall. The Chemnitz petrified forest is located in the courtyard of

Kulturkaufhaus Tietz The Kulturkaufhaus Tietz is a cultural centre in Chemnitz, sometimes also called Cultural Department Store. In 1913 the house was built by Wilhelm Kreis. During World War II it was used as a department store by the Kaufhaus Tietz (Department Sto ...

. It is one of the very few in existence, and dates back several million years (details shown in the Museum of Natural Sciences "Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz", founded 1859). Also within the city limits, in the district of Rabenstein, is the smallest castle in Saxony, Rabenstein Castle. The city has changed considerably since German reunification. Most of its industry is now gone and the core of the city has been rebuilt with many shops as well as huge shopping centres. Many of these shops are international brands, including Zara, H&M, Esprit, , Leiser Shoes, and Peek & Cloppenburg. The large (Red Tower) shopping centre is very popular with young people. The Chemnitz Industrial Museum is an Anchor Point of ERIH, the

European Route of Industrial Heritage The European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) is a tourist route of the most important industrial heritage sites in Europe. This is a tourism industry information initiative to present a network of industrial heritage sites across Europe. The ...

. Additional unique industrial monuments are located at the "Schauplatz Eisenbahn" (Saxon Railway Museum and Museum of Technology Cable Running System) in Chemnitz-Hilbersdorf. The State Museum of Archaeology Chemnitz opened in 2014 and is located in the former Schocken Department Stores (architect: Erich Mendelsohn; opening of the department store: 1930). The , formerly a bank, opened on 1 December 2007. , who lived in Munich, had a collection of some 2,500 pieces of

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...

, including many paintings and drawings by , and others. The other great art museum in Chemnitz is located near central railway station, it is called "Museum am Theaterplatz" (erected 1909 as "König-Albert-Museum"). The is a municipal

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

, and the is a non-profit garden specializing in

arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

and alpine plants. Near the city center is the "Villa Esche" located (Henry-van-de-Velde-museum). This historical house was built in 1902 in art-nouveau-style by van de Velde.

Image gallery

File:Altes und Neues Rathaus am Chemnitzer Marktplatz 2015.jpg, Old and new city hall File:Chemnitz, Roter Turm und Galerie Roter Turm.JPG, Red tower File:Chemnitz Opernhaus 2002.jpg, Chemnitz Opera at Opernplatz File:St.-Petri-Kirche in Chemnitz (Barras).JPG, St. Petri church File:Lutherkirche chemnitz.jpg, Lutheran church File:Schlossteich und -kirche in Chemnitz (Hiroshi).JPG, Castle church over the Castle Lake File:Hotel Mercure, Chemnitz, 2015.jpg, The Mercure Hotel, tallest building in Chemnitz File:Chemnitz-Glaesernes-Kaufhaus.jpg, The Transparent department store File:Chemnitz-Falkeplatz.jpg, View over at night File:Castle Rabenstein 1 (aka).jpg, File:Karl-Marx-Monument in Chemnitz.jpg, Bust of

, the city's former namesake File:Hauptgebäude der TU Chemnitz, 2015.jpg,

File:Blick zur Galerie Roter Turm und zum Hotel Mercure in Chemnitz 2015.jpg, View over the city halls and the inner city File:Chemnitz-Kulturhaus.jpg, File:Wasserschloss-Klaffenbach2.jpg, Watercastle File:Chemnitz Stadtbad1.JPG, File:Chemnitz-AmSchloss.jpg, Guest houses at Castle park File:Der Versteinerte Wald von Chemnitz im Lichthof des Kulturkaufhaus DAStietz, 2015.jpg, Chemnitz petrified forest inside the File:Chemnitz-Gunzenhauser-night.jpg, Gunzenhauser Museum File:Kaufhaus Schocken in Chemnitz 2014.jpg, State Museum of Archaeology Chemnitz

Administrative divisions

The city of Chemnitz consists of 39 neighborhoods. The neighborhoods of Einsiedel, Euba, Grüna, Klaffenbach, Kleinolbersdorf-Altenhain, Mittelbach, Röhrsdorf and Wittgensdorf are at the same time localities within the meaning of Sections 65 to 68 of the Saxon Municipal Code. These neighborhoods came in the wake of the last incorporation wave after 1990 as formerly independent municipalities to the city of Chemnitz and therefore enjoy this special position compared to the other parts of the city. These localities each have a local council, which, depending on the number of inhabitants of the locality concerned, comprises between ten and sixteen members as well as a chairman of the same. The local councils are to hear important matters concerning the locality. A final decision is, however, incumbent on the city council of the city of Chemnitz. (PDF; 75 KB) The official identification of the districts by numbers is based on the following principle: Starting from the city center (neighborhoods Zentrum and Schloßchemnitz), all other parts of the city are assigned clockwise in ascending order the tenth place of their index, the one-digit is awarded in the direction of city periphery in ascending order. Image:Chemnitz stadtteilnummern.svg, left, The city area does not include a unified, closed settlement area after numerous incorporations. The rural settlements of mainly eastern districts are separated from the settlement area of the Chemnitz city center, whereas this partly continues over the western city limits to Limbach-Oberfrohna and Hohenstein-Ernstthal.

Politics

Mayor

The first freely elected mayor after German reunification was Dieter Noll of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who served from 1990 to 1991, followed by Joachim Pilz (CDU) until 1993. The mayor was originally chosen by the city council, but since 1994 has been directly elected. Peter Seifert of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(SPD) served from 1993 until 2006. Between 2006 and 2020

Barbara Ludwig Barbara may refer to: People * Barbara (given name) * Barbara (painter) (1915–2002), pseudonym of Olga Biglieri, Italian futurist painter * Barbara (singer) (1930–1997), French singer * Barbara Popović (born 2000), also known mononymously ...

(SPD) has served as mayor. Sven Schulze (SPD) was elected mayor in 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 20 September 2020, with a runoff held on 11 October, and the results were as follows: ! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Candidate ! rowspan=2, Party ! colspan=2, First round ! colspan=2, Second round , - ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Sven Schulze , align=left,

, 22,241 , 23.1 , 31,749 , 34.9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Almut Patt , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 20,630 , 21.4 , 20,047 , 22.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Susanne Schaper , align=left, The Left , 14,584 , 15.1 , 14,668 , 16.1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Ulrich Oehme , align=left, Alternative for Germany , 11,731 , 12.2 , 12,034 , 13.2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Lars Faßmann , align=left,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

, 11,470 , 11.9 , 12,515 , 13.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Volkmar Zschocke , align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens , 6,811 , 7.1 , align=center colspan=2, ''Withdrew'' , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Matthias Eberlein , align=left, Free Voters , 3,394 , 3.5 , align=center colspan=2, ''Withdrew'' , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Paul Vogel , align=left, Die PARTEI , 1,527 , 1.6 , align=center colspan=2, ''Withdrew'' , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 96,428 ! 99.5 ! 91,017 ! 99.7 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 489 ! 0.5 ! 285 ! 0.3 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 96,917 ! 100.0 ! 91,302 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 194,952 ! 49.7 ! 194,850 ! 46.9 , - , colspan=7, Source
Wahlen in Sachsen

City council

The most recent city council election was held on 26 May 2019, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 69,195 , 20.0 , 4.5 , 13 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alternative for Germany (AfD) , 62,053 , 17.9 , 12.3 , 11 , 8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 58,009 , 16.7 , 6.9 , 10 , 5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(SPD) , 40,357 , 11.6 , 7.9 , 7 , 5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) , 39,908 , 11.5 , 3.6 , 7 , 2 , - , , align=left, Pro Chemnitz/ German Social Union (PRO.DSU) , 26,606 , 7.7 , 2.0 , 5 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 25,623 , 7.4 , 1.9 , 4 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Die PARTEI (PARTEI) , 10,260 , 3.0 , 2.4 , 1 , 1 , - , , align=left, People's Solidarity (Vosi) , 7,862 , 2.3 , 0.8 , 1 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Pirate Party Germany (Piraten) , 6,817 , 2.0 , 0.1 , 1 , ±0 , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 118,548 ! 98.5 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 1,837 ! 1.5 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 120,385 ! 100.0 ! ! 60 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 196,515 ! 61.3 ! 17.2 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
Wahlen in Sachsen

Urban renewal

Heavy destruction in World War II as well as post-war demolition to erect a truly socialist city centre left the city with a vast open space around its town hall where once a vibrant city heart had been. Because of massive investment in out-of-town shopping right after reunification, it was not until 1999 that major building activity was started in the centre. Comparable to in Berlin, a whole new quarter of the city was constructed in recent years. New buildings include the

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appe ...

by , with a façade by and Peek & Cloppenburg clothing store by and Partner.

Economy

Chemnitz is the largest city of the urban area and is one of the most important economic areas of Germany's new federal states. Chemnitz had a GDP of €8.456 billion in 2016, with GDP per capita at €34,166. Since about 2000, the city's economy has recorded high annual GDP growth rates; Chemnitz is among the top ten German cities in terms of growth rate. The local and regional economic structure is characterized by medium-sized companies, with the heavy industrial sectors of mechanical engineering, metal processing, and vehicle manufacturing as the most significant industries. About 100,000 people are employed, of whom about 46,000 commute from other municipalities. 16.3% of employees in Chemnitz have a university or

college degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to students upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions commonly offer degrees at various levels, usually including u ...

, twice the average rate in Germany.

Image gallery

File:VW factory Mosel-Zwickau (aka).jpg, is the largest employer in the Agglomeration. File:Büro- und Wohnhaus der Deutschen Bundesbank - Filiale Chemnitz, Zschopauer Straße, 2015.jpg, File:Anbau Dämmerung.jpg, The is the largest hospital in the former East German states and the second biggest employer in Chemnitz. File:Kaufhaus Peek&Cloppenburg, Chemnitz, Neumarkt, 2015.jpg, Chemnitz is a shopping destination. Photo shows the Peek & Cloppenburg store in the city centre. File:View from Klínovec northwards.JPG, Chemnitz is the centerpiece of tourism in the Ore Mountains.

Demography

After German reunification Saxony faced a significant population decrease. Since 1988 Chemnitz has lost about 20 percent of its inhabitants. The city had a fertility rate of 1.64 in 2015. Foreign population in Chemnitz by nationality as of 31 December 2019: A large contributor to the city's foreign population is

. In 2017, out of its 10,482 students, 2712 were foreign students, which equals to about 25%, making Chemnitz the most internationalised of the three major universities of Saxony.

Languages

Standard German Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German (not to be confused with High German dialects, more precisely Upper German dialects) (german: Standardhochdeutsch, , or, in Switzerland, ), is the standardized variety ...

Chemnitz dialect Chemnitz dialect is a distinct German dialect of the city of Chemnitz and an urban variety of Vorerzgebirgisch, a variant of Upper Saxon German. Phonology Consonants * are bilabial, whereas are labiodental. * are dental . ** is alveolar ...

, which is a variety of

Upper Saxon German Upper Saxon (german: Obersächsisch, ; ) is an East Central German language spoken in much of the modern German state of Saxony and in adjacent parts of southeastern Saxony-Anhalt and eastern Thuringia. As of the early 21st century, it's mo ...

Transport

Roads

Chemnitz is linked to two motorways (s), A4 and A72 . The motorway junction is situated in the northwestern area of the city. The motorway A72 between and

is still under construction. Within the administrative area of Chemnitz there are eight motorway exits (). The A4 motorway is part of the European route E40, one of the longest European E roads, connecting Chemnitz with the

Asian Highway The Asian Highway Network (AH), also known as the Great Asian Highway, is a cooperative project among countries in Asia and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to improve their connectivity via hig ...

system to the east and France to the west.

Public transport

Public transport within Chemnitz is provided with tram and bus, as well as by the . Nowadays, the city and its surroundings are served by one line, five lines of the Chemnitz tramway network, 27 city bus lines, as well as several regional bus lines. At night, the city is served by two bus lines, two tram lines, and the line. Chemnitz Hauptbahnhof is the main station for the city. In June 2022, an intercity connection from Chemnitz via Dresden and Berlin to Rostock-Warnemünde was established again for the first time since 2006. Prior to this, Chemnitz was for a long time the largest German city without a connection of long-distance intercity services. 2 RegionalExpress routes connected Chemnitz to the larger cities of Saxony (RE3 from Dresden Hbf via Chemnitz to Hof & RE6 to Leipzig Hbf). In addition, 4 RegionalBahn and 4 CityBahn routes also operate from the Hauptbahnhof. The length of the tram, and bus networks is , and respectively. In August 2012, electro-diesel trams were ordered from , to support an expansion of the light rail network to , with new routes serving , and .

Airports

Three airports are near Chemnitz, including the two international airports of Saxony in Dresden and Leipzig. Both

Leipzig/Halle Airport Leipzig/Halle Airport (German: ''Flughafen Leipzig/Halle'') is an international airport located in Schkeuditz, Saxony, Germany and serves both Leipzig, Saxony, and Halle, Saxony-Anhalt. It is Germany's 14th largest airport by passengers and ...

and

Dresden Airport Dresden Airport is the international airport of Dresden, the state capital of Saxony, Germany. It is located in Klotzsche, a district of Dresden north of the city centre. It was formerly also known in German as ''Flughafen Dresden-Klotzsche''. ...

are about from Chemnitz and offer numerous continental as well as intercontinental flights. Chemnitz also has a small commercial airport ( about south of the city. When its current upgrade is completed it will have an asphalt runway long and wide. File:Hauptbahnhof Chemnitz und Bahnhofsvorplatz 2015.jpg, , the main train station of Chemnitz File:Zentralhaltestelle Chemnitz, Innenstadt, 2015.jpg, Tram stop at at night File:Trams at Chemnitz Hauptbahnhof - geo.hlipp.de - 5066.jpg, A tram in Chemnitz File:Flugplatz Chemnitz-Jahnsdorf Edcj 2011.jpg, The small commercial airport

Sports

* (basketball, men) * ( football) * Chemnitzer PSV (football, handball, volleyball) * Chemcats Chemnitz (basketball, women) *

VfB Fortuna Chemnitz VfB Fortuna Chemnitz is a German association football club from Chemnitz, Saxony. The club was formed in 2005 out of the fusion of ''VfB Chemnitz'' and ''SV Fortuna Furth Glösa''. __TOC__ History The older of these two sides is ''VfB'' which ...

(football) * (swimming) * (swimming) * (swimming, gymnastics, volleyball, skittles) * (

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

, skater hockey) * (tennis) * Floor Fighters Chemnitz ( floorball) * ( luge) * (

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

, ice dancing,

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns slidi ...

) * Chemnitz Crusaders (

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

) * Tower Rugby Chemnitz (

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

) * ( football) * (

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

)

Notable people

* Paul Oswald Ahnert (1897–1989), astronomer * Brigitte Ahrens (born 1945), pop singer * Olaf Altmann (born 1960), scenic designer * Mark Arndt (born 1941), Russian Orthodox Archbishop * Michael Ballack (born 1976), German footballer, former captain of Bayern Munich and Germany * Veronika Bellmann (born 1960), politician * Fritz Bennewitz (1926–1995), theater director *

Gerd Böckmann Gerd Böckmann (born 11 January 1944 in Chemnitz, Germany) is a German television actor. Selected filmography Television * '' Derrick'' - Season 2, Episode 10: ''"Kamillas junger Freund"'' (1975, TV) * '' Derrick'' - Season 4, Episode 6: ''"Das ...

(born 1944), television actor and director * Werner Bräunig (1934–1976), writer *

Marianne Brandt Marianne Brandt (1 October 1893 – 18 June 1983) was a German painter, sculptor, photographer, metalsmith, and designer who studied at the Bauhaus art school in Weimar and later became head of the Bauhaus ''Metall-Werkstatt'' (Metal Workshop ...

(1893–1983), artist, designer * Valery Bykovsky (1934–2019), Soviet cosmonaut * C418 (real name Daniel Rosenfeld, born 1989), music producer and sound engineer for ''

Minecraft ''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before b ...

'' and '' Stranger Things'' * Hans Carl von Carlowitz (1645–1714), forest scientist *

Max Eckert-Greifendorff Max Eckert (after 1934, Max Eckert-Greifendorff: 10 April 1868 in Chemnitz, Kingdom of Saxony – 26 December 1938, in Aachen) was a German geographer. Biography He received his education in Löbau and Berlin, and taught for some time at Löbau ...

(1868–1938), cartographer and professor *

Gerson Goldhaber Gerson Goldhaber (February 20, 1924 – July 19, 2010) was a German-born American particle physicist and astrophysicist. He was one of the discoverers of the J/ψ meson which confirmed the existence of the charm quark. He worked at Lawrence Be ...

(1924–2010), American nuclear and astrophysicist * Friedrich Goldmann (1941–2009), composer and conductor * Johannes Hähle (1906–1944), military photographer * Peter Härtling (born 1933), writer * Frank Heinrich (born 1964), politician, member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Comm ...

* Stephan Hermlin (1915–1997), writer * Stefan Heym (1913–2001), writer and member of the Bundestag of the PDS * Christian Gottlob Heyne (1729–1812), classical scholar and archaeologist * Sigmund Jähn (1937–2019), first German astronaut ( Interkosmos flight of August 26, 1978) * John Kluge (1921–2010), German-American billionaire and media mogul * Helga Lindner (born 1951), swimmer;

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

silver medalist * Max Littmann (1862–1931), architect * Anja Mittag (born 1985),

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

, World Champion 2007 * Frederick and William , founders of the Diamant bicycle brand * Carsten Nicolai (born 1965), contemporary artist *

Frei Otto Frei Paul Otto (; 31 May 1925 – 9 March 2015) was a German architect and structural engineer noted for his use of lightweight structures, in particular tensile and membrane structures, including the roof of the Olympic Stadium in Munich for ...

(1925–2015), architect, architectural theorist and professor of architecture, builder of the Munich Olympic Park *

Sylke Otto Sylke Otto (born 7 July 1969 in Karl-Marx-Stadt) is a former German luger who competed from 1991 to 2007. Competing in three Winter Olympics, she won the gold medal in the women's singles event in 2002 and ...

(born 1969), luge * Siegfried Rapp (1917–1977), one-armed German pianist *

Frederick Emil Resche Frederick Emil Resche (April 1, 1866 – September 3, 1946) was an American law enforcement official and military officer from Duluth, Minnesota. A longtime member of the Minnesota National Guard, he was a veteran of the American Indian Wars, Sp ...

(1966–1946), U.S. Army brigadier general *

Frank Rost Frank Rost (born 30 June 1973) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He comes from a sporting family background; his father Peter won a gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games in handball, and his mother Christi ...

(born 1973), retired football goalkeeper * Bruno Salzer (1859–1919), one of Chemnitz's leading entrepreneurs *

Aliona Savchenko Aljona Savchenko ( uk, Олена Валентинівна Савченко, ''Olena Valentynivna Savchenko''; German Romanization: ''Aljona Sawtschenko'', sometimes ''Aliona Savchenko''; born 19 January 1984) is a Ukrainian-born German pai ...

, ice figure skater * Helmut Schelsky (1912–1984), sociologist and university lecturer *

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (Karl Schmidt until 1905; 1 December 1884 – 10 August 1976) was a German expressionist painter and printmaker; he was one of the four founders of the artist group Die Brücke. Life and work Schmidt-Rottluff was born in Ro ...

(1884–1976), painter and graphic artist of expressionism *

Maria Schüppel Maria Schüppel (1923 – 27 June 2011) was a German composer, educator, pianist and pioneering music therapist who composed works for lyre and voice, and experimented with electronic music. Schüppel was born in Chemnitz. After her father’s de ...

(1923-2011), composer and pioneering music therapist * Matthias Schweighöfer (born 1981), actor and film director *

Jörg Schüttauf Jörg Schüttauf (born 26 December 1961) is a German actor. He studied at the Theaterhochschule Leipzig. Since 2002 he has starred in the Hessischer Rundfunk version of the popular television crime series ''Tatort''. Filmography Film * 1985: ''E ...

(born 1961), actor * Nadja Stefanoff (born 1983), soprano * Matthias Steiner (born 1982), German-Austrian weightlifter,

gold medalist 2008 *

Ingo Steuer Ingo Steuer (born 1 November 1966) is a German pair skater and skating coach. With Mandy Wötzel, he is the 1998 Olympic bronze medalist, the 1997 World champion, the 1995 European champion, and a four-time German national champion. As a c ...

(born 1966), figure skater *

Robin Szolkowy Robin Szolkowy (born 14 July 1979) is a retired German pair skater. With partner Aliona Savchenko, he is the 2010 and 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, a five-time World champion (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014), a four-time European champion (200 ...

, ice figure skater * Hans-Günther Thalheim (1924-2018), germanist and linguist * Siegfried Vogel (born 1937), operatic bass * Kurt Wagner (1904–1989), German general * Katarina Witt (born 1965), figure skater * Mandy Wötzel (born 1973), figure skater * Klaus Wunderlich (1931–1997),

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational ...

Twin towns – sister cities

Chemnitz is twinned with: *

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population ...

, Finland (1961) *

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

, Slovenia (1966) * Arras, France (1967) * Timbuktu, Mali (1968) * Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic (1970) *

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of ca ...

, Poland (1972) *

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning '' mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region, eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. It is the largest city in Haut-Rhin and second largest in Alsace a ...

, France (1981) *

, England, UK (1983) * Volgograd, Russia (1988) *

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

, Germany (1988) * Akron, United States (1997) * Taiyuan, China (1999)

References

Bibliography

External links

* * * * {{Authority control Chemnitz, Cities in Saxony Oil campaign of World War II