Chemnitz

Template:Infobox Town DE Chemnitz (; Sorbian/Lusatian: Kamjenica, Czech: Saská Kamenice; known also by other alternative names) is the third-largest city in Saxony, Germany. It is located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains. The city has a population of 248,021 (31 March 2005), and an area of 220.8 square kilometres. A University of Technology with about 10,000 students is the centre of scientific life.

Etymology

Chemnitz is named after the Chemnitz River, a small tributary of the Zwickauer Mulde. The word "Chemnitz" is from the Sorbian language and means "stony brook". In German, "Chemnitz" is pronounced: IPA [ˈkʰɛmnɪʦ]. It is known in Czech as Saská Kamenice. From 1953-1990 the city was officially known in East Germany as Karl-Marx-Stadt.

History

Monumental Bust of Karl Marx

An early Slavic tribe's settlement was located at the place of Chemnitz called Kamienica. In 1143 there was a Benedictine monastery at the place where the city is now. A settlement grew around the monastery and about 1170 Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor granted it the rights of an imperial city. In 1307 the town became subordinate to the margraviate of Meissen (which was the predecessor of the Saxon state). In medieval times Chemnitz became a centre of textile production and trade. More than one third of the population worked in textile production. This continued through the industrial revolution: factories were established, and by the early 19th century Chemnitz had become an industrial centre (sometimes called "the Saxon Manchester"). In 1913 Chemnitz had a population of 320,000 and is one of very few cities which were larger at that time than they are today.

During World War II, a subcamp of Flossenburg concentration camp was located here. Its 500 female inmates provided slave labour for Astra-Werke AG. During the war the factories of Chemnitz produced mainly goods for the military. As a consequence, the city was heavily bombed and almost entirely destroyed.

The East German government decided to turn Chemnitz into a socialist model city. Boroughs full of concrete slab buildings were erected around the city centre, and few of the pre-war buildings were restored. In 1953 Chemnitz was renamed Karl-Marx-Stadt ("Karl Marx City"). It returned to the original name of Chemnitz on 21 June 1990.

Chemnitz has been reported as having the lowest birth rate in the world.

Sights

Culture department store DAStietz

The Mercure Hotel, Chemnitz

Due to the Stalinist planning era of the 1950s there are few tourist sights. Some sites had been restored in the DDR era, and some have been restored since German reunification. As a relic of the old socialist times, the city council decided to keep the Karl Marx Monument, which was built by Lev Kerbel and is lovingly called "Nischl" by locals, which is an informal regional Saxon word for "head" (which would be "Kopf" in standard German).

Chemnitz was heavily bombed during the Second World War. After the war, almost all of the old buildings in the city's core were removed to make space for new, modern buildings. Typical of Communist architecture, these were mostly utilitarian and not designed primarily to be pleasing to the eye.

However, Chemnitz still has some beautiful, historical sights. Landmarks include the Old Town Hall with its Renaissance portal (15th century), the castle on the land of the former monastery, and the area around the opera building and the old university. The most conspicuous sight is the red tower, which was built in the late 12th or early 13th century as part of the city wall.

A petrified forest can be found in the courtyard of Kulturkaufhaus Tietz. It is one of the very few in existence, and dates back several million years. Also within the city limits, in the district of Rabenstein, is the smallest castle in Saxony: Burg Rabenstein.

There are many buildings in the typical architectural styles of the Communist period.

The town has changed considerably since German reunification. Most of its industry is gone and the core of the city has been rebuilt, with many little shops as well as huge shopping centres.

The Chemnitz Industrial Museum is an Anchor Point of ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage.

Urban renewal

Chemnitz has what can be called "Germany's most recent city centre" . Heavy destruction in World War II as well as post-war demolition to erect a truly socialistic city centre left the city with a vast open space around its town hall where once a vibrant city heart had been. Due to 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 only to Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, a whole new quarter of the city was constructed in recent years. New buildings include the Kaufhof Department Store by Helmut Jahn, Galerie Roter Turm with a facade by Hans Kollhoff and Peek&Cloppenburg Clothing Store by Ingenhofen and Partner.

Transportation

• Dresden Airport
• Altenburg-Nobitz Airport (near Leipzig)

Sports

• Chemnitzer FC (Football)
• Schwimmclub Chemnitz v. 1892 e.V. (Swimming; Waterpolo)
• ERC Chemnitz e.V. (Icehockey, Skaterhockey)

Sister cities

Chemnitz is twinned with a number of cities around the world:

• - Tampere, Finland, since October 1961
• - Ljubljana, Slovenia, since October 17 1966
• - Arras, France, since 1967
• - Timbuktu, Mali, since October 6 1968
• - Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic, since July 17 1970
• - Łódź, Poland, since 1974
• - Mulhouse, France, since October 7 1981
• - Manchester, Great Britain, since March 18 1983
• - Volgograd, Russia, since May 6 1988
• - Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, since April 13 1988
• - Akron, Ohio, United States, since April 20 1997
• - Taiyuan, People's Republic of China, since May 17 1999

External links

• Official website
• Stadtplan Chemnitz Template:De icon