Experiencing Germany

For Mayor Peter Seifert, Chemnitz is a "city worth a second glance". And it's true, in Chemnitz, which has always stood in the shadow of those two venerable Saxon cities Dresden and Leipzig, you will look in vain for the perfect vista. But it's well worth taking a second look.

Over seven metres high, the bronze sculpture on its granite base dominates the city centre. The massive head of Karl Marx, the work of Russian sculptor Lew Kerbel, is one of the landmarks of Chemnitz. Nicknamed "Nischel", the monument was ceremoniously unveiled on this spot in 1971. It survived Reunification unscathed, together with the stone plaque adorning what is now the tax offices behind it and bearing the words "Workers of the world, unite" in four languages.

Photo Gallery: Chemnitz, the "City With a Good Head on Its Shoulders"

Karl Marx and the SED – Chemnitz gets a new name.

Otherwise, Chemnitz, the third largest city in the free state of Saxony, has seen plenty of changes in the first 15 years since the Wall came down. The citizens gave the city its old name back in May 1990, even before the GDR's formal accession to the Federal Republic of Germany. "Karl-Marx-Stadt" was once more "Chemnitz".

37 years earlier – in May 1953 – the Central Committee of the SED (the Communist party in the one-party GDR) had given the city a new name to celebrate the 135th anniversary of the birth of the "man who invented socialism". The citizens of Chemnitz didn't learn about the doubtful honour of being renamed citizens of Karl-Marx-Stadt until a couple of days before the event. Even though Chemnitz hadn't even been first choice at the time – Eisenhüttenstadt and Leipzig had been the favourites – it hadn't been pure chance that the city had been awarded its new name. Chemnitz was considered the hub of the workers' movement.

Textiles and Locomotives – Industrial Revolution in Saxony

The roots of the upswing which made Chemnitz one of Germany's leading industrial centres could be said to go back as far as the 14th century. The city's charter to carry out bleaching, which it was granted by the margrave in 1357, marks the birth of the Chemnitz textile industry.

At the turn of the 19th century it was here that the first mechanical cotton-spinning mills were set up, and it was here in the workshop of Julius Borchardt, in 1835, that the first steam engine was built. This marked the onset of the Industrial Revolution in Chemnitz, which earned the city such telling nicknames as "Saxony's Manchester" or "Smoke and Soot Chamtz (Chemnitz)" over the years. Railway engines were exported all over the world from what came to be known as the "cradle of the German machine tools industry" on the northern edge of the Erzgebirge range.

Postmodernism versus Wasteland – Renewal of the City Centre

The Second World War brought the city's days of glory to an abrupt end. The city centre was almost completely razed to the ground by bombing in 1945. For decades the area round the city hall remained a vast bomb site. It was not until after the Wall came down that thought was given to ways and means of revitalising the city which would give Chemnitz its old centre again. But it wasn't easy to find a solution to a problem of this enormity – the area involved was the largest inner-city wasteland in Europe.

The refurbishment was then put into the hands of prominent architects. The first building to appear was the Galerie am Roten Turm, which was constructed in direct proximity to the city's oldest landmark, which was the only relic of medieval times. The façade is made out of sand-coloured terracotta bricks, reminiscent of an Arabian palace, and was designed by Berlin architect Hans Kollhoff. One year later - in 2001 – another store was opened diagonally opposite, this time it was a futuristic glass palace designed by German-born American architect Helmut Jahn. And then finally in 2003 these were joined by a glass fashion store with a striking waved roof. The design stems from the Düsseldorf architects office of Christoph Ingenhoven und Jürgen Overdiek.

Style and Culture – a Store of a Different Kind

A closer look at Chemnitz reveals that there is more than postmodern architecture to admire. The Kassberg district preserves one of the most extensive late 19th century and Art Nouveau areas in Europe. The newly restored Villa Esche is a mixture of the Art Nouveau and New Objectivity styles, and was designed and fitted for a textile manufacturer at the beginning of the 20th century by Belgian architect Henri van de Velde.

The seven-storey curved department store Schocken is familiar to lovers of architecture far beyond the boundaries of Chemnitz and was built by Erich Mendelsohn in 1929/30. Altogether there seems to be a special link in Chemnitz between department stores and (architectural) culture; the former department store belonging to the Tietz family now houses the city library, the adult education centre, the new Saxony art gallery and the natural history museum.

The city's opera house has made a very impressive name for itself under Michael Heinicke, whose Wagner productions have earned the city a reputation as "Saxony's Bayreuth".

Machinery and Software – Economic Dynamism

The city, which now has a population of just under 248,000, has also posted economic successes which certainly bear comparison with Dresden and Leipzig. Between 1995 and 2003 around 5,000 new firms were established in Chemnitz and the surrounding area. Mechanical engineering has traditionally played an important role in the city's economic life, and it is this sector, plus nowadays above all software firms, which is the main source of jobs. The University of Technology consistently scores very well in the university rankings and currently has over 10,000 students, 70 per cent of them from Chemnitz itself.

Karl Marx may still be watching over Chemnitz's citizens in his larger-than-life monument, but his spirit has long since left the city which once bore his name. And Chemnitz people call their home city "the city with a good head on its shoulders", with an ironic sideways glance at their huge bronze legacy.