Ljubljana is the capital city of the country of Slovenia and, with 270,000 inhabitants, is also the largest city in Slovenia.

In a referendum in December 1990 Slovenia detached itself from the federal state of Yugoslavia, and on 25 June 1991 the autonomous and independent country of Slovenia was founded.

In 1994 Ljubljana celebrated the 850-year city jubilee.

Today, the city is not only the administrative centre but also the economic/commercial/financial and cultural centre of the country. It is home to a culture and congress centre, theatres, an opera, the Philharmonics, an international centre of graphic arts, a university with 23,000 students, 40 scientific institutes, the university hospital and an exhibition centre.

The surrounding area of the Slovenian capital is also very charming. In the North the Julian Alps offer an attractive view. And just 100 km to the West is the Adriatic Sea.

Ljubljana and Chemnitz renew twin town partnership On 23 March 2006 the Lord Mayor of Chemnitz, Dr Peter Seifert, and his counterpart Danica Simsic, Mayor of the Slovenian twinned town of Ljubljana, signed an updated town twinning agreement in Ljubljana town hall.

The amicable relations with Ljubljana have existed for four decades and are shaped by several activities, in particular in the areas of tourism, sports and culture.

The first agreement was signed on 17 October 1966 in Ljubljana. As a result of a condition of the city council, town twinning agreements which are dated before the reunification of Germany are required to be updated and adapted to the changed political and economic general conditions. In the revised contract commitments were made for cooperation in the areas of commerce, tourism, culture and sports. Agreements on the cooperation of city businesses, schools and universities as well as scientific facilities are new additions to the contract. In addition, both cities want to increase the cooperation between health and social establishments and to participate in joint EU programmes.

Besides the consolidation and continuation of existing communal and touristic contacts, Chemnitz and Ljubljana also aspire to develop cultural connections. For this reason, representatives of the "Kunst für Chemnitz" (art for Chemnitz) association and the general manager and the artistic director of Chemnitz theatres are spending time with the Lord Mayor of Chemnitz in the Slovenian metropolis. Art from Chemnitz in the "Mestna Galerija" of the Slovenian capital

In 2006 there was a cooperative exhibition of the "Kunst für Chemnitz" (art for Chemnitz) association in the Slovenian capital where Chemnitz's artists displayed their works.

Business

The links between the Karl Marx city and Ljubljana in the 1960s were predominantly of a commercial nature. Numerous businesses at that time exported to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In the future this area of the relationship could come to the fore again. After all, Germany is the most important trading partner of Slovenia by some distance with a share of about 25 per cent of the foreign trade volumes. Some 250 German companies and companies with German involvement are active in Slovenia.

Evidence of the increasing interest of Slovenian firms in trade links to Germany was the visit of the Slovenian Mayor in 2002 to Saxon companies, likewise the interest of Ljubljana industrial park in the industrial trade fair INTEC.