9,500 revellers came to the museum night
Children and young people went on a discovery tour of the city's history
There was a lot going on in Chemnitz on 5 May, just as the people of Chemnitz and visitors to the city would like on a sunny spring day in the year of the 875th anniversary of Chemnitz. The occasions ranged from the 200th birthday of Karl Marx and various activities centred around the famous "Kopp" on Brückenstraße to the 19th edition of the Chemnitz Museum Night.
And so, of course, this year's Chemnitz Museum Night was also dedicated to the city's anniversary. More than 9,500 visitors from Chemnitz and the region opted for the late-night programme of almost 30 participating museums, galleries and institutions. That's a good 500 night owls more than in the previous year. Around 3,500 children and young people were out and about with their families or friends.
This year's "special offer" for children, young people and families: discovery tours in the footsteps of well-known personalities who helped write a piece of the history of Chemnitz and Karl-Marx-Stadt.
The young and old city explorers took the opportunity to find out more about famous artists and naturalists, former mayors, successful sportsmen and inventors through hands-on activities and events at 14 locations. The young explorers set to "work" with great curiosity and enthusiasm and were gladly supported by the experts in the institutions, says Gabriele Martin, project manager of the Chemnitz Museum Night. Children and young people can hand in their discovery cards at the museums or at the Kulturbetrieb/Kulturmanagement (TIETZ) until 12 May 2018. Great prizes will be raffled off, it's worth taking part.
Great programmes and first-class special exhibitions attracted guests to the main programme in the participating museums. The city centre institutions, such as the State Museum of Archaeology - smac, attracted the most visitors to their programmes. The TIETZ with the Museum of Natural History and the Neue Sächsische Galerie as well as the museums of the art collections, the Industrial Museum, the City Archive and the Tram Museum also attracted a great deal of interest from the public. Most visitors organised their route so that they could even stop by the birthday party of the talking and telephoning Karl Marx between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. and did not miss this unique event.
All around, there was a pleasant museum night atmosphere and all the institutions, including those in the special programme, such as the BStU and the Marianne Brandt House, the ArtEck Gallery, the LATERNE Archive and the former Kaßberg Prison were able to welcome very interested visitors.
Even the museums that were not centrally located could be easily reached by shuttle bus. Many volunteers planned the programmes in the independent cultural institutions, such as the Museum of Saxon Vehicles, the railway area, the Ebersdorf School Museum and the German Games Museum, and worked with joy, almost to the point of exhaustion, so that the museum night visitors could learn a lot about their institution and hopefully come back again soon.
The large state museums also received valuable support from their support organisations and volunteers. For example, at the excavation site of the Museum für Naturkunde, "Agricola" was able to personally (!) inform visitors about the exciting discovery site of fossilised wood with the support of the Friends' Association and federal volunteers and scientific volunteers.
Note: Unfortunately, not all the organisations involved can be named. However, we would like to thank all the organisations, associations and initiatives that contributed to the success of the 19th Chemnitz Museum Night.