Auf'n Halt - the city centre is always in season

Last Friday, two Chemnitz projects were selected as winners of the competition "Ab in die Mitte! Saxony's City Offensive" 2024 competition. The closing event and award ceremony took place in Leipzig. The competition is organised by the Saxon State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Transport (SMWA) and the Saxon State Ministry for Regional Development (SMR) with total prize money of 300,000 euros.

This year's motto "Auf'n Halt - Stadtmitte hat immer Saison" ("On your feet - city centres are always in season") focused on mobility and accessibility, as well as quality of stay and recreation. 46 projects from 42 municipalities were submitted this year, which were decided on by a jury. Numerous projects from the competition were presented at the closing event.

One of the winners was the Chemnitz project "Chemnitz wins! Roter Turm Lotto" won 2nd prize (prize money: 40,000 euros) and the Chemnitz project "Auf'n Halt - Leuchten & Genießen" won 3rd prize (prize money: 20,000 euros).

Chemnitz wins! Red Tower Lotto
The Red Tower in Chemnitz, the city's oldest building and landmark, is to become a meeting place, a chronicle and a symbol of happiness for the city. The project aims to create a link between the location in the centre of the city and the virtual view of the city, between the historic building and new media, between tradition and the future. The overall project includes several sub-projects:

• Opening the Red Tower: with regular opening hours as a tourist offer for citizens and guests.
• Chemnitz wins! Red Tower Lottery: Every admission ticket should be a lottery ticket. The lottery prizes should have a connection to the Red Tower, the city's history and Chemnitz. The prizes of the "Red Tower Lottery - Chemnitz Wins" are to be visualised at and in the Red Tower. The project is to be financed and realised with this idea. In the long term, the proceeds of the lottery will contribute to the beautification of the city.
• Red Tower - Light in the Tower: The city's history is to be presented in a contemporary way (with a projector and 86-inch touch screen) in the Red Tower.
• Red Tower - Light on the Tower: The Red Tower is to be illuminated with projections using high-performance projectors.

The aim of the project is to improve the quality of life on the Wall, the city's internal and external marketing and the self-image and self-confidence of the people of Chemnitz.
The project is being organised under the leadership of a working group that is currently founding the association AG Roter Turm e. V.. The following partners are involved in the realisation of the project: CTM (including tourist information), City of Chemnitz (GMH), Galerie Roter Turm, Rotary Chemnitz, Lions Chemnitz / Lions Chemnitz Unite e. V., architects, engineers, exhibition planners and members of the working group of the Saxony Chamber of Architects Chemnitz 2025.


On 'n stop - light up & enjoy
In order to make the restaurant mile in Innere Klosterstraße even more attractive, the street is to be permanently illuminated. A light installation is to create a feel-good atmosphere all year round that will inspire people and turn the street into a central meeting point. "We are focussing on uniqueness and quality of stay," says Sven Hertwig from exclusiv events, location coordinator of the Rathaus Passagen and cooperation partner for this project.

Unique works of light art are used, which are specially designed and produced for this project. The sustainable lighting concept with LED technology contributes to an enhancement of the quality of stay and thus to an increase in footfall. Factors such as safety and cleanliness are also positively influenced.

The project was planned and submitted in cooperation with the partner exclusiv events. The following partners will finance and realise the project: Werbe-Initiative Chemnitz City, Werbegemeinschaft Rathaus Passagen.


Background: Competition "Ab in die Mitte! The Saxony City Centre Offensive" competition
The competition, which was launched in 2004, is a public-private partnership, an initiative supported by the private sector together with the Free State of Saxony. Over the past 20 years, "Ab in die Mitte!" has become a recognised instrument of sustainable urban development. More than 150 Saxon municipalities with more than 450 projects have taken part so far.