Chemnitz Peace Day 2020
Numerous residents of Chemnitz commemorated the bombing of the city 75 years ago and the victims of the Second World War with a variety of events and activities today, 5 March.
Mayor Barbara Ludwig had called for the traditional commemoration ceremony at the municipal cemetery in the morning. A wreath was laid at the memorial to the victims of the bombing of the city of Chemnitz. Young people from the Theatre Youth Club of Chemnitz Municipal Theatre developed their thoughts on peace and the commemoration of 5 March 1945. They also focussed on today's society, current references and demands for a diverse, tolerant coexistence. Mayor Barbara Ludwig read from eyewitness accounts of so-called "war children" who had reached the city of Chemnitz in response to a new appeal.
The traditional peace routes led from five Chemnitz churches on different routes to the central event on the Neumarkt.
This year, the evening event on Neumarkt was organised under the motto "Culture - Language - Religion". It was organised by the Jewish community of Chemnitz. The diversity of Chemnitz was expressed through song, poems and prayers. Languages that are spoken in Chemnitz were also heard. Participants included members of the Chemnitz Jewish community, representatives of the monotheistic religions in Chemnitz as well as actors and musicians from Chemnitz and Berlin.
At the end of the programme, 200 white balloons were released into the evening sky, to which Chemnitz residents had attached their wishes for peace. Visitors also placed candles on a dove of peace measuring around 2.5 by 2.5 metres, symbolically lighting it up.
As every year, there was also a peace cross on the Neumarkt, where the FUER CHEMNITZ e.V. citizens' association and the Chemnitz Peace Day working group asked for visitors' wishes for peace.
The films "Children at War" (2018) and "The Last Witnesses" (2019) were shown in the city council chamber in the town hall. In both films, Chemnitz residents who experienced 5 March 1945 as children have their say. There was also the opportunity to talk about the film and the events described with contemporary witnesses from Chemnitz in the Grüner Salon. In the lobby of the town hall, handicrafts and pictures on the subject of peace, which were created in Chemnitz daycare centres and after-school care centres, will be on display until tomorrow.
The Chemnitz Peace Day traditionally ends in the evening with a peace service in the City and Market Church of St Jakobi and the commemorative ringing of all Chemnitz churches at 9 pm.