Chemnitz sets an example for Peace Day on 5 March
Wreath-laying ceremony 10 a.m. at the municipal cemetery - 6 p.m. rally at Neumarkt
With the Peace Day next Sunday, 5 March, Chemnitz is once again setting an example for democracy, tolerance, peaceful coexistence and cosmopolitanism, against hatred and neo-fascism on the 72nd anniversary of the end of the Second World War. To this end, the Peace Day working group and a broad alliance from politics, culture, business, science and sport have prepared a varied programme for Chemnitz Peace Day.
Mayor Barbara Ludwig: "This year, Chemnitz schoolchildren will once again look at history and shed light on the significance of 5 March for our city and its citizens from their point of view. This perspective is very important to me. I firmly believe that we should listen to how today's young generation perceives our history and what focus they place on it. The war began almost 80 years ago.
Post-war generations grew up with the stories told by their parents and grandparents about the horrors of war. The following generations do not have this. They have to inform themselves and categorise the information in their own value system."
Mayor Barbara Ludwig invites you to the municipal cemetery on 5 March at 10 am to mark the Day of Peace. Together with pupils from the Goethe-Gymnasium Chemnitz and representatives of the City Pupils' Council, Barbara Ludwig will commemorate the victims of the destruction of Chemnitz 72 years ago. A wreath will be laid at the memorial to the victims of the bombing. The event will be accompanied by a programme from the music school.
In the evening at 6 p.m., Barbara Ludwig will take part in the Peace Day rally under the motto "Back then - my country before the war". Other participants at Neumarkt include Hartwig Albiro, Omar Dello, Ricky Goldammer, Jan Heinke, Svetlana Katchour, Baraa Khalil, Andreas Kindschuh, Karl-Heinz Kleve, Manh-Hung Nguyen, Tukayana Paolo-König, Mathis Stendike and others.
Programme excerpt 5 March - Neumarkt memorial and action area
11 a.m.: Opening of the peace cross
Chemnitz residents can articulate their wishes for peace here
11.15 am: Drum music from Tanzania
with Arba Manillah & Mambo vipi Band
1.30 pm: Music from Eritrea
3 pm: Arman "Abduljan" Naderi - music from Afghanistan
5 pm: Town hall foyer: "Gehen, ging, gegangen"
Carl Geissler and Heinrich Grossinger read from "Gehen, ging, gegangen" by Jenny Erpenbeck, accompanied by the "StreichHölzer" of the Municipal Music School, conducted by Andreas Winkler
5 p.m.: Start of the Peace Paths to Neumarkt - meeting point:
Propsteikirche St Johannes Nepomuk, Hohe Straße 1,
Church of Peace, Kaßbergstraße 30,
St. Petrikirche, Theaterplatz,
St Mark's Church, Körnerplatz
After a short reflection at each of the starting points, the participants will make their way to Neumarkt. Before the rally, which starts at 6 pm, the walkable peace cross can be visited as a memorial.
6 p.m. Neumarkt: RALLY
"Back then - my country before the war"
Further information on the programme can be found at www.chemnitzer-friedenstag-2017.de and at www.chemnitz.de/friedenstag.