Art collections on Theatre Square
Thursday and Friday, 3 and 4 July, 3 to 7 p.m. each day
Saturday, 5 July, 4 to 8 p.m.
Pavilion of Fear - A mobile art and hands-on project in Chemnitz
Art and hands-on project in the run-up to the Edvard Munch exhibition.
Location: Frei-Otto-Park, Siegmar
Discover the "Pavilion of Fear", a project of the Chemnitz Art Collections. This special meeting place will be travelling throughout Chemnitz in the summer, stopping off in various parts of the city. Anyone who is curious is invited to get to know fear not only as a negative feeling, but also as a driving force - an element that moves, challenges and connects us. Come along and be part of this exciting journey through the feeling of fear!
Throughout the opening hours, together with the Institute of Psychology at Chemnitz University of Technology, we invite visitors to discuss all topics between everyday worries and fears about the future using a questionnaire. Together, we would like to talk more about the worries and fears that are currently affecting urban society.
> Link to the event
Saturday, 5 July / 2 August, 1 p.m.
Public Tour through the Collection Highlights (ENG)
Location: Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
Meeting point: Ticket office of the Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
Participation: limited to 24 people, registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Learn about current exhibitions in the Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz and highlights from the collection on our public tours in English under professional guidance.
Saturday, 5 / 12 / 19 / 26 July / 2 August, 4 p.m.
Sunday, 6 / 13 / 20 / 27 July / 3 August, 2.30 p.m.
Highlights in the art collections on Theatre Square: Public guided tour
Location: Art Collections on Theatre Square
Meeting point: Ticket office of the art collections on Theaterplatz
Participation: limited to 24 people, registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Learn about current exhibitions in the Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz and highlights from the collection on our public guided tours under professional guidance.
Thursday to Sunday, 10 to 13 July from 3 to 7 p.m. and
Thursday to Sunday, 17 to 20 July, 3 to 7 p.m. each day
Pavilion of Fear - A mobile art and hands-on project in Chemnitz
Art and hands-on project in the run-up to the Edvard Munch exhibition.
Location: Theaterplatz, city centre
Discover the "Pavilion of Fear", a project of the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz. This special meeting place will be travelling throughout Chemnitz during the summer, stopping off in various parts of the city. All those who are curious are invited to get to know fear not only as a negative feeling, but also as a driving force - an element that moves, challenges and connects us.
connects us. Come along and be part of this exciting journey through the feeling of fear!
Throughout the opening hours, together with the Institute of Psychology at Chemnitz University of Technology, we invite visitors to discuss all topics between everyday worries and fears about the future using a questionnaire. Together, we would like to talk more about the worries and fears that are currently affecting urban society.
> Link to the event
Thursday, 10 / 17 / 24 / 31 July, 9 am and 11.15 am
Event: Summer holiday programme
Location: Art Collections on Theatre Square
Duration: approx. 2 h
Cost: 2 euros per person, accompanying person free (max. 2 persons per child), a day ticket must be purchased for separate visits to the exhibitions
Participation: limited to 15 children, aged 6 and over, registration at least one week in advance at kunstbus(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
During the summer holidays, we invite children and families to take an entertaining tour of the "Collection Stories" exhibition. We will discover selected works of art and learn exciting background stories. In the creative part that follows, everyone will design their own postcard using the fascinating technique of cyanotype - a historical photographic technique in which unique "blueprints" are created with the help of sunlight and special chemicals. An artistic holiday greeting to take home!
Children can also attend the holiday programme without an accompanying person. Please fill out this document in advance or bring it with you: Declaration of consent
Sunday, 13 July, 1 to 2.30 pm
Permanent exhibition: family tour
Location: Art Collections on Theatre Square
Meeting point: Ticket office of the art collections on Theaterplatz
Participation: Admission (children under 18 are free) + 2 euros material fee for adults and 0.50 euros material fee for children, registration at the ticket office or at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Together we will explore the permanent exhibitions in the art collections at Theaterplatz in a playful way. Afterwards we will create our own small works of art to take home.
Wednesday, 16 July, 7.30 pm
Opening of the solo exhibition Carlfriedrich Claus & guided tour through the exhibition and the Carlfriedrich Claus Archive
Location: Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
As part of the exhibition Galerie Oben and Clara Mosch, we cordially invite you to the opening of the solo exhibition "Carlfriedrich Claus" and to an accompanying guided tour of the exhibition and the Carlfriedrich Claus Archive with Marie Winter on Wednesday, 16 July 2025 at 19:30 in the Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz.
Friday to Sunday, 25 to 27 July, 3 to 7 pm each day
Friday to Sunday, 1 to 3 August, 3 to 7 pm each day
Pavilion of Fear - A mobile art and hands-on project in Chemnitz
Art and hands-on project in the run-up to the Edvard Munch exhibition.
Location: Begehungen art festival, former HKW Chemnitz-Nord, Furth
The pavilion opens at the Begehungen art festival under the banner of climate anxiety. Here, visitors have the opportunity to deal specifically with their fears and their own feelings about the climate. Art therapy students from the Dresden University of Fine Arts offer open studios and exciting workshops on Sundays.
The open studio offers space for creating, writing and connecting. With the help of creative impulses and inspired by the artistic works of the festival, participants will explore current questions and feelings about how to deal with the climate crisis.
> Link to the event
Wednesday, 27 July, 3 pm
Galerie Oben and Clara Mosch: Public guided tour
Location: Art Collections on Theatre Square
Meeting point: Ticket office of the art collections on Theaterplatz
Participation: limited to 20 people, registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
The exhibition uses numerous original documents, photos, posters, postcards and letters to tell the story of both galleries and bring them back to life. Changing monthly presentations introduce artists who were present in the gallery between 1973 and 1990, allowing visitors to experience a broad spectrum of artistic trends from this period.
Friday, 8 August, 3 to 5 pm
Edvard Munch: Children's preview
Location: Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
An early insight into the exhibition for young visitors.
Guided tour suitable for children with creative hands-on activities centred around Edvard Munch's works and the theme of fear.
> Link to the event
Saturday, 9 August, 5 pm
Opening Edvard Munch. Fear
Location: Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
Based on the themes that permeate Munch's art, the exhibition will focus on fear, loneliness and illness as well as Munch's stay in Chemnitz in 1905 and the ongoing confrontation with his childhood. At the same time, contemporary positions such as those of Marina Abramović, Monica Bonvicini, Michael Morgner, Osmar Osten, Neo Rauch, Andy Warhol and others will enter into dialogue with Munch's works.
> Link to the event
Sunday, 10 August, 1 to 2.30 pm
Edvard Munch - Fear: family tour
Location: Art Collections on Theatre Square
Meeting point: Ticket office of the art collections on Theatre Square
Participation: Admission (children under 18 are free) + 2 euros material fee for adults and 0.50 euros material fee for children, registration at the ticket office or at
info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Together we will explore the exhibition Edvard Munch - Fear in a playful way. This exhibition is about the really big feelings that often go unmentioned or remain invisible in everyday life: Fear, loneliness and feeling lost. Afterwards, we will create our own small works of art to take home.
Sunday, 10 / 31 August, 2.30 pm
Friday, 15 / 22 / 29 August, 4 p.m.
Saturday, 16 / 23 / 30 August, 2.30 p.m. / 4 p.m.
Sunday, 17 / 24 August, 2.30 pm / 4 pm
Edvard Munch - Fear: Public guided tour
Location: Art Collections on Theatre Square
Meeting point: Ticket office of the art collections on Theaterplatz
Participation: limited to 24 people, registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Based on the themes that permeate Munch's art, the exhibition will focus on anxiety, loneliness and illness as well as Munch's stay in Chemnitz in 1905 and the ongoing confrontation with his childhood. At the same time, contemporary positions such as those of Marina Abramović, Monica Bonvicini, Michael Morgner, Osmar Osten, Neo Rauch, Andy Warhol and others will enter into dialogue with Munch's works.
Wednesday, 13 August, 6.30 pm
Edvard Munch - The Fear of Genius
Lecture by Prof Borwin Bandelow
Venue: Art Collections on Theatre Square
Meeting point: Ticket office of the Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
Fear is a basic human emotion that is diffuse and ambivalent. It affects everyone and is vital. The coronavirus pandemic has led to a significant increase in anxiety disorders. Fears of globalisation and undesirable ecological developments are the cause of a lack of confidence in the future, especially for the younger generation, and are increasingly being instrumentalised politically.
> Link to the event
Wednesday, 27 August, 6.30 pm
Edvard Munch - double portrait of Käte and Hugo Perls
Lecture by Prof Hartmut Gaßner
Location: Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
The double portrait of Käte and Hugo Perls was painted by Edvard Munch in 1913 and now hangs in the Chemnitz Art Collections. The lecture tells the story of the young couple, who had a house built by Mies van der Rohe with references to Karl Friedrich Schinkel and whose dining room was painted by Max Pechstein. Käte and Hugo Perls began to collect works by Picasso and Munch in particular, and travelled to Kristiania especially to see Munch for several portraits.
Hartmut Gaßner, born in 1956, has been a lawyer in Berlin since 1987. He is increasingly interested in the history of architecture and art, with a focus on Mies van der Rohe. It was through him that he became interested in the Perls House. Gaßner has given lectures on the Perls family and written articles on the subject, most recently on the history and provenance of the Reinhardt frieze by Edvard Munch (vol. 64 of the Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen). He has also recently lectured on the work of Edvard Munch in Lübeck.
> Link to the event
Wednesday, 27 August, 18:30
Blind Art Date. Queer Edition: Event
Venue: Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
Admission: day rate + 2 euros incl. a free drink (day rate is free for TU students and school pupils)
Are you new to the city or just want to meet new people? Do you like going to museums but don't want to go alone? Then come to the Blind Art Date at the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz! This special format allows you to immerse yourself in an exciting art world and experience an inspiring short tour of the current exhibition. The Blind Art Date turns the museum space into a meeting place where you can get into conversation with other people interested in art - completely relaxed and without pressure.
After the tour, you can continue chatting and making new contacts in a relaxed atmosphere with a free drink and music in the foyer. Perfect for anyone who is open to new things and wants to share their enthusiasm for art!
> Link to the event
Sunday, 31 August, 3 to 6 pm
Fear - Perspectives - Nature, Part I
Writing workshop with Silke Weizel Location: Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
A written trilogy on the exhibition "Edvard Munch. Fear"
Permanent exhibitions
20 February 2025 until 15 February 2026
Galerie Oben and Clara Mosch - artistic free spaces in Karl-Marx-Stadt
Location: Art Collections on Theatre Square
Contrary to the official cultural scene in the GDR, a hotspot of the alternative art scene developed in Karl-Marx-Stadt (Chemnitz) at the beginning of the 1970s. With the Galerie Oben and the Clara Mosch artists' group (1977-1982), which also ran a producers' gallery, there were two institutions in the city that attracted art lovers from all over the country with their unconventional exhibition programme, actions and events. At the same time, these venues also served as platforms for artists who were not recognised as such by the state. Here they were given their first exhibition opportunities within the framework of the unofficial scene.
The exhibition uses numerous original documents, photos, posters, postcards and letters to tell the story of both galleries and bring them back to life. Changing monthly presentations introduce artists who were present in the gallery between 1973 and 1990, allowing visitors to experience a broad spectrum of artistic trends from this period. Furthermore, the so-called "Wednesday events" at Galerie Oben will be revived in the form of artist talks, lectures, readings and film screenings, inviting visitors to enter into dialogue with the artists of the time.
Changing presentations with: Thomas Ranft, Michael Morgner, Núria Quevedo, Gerhard Altenbourg, Hans Brockhage, Carlfriedrich Claus, Dagmar Ranft-Schinke, Lutz Dammbeck, Gregor Torsten Kozik, Klaus Hähner-Springmühl, Erich Wolfgang Hartzsch, Irene Bösch
10 July 2025 to 2 November 2025
Edvard Munch - Fear
Location: Art Collections on Theatre Square
The exhibition project spans an arc from the historical perspective on the feeling of fear in the art of Edvard Munch to artistic works in our present day. The exhibition combines international loans with works from the extensive holdings of the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz. Even today, Munch's works and their themes are immensely topical and thus remain particularly accessible.
Fear is a basic human emotion that is diffuse and ambivalent. It affects everyone and is vital. The coronavirus pandemic has led to a significant increase in anxiety disorders. Fears of globalisation and undesirable ecological developments are the cause of a lack of confidence in the future, especially for the younger generation, and are increasingly being instrumentalised politically.
Based on the themes that permeate Munch's art, the exhibition will focus on anxiety, loneliness and illness as well as Munch's stay in Chemnitz in 1905 and the ongoing confrontation with his childhood. In parallel, contemporary positions such as those of Marina Abramović, Monica Bonvicini, Michael Morgner, Osmar Osten, Neo Rauch, Andy Warhol and others will enter into a dialogue with Munch's works. With the Pavilion of Fear as a mobile meeting space, the active participation of citizens and tourists will be stimulated by a diverse, creative programme before and during the exhibition in Chemnitz's urban space.
> Further information on the exhibition
Museum Gunzenhauser
Tuesday, 1 / 8 / 15 / 22 / 29 July, 9 am / 11.15 am
Friday, 4 / 25 July, 9 a.m.
Friday, 11 / 18 July, 9 am / 11.15 am
Beaded Pearls - Small plant treasures made from pearls: Summer holiday programme
Location: Museum Gunzenhauser
Meeting point: Ticket office of the art collections on Theaterplatz
Duration: approx. 2 h
Participation: 2 euros per person, accompanying person free (max. 2 persons per child), a day ticket must be purchased for separate visits to the exhibitions, please register at least one week in advance at kunstbus(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
In the summer holiday programme, children and families discover original, colourful works of art from all over Europe on a tour of the "European Realities" exhibition. Afterwards, we get creative: inspired by the motif of the potted plant in the art of the 1920s and 1930s and the shapes and colours of nature, we design small works of plant art from beautiful beads. The result is imaginative mini treasures reminiscent of flowers, leaves or fruit - to take home or give as gifts!
Saturday, 5 / 12 / 19 / 26 July, 2.30 pm
Sunday, 6 / 13 / 20 / 27 July, 4 p.m.
European Realities: Public guided tour
Location: Museum Gunzenhauser
Meeting point: Gunzenhauser Museum ticket office
Participation: limited to 24 people, registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Get to know the most important works and in-depth content on a joint tour of the exhibition. For the first time, European Realities is dedicated to the diverse realism movements that were visible almost everywhere in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. It tells of poverty and misery, reports on the economic boom and cultural prosperity, scientific and technical progress, the big city and nightlife, emancipation and diversity. Never before has this artistic epoch been presented in such detail.
Sunday, 6 July, 1 p.m.
European Realities: Guided tour for families
Location: Museum Gunzenhauser
Participation: Admission (children under 18 are free) + 2 euros material fee for adults and 0.50 euros material fee for children
Registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Together we will playfully explore the exhibition European Realities. Realism Movements of the 1920s and 1930s in Europe. It tells of the economic boom and cultural prosperity, of the big city and nightlife, emancipation and diversity. Afterwards, visitors will create their own small works of art to take home.
Saturday, 12 July, 1 p.m.
Guided Tour (eng) - European Realities
Location: Gunzenhauser Museum
Meeting point: Gunzenhauser Museum ticket office
Public tours are limited to a maximum of 24 people. We recommend booking by e-mail(info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de) or telephone (0371 488 4424). Groups of 10 people or more are requested to pre-book guided tours due to the limited number of participants. Thank you very much!
Take a tour of the exhibition and learn about the most important works and in-depth content. For the first time, European Realities dedicates itself to the diverse realism movements that were visible almost everywhere in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. It tells tales of poverty and misery, reports on the economic boom and cultural prosperity, scientific and technical progress, the big city and nightlife, emancipation and diversity. Never before has this artistic epoch been presented on such a scale.
Wednesday, 23 July, 6.30 pm
European Realities: Curator:inside tour
Location: Museum Gunzenhauser
Meeting point: Museum Gunzenhauser ticket office
Participation: limited to 24 people, registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Get to know the most important works and in-depth content on a joint tour of the exhibition. For the first time, European Realities is dedicated to the diverse realism movements that were visible almost everywhere in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. It tells of poverty and misery, reports on the economic boom and cultural prosperity, scientific and technical progress, the big city and nightlife, emancipation and diversity. Never before has this artistic epoch been presented in such detail.
Friday, 1 August, 9 a.m.
Tuesday, 5 August, 9 a.m. / 11.15 a.m.
Friday, 8 August, 9 a.m. / 11.15 a.m.
Beaded Pearls - Small plant treasures made from pearls: summer holiday programme
Location: Museum Gunzenhauser
Meeting point: Ticket office of the art collections on Theaterplatz
Duration: approx. 2 h
Participation: 2 euros per person, accompanying person free (max. 2 persons per child), a day ticket must be purchased for separate visits to the exhibitions, please register at least one week in advance at kunstbus(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
In the summer holiday programme, children and families discover original, colourful works of art from all over Europe on a tour of the "European Realities" exhibition. Afterwards, we get creative: inspired by the motif of the potted plant in the art of the 1920s and 1930s and the shapes and colours of nature, we design small works of plant art from beautiful beads. The result is imaginative mini treasures reminiscent of flowers, leaves or fruit - to take home or give as gifts!
Saturday, 2 / 9 August, 2.30 pm
Sunday, 3 / 10 August, 4 p.m.
European Realities: Public guided tour
Location: Museum Gunzenhauser
Meeting point: Gunzenhauser Museum ticket office
Participation: limited to 24 people, registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Get to know the most important works and in-depth content on a tour of the exhibition. For the first time, European Realities is dedicated to the diverse realism movements that were visible almost everywhere in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. It tells of poverty and misery, reports on the economic boom and cultural prosperity, scientific and technological progress, the big city and nightlife, emancipation and diversity. Never before has this artistic epoch been presented in such detail.
Sunday, 3 August, 1 p.m.
European Realities: Guided tour for families
Location: Museum Gunzenhauser
Participation: Admission (children under 18 are free) + 2 euros material fee for adults and 0.50 euros material fee for children
Registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Together we will playfully explore the exhibition European Realities. Realism Movements of the 1920s and 1930s in Europe. It tells of the economic boom and cultural prosperity, of the big city and nightlife, emancipation and diversity. Afterwards, visitors will create their own small works of art to take home.
Saturday, 9 August, 1 p.m.
Guided Tour (eng) - European Realities
Location: Gunzenhauser Museum
Meeting point: Gunzenhauser Museum ticket office
Public tours are limited to a maximum of 24 people. We recommend booking by e-mail(info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de) or telephone (0371 488 4424). Groups of 10 people or more are requested to pre-book guided tours due to the limited number of participants. Thank you very much!
Take a tour of the exhibition and learn about the most important works and in-depth content. For the first time, European Realities dedicates itself to the diverse realism movements that were visible almost everywhere in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. It tells tales of poverty and misery, reports on the economic boom and cultural prosperity, scientific and technical progress, the big city and nightlife, emancipation and diversity. Never before has this artistic epoch been presented on such a scale.
Saturday, 30 August, 2 to 6 pm
Make it your own - visions of the square in front of the Gunzenhauser Museum
As part of the WIN/WIN exhibition
Location: Museum Gunzenhauser
The Platzvisionen event invites citizens to rediscover the city's squares, learn about their history and contribute their own ideas for the future. After the station forecourt, Seeberplatz and Stefan-Heym-Platz, this time the square in front of Museum Gunzenhauser will be scrutinised more closely.
With music, art, coffee and exciting insights, the day offers an opportunity to exchange ideas and help shape the square. The suggestions will then be handed over to the city to be incorporated into the future design of the square.
From 30 August, visitors can use the furniture in front of the museum for a fortnight and drink their coffee there in a cosy atmosphere.
A cooperation of the Verein für Baukultur e. V. and the working group Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 of the Chamber of Architects of Saxony with the Museum Gunzenhauser, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz.
> Link to the event
Sunday, 31 August, 6 pm
Opening of the WIN/WIN exhibition
The art acquisitions of the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony 2025
Location: Museum Gunzenhauser
WIN/WIN presents works of contemporary visual art acquired by the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony to support artists. The focus is on works that were created in Saxony.
Permanent exhibitions
27 April 2025 until 10 August 2025
European Realities
Realism movements of the 1920s and 1930s in Europe
Never before has this artistic epoch been presented on such a large scale.
> Further information on the exhibition
31 August 2025 to 26 October 2025
WIN/WIN
Location: Museum Gunzenhauser
WIN/WIN presents works of contemporary visual art acquired by the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony to support artists. The focus is on works that were created in Saxony.
Castle Hill Museum
Sunday, 3 July, 9 a.m. / 11.15 a.m.
Thursday, 10 / 17 / 24 / 31 July, 9 a.m. / 11.15 a.m.
Thursday, 7 August, 11.15 a.m.
The new city: summer holiday programme
Location: Schloßbergmuseum
Duration: approx. 2 h
Participation: 2 euros per person, accompanying person free (max. 2 persons per child), a day ticket must be purchased for separate visits to the exhibitions, max. 15 children per group, please register at least one week in advance at kunstbus(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Children can also visit the holiday programme without an accompanying person. Please fill out this document in advance or bring it with you: Declaration of consent
Why was Chemnitz once called Karl-Marx-Stadt? And how did people live back then? In our summer holiday programme, we invite children and families to go on a discovery tour together through the exhibition "The New City". There we learn how the city has changed and what ideas there were for the future. Afterwards, everyone will get creative themselves: how would we like to live in the future? Design your own cities of the future - full of imagination and exciting ideas!
Sunday, 6 / 20 July, 2.30 pm
The new city: Public guided tour
Location: Schloßbergmuseum
Participation: limited to 20 people, registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
The exhibition at the Schloßberg Museum traces the intense and momentous era of "Karl-Marx-Stadt", which lasted only a few decades, with a special focus on developments in urban planning and architecture.
Sunday, 13 / 27 July / 10 August, 2.30 pm
Highlights in the Schloßbergmuseum: Public guided tour
Location: Schloßbergmuseum
Meeting point: Ticket office of the Schloßbergmuseum
The exhibition tells the story of Chemnitz from the 12th to the 20th century and shows a variety of models of the architectural development of the monastery and city: the three large city models of the medieval community, the vibrant city of the "Golden Twenties" and the development project of the Karl-Marx-Stadt city centre in 1960 in particular invite you to take an exciting walk through the eventful history of the city and its inhabitants.
Sunday, 20 July, 1 p.m.
Schloßbergmuseum: family tour
Location: Castle Hill Museum
Meeting point: Ticket office of the Schloßbergmuseum
Participation: Admission (children under 18 are free) + 2 euros material fee for adults and 0.50 euros material fee for children, registration at the ticket office of the Schloßbergmuseum or by calling 0371 488 4424 / info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Together we will explore the permanent exhibition of the Schloßbergmuseum in a playful way. The exhibition tells the story of Chemnitz from the 12th to the 20th century and shows a variety of models of the architectural development of the monastery and city: the three large city models of the medieval community, the vibrant city of the "Golden Twenties" and the development project of the Karl-Marx-Stadt city centre from 1960 in particular invite you to take an exciting walk through the eventful history of the city and its inhabitants. Afterwards, we will create our own small works of art to take home.
Thursday, 21 August, 6.30 pm
In conversation: "See the evil in the parlour and write about it." - Home, origins and the difficult look back with Kerstin Hensel and Matthias Weichelt
Location: Schloßbergmuseum
The writer Kerstin Hensel, who was born in Karl-Marx-Stadt in 1961, has entitled her article in the magazine Sinn und Form "Die böse gute Stube" ("The evil parlour"), in which she traces the history of her family from the imperial era through the Weimar Republic and the GDR to the present day. "I see my aunts on the Chemnitz Südkampfbahn under rattling flags. It is 7 June 1931, the Saxon state party conference of the NSDAP." The future author grew up between the big city and the Ore Mountains, between hope for the future and provincialism, and asserted her artistic stubbornness against all paternalism. Kerstin Hensel, member of the Berlin Academy of Arts, talks to Matthias Weichelt, editor-in-chief of Sinn und Form, about her view of the region of her origin, which also plays a special role in her new novel Die Glückshaut (2024).
The literary magazine Sinn und Form has been published by the Akademie der Künste since 1950. The fact that texts could appear here in GDR times that were not allowed to be printed elsewhere (by Volker Braun, Christa Wolf, Ulrich Plenzdorf, Peter Hacks, Christoph Hein, among others) established the legendary reputation of these contributions to literature.
An event organised by the Akademie der Künste Berlin in cooperation with the Gunzenhauser Foundation.
Permanent exhibitions
4 May 2025 to 1 February 2026
The new city - Chemnitz as Karl-Marx-Stadt
Location: Schloßbergmuseum
The exhibition at the Schloßbergmuseum traces the intense and momentous era of "Karl Marx City", which lasted only a few decades, with a special focus on developments in urban planning and architecture.
The end of the Second World War signalled a new beginning for the heavily destroyed industrial city of Chemnitz in many respects: the GDR was founded in 1949, the federal states were dissolved in 1952 and twelve districts were created as a new administrative structure. Chemnitz was not only given the status of district capital, but was also renamed in 1953 by decision of the state party SED. With the name of the philosopher and communist mastermind Karl Marx, the city was - intentionally or not - assigned a role as a "model socialist city".
The specific nature of the political circumstances played a key role in this, but local events were also part of international "post-war modernism". Across the system, the destruction of the war was seen as an opportunity for a new start in terms of architecture and urban planning, as a chance to realise ideas and reform concepts that had existed for some time.
The openness to new ideas that was widespread internationally in the post-war decades found expression in a special attitude to life, in enthusiasm for technical visions, in design or in fashion. The exhibition brings the world of prefabricated buildings, elevated roads, cosmonauts and plastics back to life, but does not leave out contradictions and the reality of "real existing socialism".
In preparation for the 2025 exhibition, a conference on the topic was held in November 2024. The conference topic, which was developed in cooperation with Chemnitz University of Technology, focussed on the reconstruction of Chemnitz after 1945 - both in an international context and with a view to the socialist "brother countries" and behind the "Iron Curtain". The question of what differences and similarities there were in construction was explored. Modern architecture in the decades before the war served as a point of reference.
Renowned experts discussed aspects of building in the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, the USA, various Eastern European countries and Chemnitz / Karl-Marx-Stadt.
Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff House
Wednesday, 2 / 9 / 16 / 23 / 30 July / 6 August, 9 a.m.
Friday, 4 / 11 / 18 / 25 July / 1 / 8 August, 9 a.m.
A new museum for Chemnitz: summer holiday programme
Location: Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff House
Duration: approx. 2 h
Participation: 2 euros per person, accompanying person free (max. 2 persons per child), a day ticket must be purchased for separate visits to the exhibitions, max. 15 children per group, please register at least one week in advance at kunstbus(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
How did Karl Schmidt-Rottluff paint in his youth? And what inspired him about nature? It was often his immediate surroundings at home that he captured in his early works. In our holiday programme, children discover the young artist's landscape paintings on an exciting tour of the exhibition through his family's former home. Afterwards, we will get creative ourselves: using watercolours and watercolour brushes, everyone will put their own favourite landscape on paper. An imaginative holiday excursion into the world of colour and nature!
Children can also attend the holiday programme without an accompanying person. Please fill in this document in advance or bring it with you: Declaration of consent
Saturday, 12 July, 1 pm / 2.30 pm
Dancing letters: Workshop
Location: Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff House
Duration: approx. 90 minutes
Participation: full payer 22 euros incl. day ticket, reduced 5 euros plus day ticket
Get to know an embossing technique with paper at our Dancing Letters event. The workshop takes place in the newly opened Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Haus. Among other things, you will create your own initials using the embossing technique and use the letters of Karl Schmidt-Rottluff's bookplates as inspiration. We look forward to seeing you!
Sunday, 20 July, 2 p.m.
A new museum for Chemnitz: Curator: inside tour
Location: Karl Schmidt-Rottluff House
Meeting point: Ticket office of the Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Haus, Limbacher Straße 382
Participation: Places limited, please register by e-mail to info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de or phone (0371 488 4424)
Get to know the newly opened Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Haus and its namesake during our curator-guided tour. He was born in Rottluff (now Chemnitz) in 1884 and co-founded the Brücke group of artists. The exhibition shows two collections that were donated especially for the house: the exquisite collection of Karl Schmidt-Rottluff's handicraft works from the former property of Dr Victor and Hedda Peters, which is on permanent loan from the Ostdeutsche Sparkassenstiftung, and a private collection of objects from the artist's former personal possessions. Prints, oil sketches and temporary loans are also on display in the exhibition rooms. Together with the neighbouring mill, where Karl Schmidt-Rottluff spent his childhood, the house will become another hotspot of Expressionism in Chemnitz. As a "place of new beginnings", the Karl Schmidt-Rottluff House is one of the intervention areas of the Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025.
Permanent exhibition
A new museum for Chemnitz - the Karl Schmidt-Rottluff House
Karl Schmidt was born in Rottluff (now Chemnitz) in 1884. He was a co-founder of the Brücke group of artists and an important representative of Expressionism in Germany. After many years of initiatives and preliminary planning, the city of Chemnitz decided to convert Karl Schmidt-Rottluff's former parents' house at Limbacher Straße 382 into an artists' house. Together with the neighbouring mill, where Karl Schmidt-Rottluff spent his childhood, the house will be developed into another hotspot of Expressionism in Chemnitz. As a "place of new beginnings", the Karl Schmidt-Rottluff House is one of the intervention areas of the Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025.
The Chemnitz Art Collections have been commissioned with the conception of the museum presentation and the future operation of the listed building. The exhibition will not only focus on the biographies of the artist and other Brücke members, but also on the history of the location. Schmidt-Rottluff regularly visited his mother here until 1936. During the difficult war years of 1943 - 1946, he lived in Rottluff again for some time after his Berlin flat was bombed out.
The Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz are developing their own presentation together with multimedia mediation formats. The exhibits are based on two collections that were donated especially for the museum: the exquisite collection of Karl Schmidt-Rottluff's handicraft works from the former property of Dr Victor and Hedda Peters, which is on permanent loan from the Ostdeutsche Sparkassenstiftung, and a private collection of objects from the artist's former personal possessions. Prints, oil sketches and temporary loans are also on display in the exhibition rooms.
The aim of the refurbishment is to create a place that is not only a lively meeting point for art lovers and tourists, but also for the residents of Rottluff themselves. The space aims to create opportunities for encounters. Interventions with contemporary art are also planned. Last but not least, events are planned in cooperation with the Förderverein Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Chemnitz e.V. association. In addition to the city's own funds, subsidies from the State Monument Protection Programme and the Ostdeutsche Sparkassenstiftung, together with the Sparkasse Chemnitz, were used for the renovation.