Art collections on Theatre Square
Saturday, 3 May, 1 pm
Bridges Al Dente - building bridges with spaghetti
Location: Art Collections on Theatre Square
Participation: 28 euros, reduced rate 8 euros
Registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
The exhibition Beyond Geometry. Frei Otto x Kengu Kuma explores the connections between resource-conserving architecture and innovative design. The aim of this workshop is for teams to build the most impressive bridge out of uncooked spaghetti. Will a particularly lightweight construction be the winner or will stability be the deciding factor? And which bridge will impress with its elegant design? Everyone is cordially invited to join in the building and cheering.
Participants will learn the basic principles of bridge building and statics in a creative and fun way, while constructing functional bridge models from the most popular Italian pasta. The aim is to understand how the planning process for bridges works, what all needs to be considered and to explore Frei Otto's creative approach.
Saturday, 3 May, 1 p.m.
Introduction to printmaking
Workshop on the exhibition "Galerie Oben and Clara Mosch. Artistic free spaces in Karl-Marx-Stadt"
Location: Art Collections on Theatre Square
Participation: 22 euros, reduced 5 euros
Registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Participants in the workshop will be introduced to experimental printmaking and can try out the technique of etching. We recommend visiting the exhibition before the workshop for your own inspiration.
Wednesday, 7 May, 4 to 9 pm
Schneeberger Geflecht - Upcycling Workshop ReDesigned - Part I
Location: Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
Participation: 112 euros in total, reduced 32 euros,
Information at https://www.kunstsammlungen-chemnitz.de/event/07-05-2025-12170/
In the upcycling workshop, you will creatively redesign former works from the fashion design programme and develop unique textile creations from them. Learn sustainable design methods and innovative techniques with professional guidance. You will develop a strong awareness of resource-conscious working with textiles and expand your design skills.
Wednesday, 7 May, 6.30 pm
Schneeberger Geflecht - curator's tour with Isabella Hofmann and the students
Location: Art Collections on Theatre Square
Participation: limited to 24 people per group, registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
In this guided tour you will be guided through the exhibition by the curator Isabella Hofmann and students of the Faculty of Applied Arts Schneeberg. Participation in all public guided tours is included in museum admission.
Saturday 10 May, 2 to 5 pm
Schneeberger Geflecht - Upcycling Workshop ReDesigned - Part II
Participation: 112 euros in total, reduced 32 euros,
Information at https://www.kunstsammlungen-chemnitz.de/event/10-05-2025-12172/
In the upcycling workshop, you will creatively redesign former works from the fashion design programme and use them to develop unique textile creations. Learn sustainable design methods and innovative techniques with professional guidance. You will develop a strong awareness of resource-conscious working with textiles and expand your design skills.
Saturday, 10 May, 5 to 10 p.m.
Schneeberger Geflecht - carving snails from round wood sections
Walk-in workshop without registration
Location: Art Collections on Theatre Square
Participation: free of charge
Simple pieces of round wood are carved and then transformed into a snail with wire wrapping.
Saturday, 10 May, 5 to 10 pm
Schneeberger Geflecht - A bag for all occasions
Walk-in workshop without registration
Location: Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
Participation: 5 euros per bag
The Textile Art / Textile Design programme of the Applied Arts Schneeberg invites you to an open printing workshop in the art collections. Fabric bags will be printed. In the first step, you will learn about the screen printing process via screen printing, whereby a kind of grid is printed on. You will then get hands-on and can personalise your bag, or "Beitl" as they say in the Erzgebirge, using the letterpress printing process. This results in imaginative creations using geometric shapes.
Wednesday, 14 May, 4 to 9 pm
Schneeberger Geflecht - carving snails from round wood sections
Walk-in workshop without registration
Location: Art collections on Theatre Square
Participation: free of charge
Simple pieces of round wood are carved and then transformed into a snail with wire wrapping.
Wednesday, 14 May, 4 pm
Schneeberger Geflecht - Public guided tour followed by study and portfolio counselling
Location: Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz, 3rd floor
Participation: limited to 24 people per group, registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
As part of a guided tour, prospective students in particular can gain exciting insights into current student research projects and final theses. The projects on display clearly convey the content, focal points and approaches of the training programme at the Faculty of Applied Arts Schneeberg. Afterwards, you will have the opportunity to talk directly to lecturers from the Wood Design, Fashion Design, Textile Art/Textile Design and Musical Instrument Making programmes. In personal discussions, you will find out more about admission requirements, course content and individual prospects for a Bachelor's or Master's degree in design. You can also discuss your own work as part of a portfolio consultation.
Saturday, 17 May, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Schneeberger Geflecht - Upcycling Workshop ReDesigned - Part III
Participation: 112 euros in total, reduced 32 euros,
Information at https://www.kunstsammlungen-chemnitz.de/event/17-05-2025-12173/
In the upcycling workshop, you will creatively redesign former works from the fashion design programme and use them to develop unique textile creations. Learn sustainable design methods and innovative techniques with professional guidance. You will develop a strong awareness of resource-conscious working with textiles and expand your design skills.
Sunday, 18 May, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Schneeberger Geflecht - Upcycling Workshop ReDesigned - Part IV
Location: Art Collections on Theatre Square
Participation: 112 euros in total, reduced 32 euros,
Information at https://www.kunstsammlungen-chemnitz.de/event/18-05-2025-12174/
In the upcycling workshop, you will creatively redesign former works from the fashion design programme and develop unique textile creations from them. Learn sustainable design methods and innovative techniques with professional guidance. You will develop a strong awareness of resource-conscious working with textiles and expand your design skills.
Sunday, 18 May, 4 p.m.
Schneeberger Geflecht - public guided tour for blind and visually impaired people
Location: Art Collections on Theatre Square
Participation: Guided tour limited to 15 people,
Registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Get to know the exhibition "Schneeberger Geflecht - Die Angewandte Kunst invites you" on a joint tour for blind and visually impaired people. The exhibition invites you to make, touch and try things out. The tour takes place on Sunday, 18 May at 4 pm in the art collections on Theaterplatz. Art comes from making! Applied art connects this making with all our lives, brings beauty into our everyday lives, shapes relationships and living spaces. It has been created for 146 years in the workshops of the Schneeberg University of Applied Arts, whose holdings meet those of the Chemnitz Art Collections here. The exhibition Schneeberger Geflecht showcases the (co-)making. Students of the Schneeberg University of Applied Arts are designing a participatory workroom exhibition based on the university's workshop principle.
Wednesday, 21 May, 4 to 9 pm
Schneeberger Geflecht - Schicki Shibori - Workshop
Location: Art Collections on Theatre Square
Participation: 28 euros, reduced rate 8 euros
Shibori from shiboru, to squeeze or wring out, is a Japanese dyeing technique that offers countless pattern possibilities. Geometric shapes or even pictorial motifs can be achieved by folding, binding, sewing or inserting wooden discs. The textile technique was used 1000 years ago to create elaborate, mostly indigo-coloured fabrics for kimonos, among other things. Together we will take up the shibori technique, learn about different approaches and dye individual cloths.
Wednesday, 21 May, 7.30 pm
Opening of the solo exhibition Gerhard Altenbourg & talk with gallery owner Felix Brusberg about the East-West German art trade
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 "Gerhard Altenbourg" and an accompanying discussion with the gallery owner Felix Brusberg about the East-West German art trade.
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.
Saturday, 24 May, 2 to 5 pm
Schneeberger Geflecht - paper making on the theatre square
Walk-in workshop without registration
Location: Art collections on the theatre square
Participation: free of charge
In this workshop, visitors can create their own paper and incorporate silhouettes of Chemnitz into their silhouettes. Each postcard will be unique with a personal reference to Chemnitz. As part of the Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025, unique postcards will be created that bring the unseen to light. Participants have the option of either creating simple cards or incorporating silhouette patterns into the paper. We will provide our laser-cut motifs for this, alternatively each person can cut out their own patterns by hand.
Wednesday, 28 May, 4 to 9 pm
Schneeberger Geflecht - Experiment Fashion Design - Collage & Drapage: From an idea to the first draft - workshop
Location: Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
Participation: 28 euros, reduced rate 8 euros,
Information at https://www.kunstsammlungen-chemnitz.de/event/28-05-2025-12169/
The workshop Experiment Fashion Design - Collage & Drapage combines two creative methods for developing designs. Collages enable a playful approach to colours, shapes and proportions. Materials such as photographs, textiles and papers form the basis for individual compositions. Cutting, tearing and layering create variations that open up new creative possibilities and take aesthetic and conceptual aspects into account. Collages not only serve to visualise, but also to analyse and further develop designs. In the next step, these ideas are transferred to drapage on the dressmaker's dummy. Simple basic shapes are used to create three-dimensional silhouettes that bring volume, balance and proportions to life. The combination of both methods creates an experimental approach to fashion design and opens up new perspectives in the design process.
Saturday, 31 May, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (and Sunday, 1 June, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
Schneeberger Geflecht - sitting and carving - two-day block workshop
Location: Art Collections on Theatre Square
Participation: 58 euros in total, reduced rate 16 euros
Registration is required by Friday, 30 May, 11 a.m.
The Ido stool project aims to bring people and their stories together. To this end, the seats provide a platform for carvings and thus for different cultural identities. As these also each have a recess, many stools can be placed next to each other so that the carved identities and the people behind them can come into contact with each other and create a space for dialogue about culture and identity. The workshop is divided into two days. On the first day, basic carving skills will be taught, carving will be practised and a motif for the seat will be designed in dialogue with and among each other. The second day is dedicated to carving the seat and sharing stories.
Ongoing exhibitions:
(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. 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 engage in dialogue with the artists of the time.
(until 29 June 2025)
Beyond Geometry - Frei Otto x Kengo Kuma
Location: Art Collections on Theatre Square
Frei Otto gave fundamental impetus to architecture in the second half of the 20th century like no other. His pioneering spirit and his work in lightweight construction were a source of inspiration for numerous architects, engineers and artists worldwide. These include the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma. Frei Otto is rarely associated with his birthplace of Chemnitz-Siegmar. A multi-part programme, conceived by numerous partners and consisting of events, workshops and exhibitions, aims to highlight him as an important personality in Chemnitz
(until 29 June 2025)
Schneeberger Geflecht - The applied arts invite you
Location: Art collections on Theatre Square
Art comes from making! Applied art connects this making with all our lives, brings beauty into our everyday lives, shapes relationships and living spaces. It has been created for 146 years in the workshops of the Schneeberg University of Applied Arts, whose collections meet those of the Chemnitz Art Collections here. Students of the Schneeberg University of Applied Arts are designing a participatory workroom exhibition based on the university's workshop principle. Schneeberger Geflecht is not only the title of the exhibition, but also a call to action. Natural materials and pre- and post-consumer waste are woven, woven, sewn and spun. Stools, chairs, bags, clothes and much more will be created. The workroom invites visitors to try things out and do it themselves and actively encourages creativity and cultural participation
Museum Gunzenhauser
Saturday, 3 May, 2.30 pm
European Realities: Public guided tour
Location: Museum Gunzenhauser
Registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Get to know the most important works and in-depth content during a tour of the exhibition. For the first time, European Realities is dedicated to the diverse realist 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 on such a scale.
Sunday, 4 May, 1 to 2.30 pm
Family tour: European Realities
Location: Museum Gunzenhauser
Participation: Admission (children under 18 are free) + 2 euros material fee for adults and 0.50 euros material fee for children,
Information at https://www.kunstsammlungen-chemnitz.de/event/04-05-2025-12559/
Together we will 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. Never before has this period of art been presented on such a scale - a European panorama with around 300 works from 20 countries. Afterwards, we will create our own small works of art to take home.
Sunday, 4 May, 4 p.m.
European Realities: Public guided tour
Location: Museum Gunzenhauser
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 realist 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 to such an extent.
Saturday, 10 May, 2.30 pm
European Realities: Public guided tour
Location: Museum Gunzenhauser
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 realist 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 to such an extent.
Wednesday, 14 May, 7 p.m.
Yesterday and today: Crises and new beginnings in interwar Europe - panel discussion
Venue: Museum Gunzenhauser
"European Realities" focuses on the social and political upheavals of the interwar period in Europe. The exhibition shows images from 22 different countries, today mostly member states of the European Union, and thus opens up the field of tension between cultural prosperity, technical progress and economic upswing, but also poverty and the rise of right-wing extremist convictions at that time.
In this event, we dare to take a historical look back and ask: What parallels can we draw between today and then, or is this comparison less tenable due to the changed initial situation? Stefanie Middendorf, contemporary historian at the University of Jena, and Christian Bommarius, freelance author, both recognised experts on German history in the 1920s and 1930s, will discuss the socio-political tensions of the time. Moderator: Gemma Pörzgen, journalist
Friday, 16 May, 6.30 pm
European Realities: Painting Jam - Interactive painting competition for young and old
Location: Gunzenhauser Museum
Who remembers today that art competitions were held at the Olympic Games in the 1920s? The connection to sport was important and the categories ranged from architecture to literature, music, painting and sculpture. They were only abolished in 1954. With this event, we are picking up on this practice and inviting you to an interactive painting competition in the museum. Marvel at artists as they conjure up creative masterpieces on canvas in the shortest possible time. Be surprised and contribute your own creative ideas. At the end, you can decide what you liked best. Background music and a surprise or two will be provided.
Thursday, 22 May, 6.30 pm
European Realities: Durs Grünbein and Matthias Weichelt: "Is the exhibition enjoying further unpopularity?" - In conversation
Venue: Gunzenhauser Museum
Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub made his mark with the exhibition "Neue Sachlichkeit. German Painting since Expressionism" (1925), Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub shaped an entire art movement. The National Socialists dismissed the director of the Mannheim Kunsthalle and refused him access to the Kunsthalle. Hartlaub exchanged letters with his son Felix about the situation at the museum and the political changes in Germany and fascist Italy. These explosive letters were published in Sinn und Form in 2017. Its editor-in-chief Matthias Weichelt talks about them with the author Durs Grünbein, who is a profound connoisseur of Felix Hartlaub's works.
The literary journal Sinn und Form has been published by the Akademie der Künste since 1950.
In the series Chemnitzer Akademie-Gespräche. An event organised by the Akademie der Künste Berlin in cooperation with the Gunzenhauser Foundation
Saturday, 24 May, 2 to 5 pm
European Realities: Plant Exchange in the Museum - Green Treasures and the New Objectivity
Location: Museum Gunzenhauser
Exotic houseplants and cacti in particular were very popular during the New Objectivity period. Plants were seen as a chic home accessory and became affordable for the general public. The enthusiasm for green oases in the home remains unbroken to this day.
Plant lovers and hobby gardeners get their money's worth here. Together with BUND Chemnitz, we are organising a plant exchange in and around the museum. Bring your cuttings and favourite plants to swap. And explore the exhibition and the houseplants of the 1920s. Guided tours, creative activities with a cactus memory game and succulent folding.
Wednesday, 28 May, 7 p.m.
European Realities: Power and media: influence versus democratisation in Europe?
Location: Museum Gunzenhauser
In this event, we look at the interaction of media and power in a complex networked world. Digital and social media have a strong influence on public opinion and political decision-making processes. Who benefits directly from digital political communication? And how do we protect ourselves from disinformation and hate speech online?
Thorsten Benner, political scientist, Global Public Policy Institute, sheds light on the new alliances between politics and right-wing populism in a global-European context. Ulli Grießhammer, deputy team leader of Hate Aid's counselling service, will make the link to everyday socio-political life and provide an insight into the practical work of Hate Aid - an organisation against digital violence.
Moderation: Gemma Pörzgen, journalist
In cooperation with the Saxon State Centre for Political Education and Chemnitz 2025. The event is part of the SLpB project office series Europe needs dialogue!
Ongoing exhibitions:
(from 27 April to 10 August 2025)
European Realities
Realism movements of the 1920s and 1930s in Europe
Location: Museum Gunzenhauser
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff House
Sunday, 4 May, 2 pm (duration approx. 30 min)
A new museum for Chemnitz: Karl Schmidt-Rottluff impulse tour (duration approx. 30 min)
Location: Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff House, Limbacher Straße 382
Registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Get to know the newly opened Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Haus and its namesake during our public guided tours. 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.
Sunday, 4 May, 2.45 pm
A new museum for Chemnitz: Karl Schmidt-Rottluff impulse tour (duration approx. 30 min)
Location: Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff House, Limbacher Straße 382
Registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Get to know the newly opened Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Haus and its namesake during our public guided tours. 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.
Sunday, 11 May, 2 pm (duration approx. 30 min)
A new museum for Chemnitz: Public guided tour (duration approx. 30 min)
Location: Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff Haus, Limbacher Straße 382
Registration at info.kunstsammlungen@stadt-chemnitz.de
Get to know the newly opened Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Haus and its namesake during our public guided tours. 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.
Sunday, 11 May, 2.45 pm
A new museum for Chemnitz: Public guided tour (duration approx. 30 min)
Location: Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff Haus, Limbacher Straße 382
Registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Get to know the newly opened Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Haus and its namesake during our public guided tours. 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.
Sunday, 18 May, 2 p.m.
A new museum for Chemnitz: guided tour by the curator
Location: Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff Haus, Limbacher Straße 382
Registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Get to know the newly opened Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Haus and its namesake during our curator's 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.
Sunday, 25 May, 2 p.m.
A new museum for Chemnitz: Public guided tour (duration approx. 30 min)
Location: Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff Haus, Limbacher Straße 382
Registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Get to know the newly opened Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Haus and its namesake during our public impulse tours. 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.
Sunday, 25 May, 2.45 pm
A new museum for Chemnitz: Public guided tour (duration approx. 30 min)
Location: Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff Haus, Limbacher Straße 382
Registration at info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Get to know the newly opened Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Haus and its namesake during our public guided tours. 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.
Current exhibitions:
(from 8 April 2025)
A new museum for Chemnitz - Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Haus
Location: Karl Schmidt-Rottluff House, Limbacher Straße 382
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, co-founder of the Brücke group of artists, is one of the most important German Expressionists. His birthplace in Chemnitz has been redesigned as an artists' centre and cultural hotspot for 2025.
Karl Schmidt was born in Rottluff (now Chemnitz) in 1884. He was a co-founder of the Brücke artists' group 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 parental home 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.
Castle Hill Museum
Sunday, 4 May
Opening of the exhibition The New City - Chemnitz as Karl Marx City
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 several 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".
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".
Ongoing exhibitions:
(4 May 2025 to 1 February 2026)
The New City - Chemnitz as Karl Marx City
Location: Schloßbergmuseum
Urban space
Saturday, 31 May, 11 a.m.
Book presentation "Frei Otto: Building with Nature" in the TUC University Library
Location: TUC University Library
A century ago, the architect, scientist and inventor Frei Otto (1925-2015) was born in Siegmar, Chemnitz. His internationally recognised work seems more relevant than ever, which is due to the current relevance of the issues he addressed. It is above all the ecological hardships of the present and the new demands on contemporary architecture derived from them that make Otto's long-standing search for a desirable relationship between nature, technology and society a hot topic once again. As early as the 1950s, he embarked on the path of building with nature, developing approaches and concepts that in part also characterise the environmentally conscious building of today.
The new book, which has been published by saai - Archive for Architecture and Civil Engineering at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, aims to take account of the pluralism of Otto's concepts and images of nature, which is reflected in the heterogeneity of the collected contributions by international authors. On the occasion of the presentation of the volume, this circle will be further expanded in Chemnitz by inviting young architecture firms and prominent critics to discuss current issues in Otto's work.
The book presentation will take place in the context of 100 years of Frei Otto.
Partners: Prestel Verlag, Bund Deutscher Architektinnen und Architekten BDA - Landesverband Sachsen, Garagen Campus, KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz.