Exhibition shows stories and faces from the city

A new exhibition with 70 stories and faces from the city marketing campaign "Die Stadt bin ich" ("I am the city") has been on display in the exhibition room at City Hall since today. Under the title "Chemnitzer Macher", various personalities from Chemnitz talk about their love for the city and their professional or voluntary passions. They have all been interviewed in the "Doers of the week" interview series, which has been published since March 2014.

Lord Mayor Barbara Ludwig: "The answers to the question of what makes Chemnitz special are as diverse as the city itself. The interviews from the Makers series often leave us marvelling at what Chemnitz has to offer. The result is a kaleidoscope of different perspectives on a city that thrives on the creative use of its available opportunities."

Inventors, athletes and entrepreneurs have their say in the exhibition, as do club owners and trendy pubs. And Chemnitz residents who simply get going, who
organise small festivals and large sporting events or launch aid campaigns for people in need.

"With this exhibition, we would like to thank all the supporters and movers and shakers who make Chemnitz an endearing city worth living in," said Mayor Barbara Ludwig at the exhibition opening on Tuesday evening.

In the "Doers of the Week" series, personalities from the city have regularly talked about what drives them and what ideas they are promoting. For example, former theatre director Hartwig Albiro talks about his role in the peaceful revolution and his involvement in the AG Friedenstag. Or Alexander Liebers, organiser and creator of the Heavy 24, talks about the legendary mountain bike race he puts on in Rabenstein. This series also includes success stories such as that of Megware - the only German company to make it into the top 500 fastest computers in the world with three high-performance computers. A "real" world champion has also joined the ranks of the "Makers of the Week": Frizzi Seltmann, who won three gold medals at the rope skipping world championships in Paris. Incidentally, you can show your maker qualities at a very young age, like 11-year-old Sven Leuoth, for example. This year, the schoolboy played the eponymous mascot of the international film festival "Schlingel".

The interviews were published in the official gazette and on www.die-stadt-bin-ich.de. At the end of the year, a maker magazine will be created from them.

The exhibition can be visited until 15 January 2016 during the opening hours of Chemnitz Town Hall (Monday to Thursday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.).

About the marketing campaign "The city is me":
Since March last year, the marketing campaign "Die Stadt bin ich" (I am the city) has been showcasing the exciting stories in Chemnitz and who the people are who tackle, build and push things forward locally.

This year, the campaign with the motto "Unfold Yourself" particularly attracted the interest of young people who are looking for space for their ideas or their start in professional life. Real people from Chemnitz showed what is possible in the city on posters that appeared nationwide.

The website www.die-stadt-bin-ich.de remained an important communication platform, where confessions, editorial contributions, event information such as Rock am Kopp and favourite places of the people of Chemnitz can be read. The website has received around 400,000 clicks to date. The Facebook page www.facebook.com/diestadtbinich is also part of the online dialogue platform with more than 2,700 likes.

There is also the page www.chemnitz-will-dich.de, which uses numerous hard facts and tongue-in-cheek arguments to convince not-yet-Chemnitz residents to visit the city. For example, there are surprising facts in the new section "Nu gu(c)ke an", as well as good reasons to come to the city and finds from the internet.

Two Rock am Kopp concerts this year created a great atmosphere in the city centre. Several thousand people attended the shows by Denyo and Bilderbuch.

The Fishing campaign "Du hast uns noch gefehlt" (You were still missing) invited young people from across the region to realise their potential in Chemnitz. At the Stadtbad, the slogan "Hinterm Beckenrand geht's weiter" (Behind the edge of the pool it goes on) is a tongue-in-cheek advert for Chemnitz.

The campaign also receives support from the business community. Sponsors have participated in various projects. For example, the Chemnitz start-up Baselabs supported the guerrilla chalk campaign at the start of the campaign, in which Chemnitz messages were written on the pavements in Freiberg, Mittweida and Ilmenau. The Rock am Kopp event series was made possible by enviaM, Getränke Pfeifer, Volksbank Chemnitz, eins energie Sachsen, NINERS and Radio Chemnitz. The city picnic was supported by Volksbank, eins energie Sachsen and Radio Chemnitz. The series of postcards was produced in co-operation with Grundstücks- und Gebäudewirtschafts-Gesellschaft GGG. The car dealer Schloz Wöllenstein supported the instruction manual for new Chemnitz residents, which is distributed to students in their first semester and at the residents' registration office.

The campaign in figures

• Makers of the week 2015: 40 interviews (highest number of hits in 2015 at Spinnerei e. V., Weekender, DJ Ron
• Facebook "The city is me": 2790 likes
• Facebook "Rock am Kopp": 4867 likes
• Homepage "Die Stadt bin ich": 400,000 page views (since March 2014)
• Postcards: "Unfold yourself" 2000 postcards in town halls, citizen service centres, city centre retailers, municipal institutions
  "We were still missing you" 10,000 cards on City Card stands in the region, including in Glauchau, Schmölln, Marienberg, Thalheim, Frohburg, Döbeln and many more.
• Poster motifs: to be seen on 100 Citylights and 35 Megalights in Chemnitz, further Megalights in the surrounding area, poster motifs in public transport companies in the surrounding area Adverts in city magazines 371 and Stadtstreicher (incl. app) and in Dresden and Leipzig city magazines
• Promotion: Banners on the Heavy24, promotion of the Kosmonaut Festival, postcards at the Chemnitz Marathon and various events
• Publications: Two names, one city, instruction manual for new Chemnitz residents
• Actions: Guerrilla chalk campaign in Freiberg, Mittweida and IlmenauPainting "Hinterm Beckenrand geht's weiter" on the floor of the indoor city pool, Chemnitz favourite places, "Eine Stadt im Wandel" exhibition