For the 25th time: Days of Jewish Culture in Chemnitz
Opening on 27 February at the Chemnitz Opera House
This year, the Days of Jewish Culture are celebrating their 25th anniversary. They will open on Saturday, 27 February at 7.30 pm with "Der Zwerg" at Chemnitz Opera House and at 9.30 pm with a concert by "Trio" at the Kunstsammlungen. They end on Sunday 13 March at 5 pm with a concert by the world-famous music group Brave Old World. In the Chemnitz Stadthalle, the band will present their songs from the Lodz ghetto in Yiddish with subtitles.
Chemnitz was the first city after reunification to start a small series of "Days of Jewish Culture" in the new federal states. The weekend programme was initially dominated by concerts of Jewish klezmer music. Even 25 years later, the festival, which has now been extended to 16 days, still hosts numerous concerts of various musical genres. There are also numerous lectures, exhibitions and guided tours, as well as readings, theatre performances and yoga for women with an Israeli yoga teacher.
Over 80 events by more than 20 organisers are spread throughout the city, at Tietz, SMAC, the Kraftwerk, querbeet and Lila Villa socio-cultural centres, the university, odradek, the Jewish community, churches, the Protestant centre, Café Lehmann, the SCHALOM restaurant and the Brühl bookshop. In addition to the major theatres such as the Opera and Stadthalle, the Fritz-Theater, the Theater Komplex and the Villa Esche are also taking part in the festival.
Special attention is paid to the guests
A group of visitors from the Jewish community in the twin city of Akron is coming to pay a return visit to Chemnitz. A group of students is travelling from Israel, from the edge of the desert near Bersheba, to begin a joint seminar with students from Chemnitz. The seminar will focus on how democratic values can be preserved when people have to live under the constant threat of violence. In return, the Chemnitz students will then travel to Israel in the summer to conclude the seminar together.
A highlight of the anniversary Days of Jewish Culture is the visit of Israeli Ambassador Yakov Hadas-Handelsman to Chemnitz. He has been the Israeli ambassador to Germany since March 2012 and is taking the festival as an opportunity to get to know Chemnitz.
On 29 February at 7 pm, he will give a speech on relations between Israel and Germany in the community hall of the Jewish community in Chemnitz, Stollberger Str. 28. Twenty years after the end of the Second World War, the Federal Republic of Germany and Israel established diplomatic relations. This was not without controversy - especially in Israel.
Jewish culture and German culture are often linked. Well-known personalities such as Heinrich Heine, Else Lasker-Schüler and Kurt Weill have great significance in many cultures. Peaceful coexistence, co-operation and interaction is the basis for cultural wealth in a global world. The Days of Jewish Culture in Chemnitz also contribute to this.
The complete programme can be viewed at www.tdjk.de.