Foundation stone of Fritz Heckert area is newly inaugurated

On Saturday, 17 August at 1.15 pm, the renovated foundation stone of the Fritz Heckert area will be inaugurated by Lord Mayor Sven Schulze at Wenzel-Verner-Platz. A new time capsule containing contemporary documents on the 50th anniversary of the Fritz Heckert area will be sunk into the renovated foundation stone.

Representatives of the media are also cordially invited.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the Fritz Heckert area, an alliance of citizens, the Chemnitz History Association 1990 e. V, the Chemnitz-Helbersdorf Citizens' Association and the City of Chemnitz's monument protection authority to have the foundation stone recognised as a cultural monument in accordance with its socio-historical, local historical and artistic significance.

Since the foundation stone, which was inaugurated on 5 October 1974 at the site of today's Wenzel-Verner-Platz, had been exposed to exhaust fumes and weathering for 50 years, it showed severe damage to the concrete body and the inscription plate darkened. In October 2023, the building was added to the state monument list. At the beginning of July 2024, the restoration of the concrete body and the inscription plate began under the leadership of the Kulturbetrieb der Stadt Chemnitz. This work was carried out by Till Apfel, a master stonemason and master stone sculptor based in Chemnitz. The documents from the old time capsule - newspapers, building plans, documents from the Karl-Marx-Stadt housing construction combine, coins worth around 145 GDR marks, a Karl Marx medal and documents from the construction workers - were recovered and will be kept by the Schloßberg Museum in future.

The new capsule was filled in the Schloßbergmuseum by 14 August and was already soldered on 14 August, as it was not possible to fill it on site during the inauguration of the foundation stone on 17 August for technological reasons. The new time capsule was filled with the official gazette issues of the series on the 50th Heckert anniversary, current issues of two Chemnitz daily newspapers, documents and flyers on the celebratory programme on 17 and 18 August, a calendar with historical photographs and a booklet with the history of the company. August, a calendar with historical photographs of the Heckert area, the set of coins and the Karl Marx medal from the old time capsule, a set of new euro coins, an empty bottle of Heckert beer, issues of Südblick and two books: a copy of "Das Wohngebiet 'Fritz Heckert' - Bauen in neuen Dimensionen" by Norbert Engst, Chemnitzer Geschichtsverein e. V., and "My children's room in the clouds" by the author Manuela Klitzsch*.

The new time capsule will be ceremonially embedded in the restored foundation stone on 17 August.

The location at Wenzel-Verner-Platz was chosen because it is representative and this place is close to the original location of the foundation stone. Shortly after the foundation stone was laid in 1974, it was presumably taken to the building yard and stored there until the work on construction area I was completed. It was then placed in the car park of the Chemnitz-Süd tax office at the end of the 1970s. In line with the Capital of Culture motto "C the Unseen", the barely seen and unnoticed stone was to be brought out of its niche and presented as an important identification anchor for the residents of the residential area and a symbol of a formative urban development era in the city of Chemnitz.

An accompanying new information stele on the restored foundation stone on Wenzel-Verner-Platz provides information about the history of the "Fritz Heckert" residential area up to 1990 as well as interesting facts about 30 years of urban development funding from 1994 to 2024.

The Chemnitz-Helbersdorf Citizens' Association is responsible for the preservation and maintenance of the foundation stone and the information stele, just as it has been looking after the entire Wenzel-Verner-Platz for years.

Inauguration of an information stele at the Vita Centre and opening of the Morgenleite Park intervention area

Also on Saturday 17 August at 12.30 p.m., a new information stele will be inaugurated at the Vita-Center by Mayor Michael Stötzer. Representatives of the media are also cordially invited.

The new stele provides information about the history and development of the Morgenleite district and the Vita Centre.

Afterwards, Mayor Michael Stötzer will open the Morgenleite Park intervention area adjacent to the Vita Centre.

Morgenleite Park has a special significance as an intervention area for the Capital of Culture 2025. The wishes of citizens were therefore also taken into account in the planning process as part of a public participation programme. In the entrance area on Wladimir-Sagorski-Straße, a water playground now invites people to play and run around, eleven exercise elements along the main paths encourage sporting activity, and the existing Garden of Tranquillity has been upgraded and expanded. (You will receive a separate press release about this).


Overview of the events on Saturday, 17 August:

From 11 a.m.: Opening anniversary and family festival for "Fritz 50" and welcome by the Community Coordinator Chemnitz-Süd, Jeannette Wilfer, the Vita Centre Manager, Jens Rudolph, as well as Jörn Richter and Norbert Engst from the Chemnitz History Association e. V.

12.30 p.m.: Inauguration of the information stele at the Vita Centre by Michael Stötzer, Mayor of Construction, followed (around 12.45 p.m.) by the opening of the intervention area Park Morgenleite

1.15 pm: Inauguration of the foundation stone and the associated information stele and sinking of a new time capsule by Lord Mayor Sven Schulze and Norbert Engst from the Chemnitz History Association.

Further information on Fritz 50 and the celebratory programme can be found at www.chemnitz.de/fritz50

* modified on 15 August 2024