On Thursday, 29 October at 10.00 am, 60 roses will be planted in the Bürgergarten at Promenadenstraße to mark 60 years of the town twinning between Ljubljana and Chemnitz.
The roses, named after Chemnitz’s twin town, are a gift from Ljubljana and will be ceremonially presented on the day by Prof. Janez Koželj, former deputy mayor of Ljubljana and now an honorary citizen of the twin town. Together with Mayor Dagmar Ruscheinsky, Janez Koželj will plant some of the roses in the flowerbed himself on the day.
The ceremony will be accompanied by music from the pre-school group at the Schloßstraße nursery.
Anyone interested is invited to take part in this small, festive event. Attendance is free of charge. No registration is required.
Media representatives are also invited.
In preparation for the event, the City of Chemnitz’s Parks and Green Spaces Department has already installed two new benches permanently in the Bürgergarten. The Parks and Green Spaces Department will also take over the maintenance of the Bürgergarten in future. The garden was previously maintained by a community group and, until now, consisted mainly of roses donated by members of the local community.
In the immediate vicinity of the Bürgergarten, on Chemnitz’s Schloßteich Island, stands a sculpture by the Slovenian artist Simcic, which was given a place of honour there in 1990 as a symbol of the cities’ friendship.
Entry in the Golden Book of the City of Chemnitz
At around 11 am, following the ceremonial rose planting, the guests from Ljubljana will sign the Golden Book of the City of Chemnitz in the Green Salon of Chemnitz Town Hall in the presence of Mayor Dagmar Ruscheinsky.
Media representatives are invited to attend.
Two-day ‘Open & Connected’ event to mark 60 years of town twinning
Also on Thursday, 29 October, from 6 pm, the restored K67 kiosk on the Garagen-Campus will be inaugurated. The unveiling of this design icon from Ljubljana – which, along with the town twinning certificate, is also celebrating its 60th anniversary this year – marks the start of the ‘Open & Connected’ event.
The two-day series of events from 29 to 30 October at the Garagen Campus places the K67 kiosk at the centre of a varied programme focusing on design, architecture, urban space and social interaction. Alongside the kiosk’s inventor, Saša J. Mächtig, architecture professor Dijana Handanović, architect Nikola Opačić and director and screenwriter Jasna Hribernik will offer insights into the history, cultural significance and future of the modular kiosk, which remains firmly embedded in the urban landscape across south-eastern Europe, in some cases to this day. Through lectures, film discussions and panel debates, the programme will explore how places of encounter are created and how sustainable relationships between people, cities and countries can be shaped and strengthened. The aim is not only to celebrate the town twinning partnership at the Garagen-Campus, but also to look ahead to its future.
Anyone interested is invited to take part in the events marking the anniversary. Registration is free of charge at www.chemnitz.de/openandconnected
See also Press Release 638
Background
The guests from Ljubljana are travelling to Chemnitz at the invitation of Lord Mayor Sven Schulze to mark the town twinning anniversary. He himself visited Chemnitz’s twin town in May this year. Whilst there, he visited, amongst other places, the Center Rog cultural centre and was a guest at the Slovenian school Vižmarje-Brod in Ljubljana, which cooperates with Chemnitz’s sports grammar school.
The town twinning between Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, and Chemnitz has existed since 1966 and remains vibrant to this day through, amongst other things, sporting exchanges, youth exchanges and cultural activities.
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