Manfred Hastedt, Head of the Chemnitz Environmental Centre, retires
On Wednesday, 30 June, Manfred Hastedt, Head of the Chemnitz Environmental Centre, will have his last day at work and retire. In his 31 years of service and beyond, the 63-year-old has experienced and achieved a great deal. Manfred Hastedt was involved in church, ecological and working groups when the peaceful revolution brought about the political change in 1989. The end of the GDR was his beginning as head of the Chemnitz Environmental Centre. In 1990, the Round Table decided that the building on Kaßberg, Henriettenstraße 5, should be handed over to the environmental and peace initiatives. The building belonged to the State Security. The conversion of a Stasi property into a home for citizens' initiatives therefore had a high symbolic value.
"Manfred Hastedt is an environmental activist from the very beginning. With his passion and commitment over more than three decades, he has achieved a great deal in Chemnitz and for the city. He has done educational work for the people of Chemnitz at a time when climate protection was not on the agenda everywhere. I would like to thank Manfred Hastedt for his many years of work and wish him all the best for the future. I think and hope that we will continue to hear a lot from him," said Lord Mayor Sven Schulze.
As the only municipal environmental centre in Saxony, the Chemnitz Environmental Centre sees itself as a communication and education platform for the topics of peace, justice and environmental protection. In addition to the environmental library with more than 8,000 media and the Local Agenda 21 office, the centre at Henriettenstraße 5 is home to several municipal associations and initiatives:
The General German Bicycle Club, the Verkehrsclub Deutschland, the Green League, teileauto Chemnitz, the Saxon Refugee Council, RAA Opferberatung Chemnitz e.V. and Amnesty International Chemnitz, among others. In addition to the Agenda 21 thematic groups, the Chemnitz-Timbuktu Town Twinning Association and the Chemnitz City Forum also meet here.