Open Monument Day 2014 with industrial school as the main theme

For the first time, Chemnitz is inviting visitors to the nationwide Open Monument Day 2014 on 14 September at the same time as the "Industrial Worlds", the cultural programme of the 5th Days of Industrial Culture held from 12 to 14 September. The main theme of the monument day in Chemnitz is the Industrial School (Vocational School Centre for Technology I, Park of the Victims of Fascism), which will be open to visitors from 2 pm. As in previous years, Chemnitz's Monument Protection Department at the city's Building Licensing Office is responsible for preparing and organising the content of the Monument Day.

With the nationwide motto "Colour", the Monument Day takes up a universal theme: The question of the colourful exterior has been of great importance since the creation of the objects and the type of restoration of architectural and artistic monuments and occupies restorers and monument conservators in their profession on a daily basis. Sometimes the restoration history of a monument is as exciting as a thriller: sometimes paintings or colour schemes were not painted over centuries ago for aesthetic reasons, but to make people forget events or to assert new religious views or secular claims to power. In many monuments, the most interesting windows into history are revealed under more recent layers of paint and plaster. However, experts working on monuments not only uncover, clean and conserve layers of paint, they also have to decide whether and how to renew colour settings and supplement paintings. There are often several possible solutions, but these can be highly controversial even among experts. Sometimes there is no clear right or wrong, and many complex arguments have to be weighed up and evaluated: Should the original colour scheme be restored - or a later version? - Which colour scheme corresponds to our current viewing habits, which to those of the time of creation or the furnishings that have been preserved today? - What about the durability of certain colours under today's environmental conditions? - Which colour - in terms of quality - should be used and what are its material properties on the respective surface? - What are the costs for which variant? - Some of these questions will be answered by experts on site on Sunday, 14 September in Chemnitz during the guided tours, most of which start in the early afternoon.

Here is a look at the programme, which is also available online at www.chemnitz.de/denkmaltag:

Industrial School (BSZ for Technology I), Park of the Victims of Fascism 1
The Industrial School is the main topic on Monument Day in Chemnitz and will be open to visitors from 2 pm on 14 September. Here, the history as a former and still used training centre for manual and industrial trades is combined with the impressive colourfulness of the interior. The school complex, planned in 1924 by architect Friedrich Wagner-Polltrock following an architectural competition and built between 1926 and 1928, incorporated the most progressive trends of the time, both in terms of architectural forms and interior decoration as well as functional and technical equipment. Shortly after its completion, the school building was one of the most modern and largest vocational school buildings in Germany and is largely preserved in its original state today.
The completely brick-built buildings are part of the remarkable stock of classical modernist architecture in Chemnitz. The details of the façade design consist mainly of decorative brickwork and accentuated architectural ceramics and still exhibit expressionist traits. This also applies in particular to the high-quality original interior design, which was created with ceramic tiles and accentuated expressive colours typical of the period. The interior fittings (e.g. railings, furniture, lights) have also been preserved or documented in some areas. The Chemnitz artist Gustav Schaffer was also involved in the colour design of the interior. He also created a mural over six metres wide entitled "Der schaffende Mensch" (The Creative Man), which was restored and re-framed in its former location in 2013/14 after decades of storage in the art collections' depot thanks to the commitment of the school's sponsorship association.
Guided tours of the house will take place on 14 September at 2 pm and 3:15 pm in collaboration with headmaster Ingo Hunger, architect Reinhild Klausing and Thomas Morgenstern, head of the heritage protection authority. The closing event of the Monument Day begins at 4.30 pm in the auditorium of the Industrial School, accompanied by music from the Philharmonic Orchestra's saxophone quartet.

Chemnitz State Museum of Archaeology - smac
The Chemnitz State Museum of Archaeology has been housed in the former Schocken department stores' since May 2014, and the unusual and extremely successful conversion from department stores' to museum has been impressing and delighting visitors ever since. A look behind the scenes of the museum also provides visitors with new insights into the everyday life of a modern cultural institution. On Open Monument Day, the focus will be on original architectural details and the museum's complicated building services.
Invitations: 10 a.m., opening event "Industrial Worlds" as part of the Days of Industrial Culture. 10 am, 12 pm, 2 pm, 4 pm architectural tour and 11 am, 1 pm, 3 pm technical tour, meeting point at the museum ticket office, max. 20 participants per tour. Participation in the guided tours is free of charge, but does not include a visit to the permanent exhibition.

Cammann-Hochhaus, Blankenauer Straße 74
Since its foundation in 1886, the weaving mill Cammann & Co. developed into a leading company in the textile industry and exported goods all over the world. In 1923, the Chemnitz architect Willy Schönefeld drew up the plans for an industrial tower block on behalf of the Cammann family. The eight-storey building with its striking cubature and plaster structure was built by 1925, adjacent to the existing large Wilhelminian-style shed hall. At the time, the building was the first high-rise construction to be realised in the industrial city and in the whole of Central Saxony. In addition to office and company administration rooms, the tower block also housed the design department for pattern design as well as factory owners' flats on the upper floors. Large parts of the original interior in Art Deco style have been preserved, including marble and travertine panelling, stucco decoration, veneered doors and stained glass windows as well as the original lift cabin. Based on the aesthetics of form and material, the colour scheme was designed to be rather restrained. Since the mid-1990s, the façades and interiors have been undergoing refurbishment in line with conservation requirements. The high-rise building is now home to various companies.
Guided tours (as required) from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. by the owner, architect Peter Waldvogel, and employees.

Factory building Am Walkgraben 13, now the Tuffner furniture gallery
The rather modest factory building for the production of silk yarns was erected on Am Walkgraben near the city centre in 1908 and extended in 1914. Four storeys high, completely clinkered at the front and rear, with a tightly structured façade with pilasters spanning several storeys and geometric Art Nouveau decoration. After the bombing raids on Chemnitz in 1945, the factory building was only slightly damaged and provided with an emergency roof and was used until 1991. After standing empty, the building was refurbished and remodelled in 2011 to become the Tuffner furniture gallery in line with its listed status. Modern glass components were skilfully integrated and original remnants of the facade were preserved in the interior, creating an exciting contrast between the historic building fabric and the new design. Guided tours at 11.15 am and 2 pm by the architect Stephan Schwarzbold and Bettina Schülke, the city's heritage protection authority.

Clock tower in the Wirkbau business park, Lothringer Straße 11
The striking tower is part of the former Schubert & Salzer AG machine factory, now the Wirkbau business park. The complex comprises individual buildings of remarkable architectural quality. The lift and clock tower is part of the forge designed by architect Erich Basarke and towers above the entire factory complex. It was built in 1927 and its brick façade is reminiscent of North German Expressionism with a Gothic-style crown.
Guided tours (as required) from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
by TLG Immobilien GmbH, Jürgen Lohrenz. Please note: Access to the tower is at your own risk - no access for children under the age of twelve; children over the age of twelve must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Unfortunately, it is not possible for people with limited mobility to climb the tower.

Robert-Straube-Hof housing estate in the Bernsdorf district
The housing estate was built by Wohnhaus-Chemnitz-GmbH as a large residential courtyard in a green area based on designs by architect Curt Am between 1928 and 1930. The urban layout of the estate is based on the typical forms of baroque palace complexes. The architectural language of the buildings and the accentuated colour concept correspond to the New Building movement. The residential complex was acquired by a private property developer at the end of the 1990s and renovated in line with its listed status; in the process, most of the lost colour schemes were restored, such as the two-tone window frames. Meeting: 2 p.m. in front of Grünband 4-6, tour with Edgar Rüberg, the city's monument protection authority.

Gablenz garden city estate
The ensemble of architecturally sophisticated apartment blocks on both sides of Geibelstraße, flanked by single-family terraced houses, was built between 1915 and 1930. Various Chemnitz architects left their design signature. Typical communal facilities such as a laundry, playgrounds, a co-operative home and commercial facilities, a market square with a fountain, a retirement home and a library, embedded in large green areas and tenants' gardens, give the garden city estate its unmistakable character. The redevelopment of the estate was carried out by CAWG in construction phases from 1997 and is an example of the refurbishment of a historic housing estate in keeping with its listed status, for which the housing co-operative was awarded the Federal Builders' Prize. Meeting point: 2 p.m., Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße / corner of Geibelstraße - guided tour by Grit Linke and Udo Mayer, Interessengemeinschaft Chemnitzer Gästeführer.

Villa Kohorn, Parkstraße 35
The former home of factory owner August Hempel was built around 1909 diagonally opposite Villa Esche in the style of reform architecture according to plans by architects Bürger and Benirschke. In 1918, the Jewish industrial magnate Oscar von Kohorn, Baron zu Kornegg, acquired the detached villa with outbuilding, coach house and the magnificent park. He had the house extensively remodelled and extended in the Art Deco style, with a high mansard hipped roof, two three-storey bay-like porches and rear façade towers giving the villa its character. Unfortunately, many of the interior features have been destroyed due to conversions into rented flats and, in GDR times, a therapeutic practice. However, it was possible to restore some of the original features in the hallway and the master bedroom following the acquisition by the current owners. The building is now used by the IT company chemmedia, and a flat has been created in the attic.
Guided tours at 11 am and 2 pm by the owner, Lars Fassmann.

Villa Roth, Reichsstraße 26 in the Kaßberg district
The Kaßberg residential area, which was mainly built in the 19th century up until the 1920s, has largely retained its original appearance. The villas, residential buildings and administrative buildings are characterised by architectural design elements of Historicism, Art Nouveau and New Objectivity. The villa currently undergoing refurbishment will be presented as an example. The two-storey rendered building features high-quality façade decoration with figurative ornamentation. Two interesting colour schemes have survived in the interior - a historicist, Wilhelminian-influenced first version and a high-quality overpainting from the Art Nouveau period.
Guided tour of the building site10.30 a.m. by the owner Francisco Badillo Barea and Ingrid Schönherr, the city's heritage protection authority.

Zeißstraße 8, apartment block in the Hilbersdorf district
The apartment block at Zeißstraße 8 is part of the closed perimeter block development along the curved course of Zeißstraße. It is one of the high-quality bourgeois residential buildings in late Art Nouveau style in the Hilbersdorf district, which were built around 1908-10 by the capital company of Baurat Orth. House no. 8 is currently being renovated and is predestined for a presentation on this year's Open Monument Day due to its colourful and expressive staircase design. 11 a.m. Guided tour by the owner Walter Steves and Cathrin Fuchs, Chemnitz Monument Protection Authority.

Signal boxes II and III with cable drainage system in the Hilbersdorf district
On this year's Monument Day, the Förderverein Eisenbahnfreunde Richard Hartmann e.V. is once again offering guided tours of Signal Boxes II and III and a historic wagon run-off on the site of the former marshalling yard.
The guided tours will focus on signal box III, which is now used as a museum, as well as signal box II with its engine room, which was renovated in 2013-14 with federal funding. But there will also be explanations of the partially reconstructed cable drainage system with tensioning towers, cable drainage carriages and other accessories, in the immediate vicinity of the Saxon Railway Museum in the former Hilbersdorf depot. The association "Eisenbahnfreunde Richard Hartmann" e.V. was honoured with the special prize of the German National Committee for Monument Protection in October 2014 for its special commitment to the preservation of historical monuments.
Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., guided tours throughout the day as required by FÖV "Eisenbahnfreunde Richard Hartmann" e.V. - 11 a.m.: carriage procession using original technology.

Ebersdorf Collegiate Church, Mittweidaer Straße 79
Restoration investigations: The collegiate church of Ebersdorf, with its chapel of St Mary, the two defence towers and the remains of the curtain wall, forms an outstanding late Gothic ensemble, built on the Romanesque foundations of a previous building. The church became even more important from the middle of the 15th century as a Marian pilgrimage church. The collegiate church is of impressive urban significance in its central position in the village of Ebersdorf. Many important individual Gothic artworks from the valuable interior have been preserved in the church interior, including the late Gothic altar of the Virgin Mary and the pulpit figures by Master H.W. The fragmentary Gothic frescoes in the detached chapel of the Virgin Mary, as well as in the sacristy attached to the north-east of the church (previously dated to around 1420), are also of particular cultural and historical significance. In 2013/14, students from the Dresden University of Fine Arts (HfBK) carried out individual investigations of the findings in cooperation with the State Monuments Office. A project funded by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (German Federal Environmental Foundation) on façade damage and possible renovation options is also currently underway. Explanations will also be given on site. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Guided tour on Open Monument Day as required, with explanations by Thomas Löther (IDK) and Martin Fliedner, qualified restorer.

St Jakobi town church, Jakobikirchplatz 1
Built between 1350 and 1365 as a three-aisled Gothic hall church. Choir extension from 1405 to 1412, neo-Gothic remodelling in 1877, west gable and Art Nouveau façade by Schilling and Gräbner in 1911/12. Partially destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt, reconstruction of the nave completed in 2009. During the restoration of the original choir room, rare artefacts were uncovered. The building is funded by the German Foundation for Monument Protection and the Federal Ministry of Culture and Media. Guided tours at 2 pm and 4 pm on the subject of "Colour and Light" by Dr Stefan Thiele from the parish.

St Mark's Church, Körnerplatz 10 - open from 1 pm to 5 pm, tower tours every half hour with the parish's support association.

St. Petri-Kirche, Theaterplatz 1 - open from 10 am to 5 pm.

Schloßkirche, Schloßberg 11 - open church 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm.

Information on the Open Monument Day can be found online at www.chemnitz.de/denkmaltag and on the 5th Days of Industrial Culture with the "Industrial Worlds" programme at www.cwe-chemnitz.de