Over 8,000 visitors went on night-time discovery tours at the 15th Chemnitz Museum Night yesterday
The outstanding highlight for almost 1,500 Museum Night visitors was the collegiate church in Chemnitz-Ebersdorf - the "Special Offer 2014"
The 15th edition of Chemnitz Museum Night, which took place yesterday, once again attracted a pleasing number of curious and culturally interested visitors from Chemnitz and the region - Head of the Cultural Office Katrin Voigt sums up: "A total of 8,300 visitors came to the museums and participating institutions of the special programme, including around 2,000 children accompanied by their families and 1,300 young people who went on an exploration tour according to their interests. Compared to the previous year - the Champions League final was taking place at the same time and pouring rain did not attract quite as many visitors to the museums in 2013 - this year there were 1,250 more visitors who travelled to various stations on the well-timed and reliable five CVAG shuttle tours."
This year's outstanding highlight was indeed the "special offer" that delighted visitors: "Mysterious and marvellous things behind old church walls - the collegiate church in Chemnitz-Ebersdorf". Around 1,450 visitors came to Ebersdorf and enjoyed the tours, guided tours, concerts and hands-on activities for children lovingly organised by the parish. All the facilities in the Ebersdorf-Hilbersdorf district, such as the Saxon Railway Museum, the small Ebersdorf museum store and the anti-aircraft barracks, were also delighted with the large crowds and enthusiastic visitors. There was almost "no apple left to fall" in the school museum, so many guests wanted to take part in the historical lessons and get to know Dr Norman Bitterlich, the descendant of Adam Ries.
As expected, many families flocked to the exciting special exhibition "1+1 = SEX - The love life of animals" at the TIETZ Museum of Natural History. The personal exhibition "Brave New Worlds - Dagmar Ranft-Schinke" in the Neue Sächsische Galerie also met with a very positive response, and many young people in particular were very interested in the night-time art show. The Gunzenhauser Museum also appealed to children and young people in particular with special offers: For example, the "Jawlensky" exhibition had been extended especially for the 15th Chemnitz Museum Night, and children's tours and workshops for young people were offered, among other things. In short: a taste for art was whetted!
Just how interested the people of Chemnitz are in art and design was also demonstrated by the stream of visitors to the Villa Esche, where the special exhibition on Bauhaus artist Marianne Brandt "Practical and beautiful forms for everyday life" can be viewed until June.
According to Katrin Voigt, the good attendance at the institutions on the outskirts of Chemnitz is also remarkable this year - for example at the Klaffenbach moated castle and the Stasi Records Office (BSTU), where almost 400 visitors took part in expert guided tours of the archive and the exhibitions. Katrin Voigt: "I myself was at Rabenstein Castle yesterday at midnight - the smallest castle in Saxony is one of the precious gems in our city. Yesterday, the castle was almost bursting at the seams, so to speak, with so many people, especially young people, visiting the facility at midnight. There were even two more buses with lots of visitors arriving before 1 a.m."
Last but not least, the head of the cultural office and her preparatory team would like to thank all the helpers at the institutions involved in this year's Museum Night for their great and enthusiastic commitment: "A big thank you to all the employees, volunteers and association members who once again made the Chemnitz Museum Night a special experience at the 30 or so locations in 2014!"