Peace banner at Chemnitz town hall
Photo opportunity: 24 February, from 9.30 a.m., Neumarkt
On Friday, 24 February, from 9.30 a.m., the colourful peace banners will once again be displayed on the façade of Chemnitz Town Hall to promote the Chemnitz Peace Day on 5 March. At around 10 a.m., the caretakers of the town hall will be seen carrying out the final touches.
Katharina Kästel-Sasse from the Montessori School and some of the pupils who helped design the banners themselves will also be available to answer questions on Neumarkt at around 10 am.
"The interest in designing banners has grown from year to year despite the coronavirus pandemic. For many years, there was only the workshop at the Montessori school. Then we also designed banners with special schools, and thanks to the Stefan Heym youth art project, we are now travelling all over Saxony. Last year, 46 new banners were created, nine at André-Gymnasium Chemnitz, seven at Annen-Oberschule, five each at Pestalozzi-Förderzentrum and Entdecker-Schule. With 13 new banners, the Montessori School once again contributed the largest share and seven banners were designed at Zwönitz Grammar School. The six workshops in very different schools resulted in a wide variety of opinions," says Gerald Richter from the citizens' initiative Aktion ©, the initiator of the art project.
The banners will be displayed at the town hall, at and in the Roter Turm gallery, at the opera house and in the Jakobi church. The total number of seven-metre-long banners has thus grown to 254, which corresponds to a length of 1,778 metres. Over the past 12 years, horizontal banners and other formats have also been designed, bringing the total length to 2,750 metres. A Guinness World Record for the largest youth art project is to be achieved in 2025.
On 5 March, Chemnitz Peace Day commemorates the bombing of the city 78 years ago and all the victims of the Second World War. Every year on this day, thousands of people from Chemnitz take a stand for peace, democracy and against right-wing extremism and xenophobia. The main event at 6 p.m. is entitled "Searching for Peace".
Further information on the Chemnitz Peace Day can be found at www.chemnitz.de/friedenstaghttp://www.chemnitz.de/friedenstagand www.chemnitzer-friedenstag.de.