Public participation planned for selection of luminaires
Vote on gas lanterns in the Schloßchemnitz district begins on 4 December
From 4 December 2023 to 12 January 2024, citizens of Chemnitz will have the opportunity to vote on the lamp model to be used when replacing the old gas lamps in the Salzstraße/Waldleite area in the Schloßchemnitz district.
The public can take part in the lamp selection process at www.chemnitz.de/beteiligungsportal from 4 December. The lamp model with the most votes will be installed as street lighting in this area.
Due to the great interest shown by citizens in the topic of historic gas lamps in several districts of Chemnitz, Mayor of Construction Michael Stötzer invited representatives of the media to Josephinenstraße/Wilhelm-Külz-Platz today. There, "old" gas lanterns could be viewed in direct comparison with "new" ones.
In the presence of representatives from the Department of Transport and Civil Engineering and eins/inetz, Michael Stötzer explained the next steps in the project. These are also based on discussions with residents of the affected neighbourhoods.
For a uniform appearance, replicas will be installed in Kappel, for example, instead of modern lights.
Background:
Just 100 years ago, lighting German city centres with gas lanterns was the state of the art and common practice. Today, in addition to 24,549 electric luminaires (as of 1 January 2023), Chemnitz still has 320 gas lanterns in operation, all of which are listed buildings. However, with the current state of the art, lighting with gas as an energy source is considered to be very inefficient in terms of energy as well as maintenance and cost-intensive. A gas luminaire, for example, has an energy consumption of 1,000 watts, whereas a comparable electric luminaire uses only 30 watts. Negative environmental aspects, such as the fact that 95 per cent of the gas used in the historic luminaires is converted into waste heat, must also be taken into account.
In this context, consultations were held between the monument protection authorities of the Free State of Saxony and the City of Chemnitz, eins/inetz and the City of Chemnitz Transport and Civil Engineering Department in order to be able to replace the gas lighting in selected areas. Following a joint inspection and assessment, it was agreed that the listed gas lanterns could be replaced in a manner appropriate to the listed buildings, taking into account the reasonableness in terms of economic efficiency, climatic and structural specifications, i.e. 121 of the 320 existing gas lanterns in Chemnitz may be successively replaced between 2023 and 2025.
In accordance with this agreement, specific streets and light points in certain parts of the city have been defined in which standard modern luminaires can be used in individual cases or historic-looking and visually equivalent candelabras in the style of gas lanterns, but operated with LEDs (replicas). This also depends on the urban character, the street situation and the building structure.