By Sunday 26 October, around 600 apple trees had been planted at the Harvest Planting Festival in Chemnitz and 20 municipalities in the Capital of Culture region. More than 1000 people came together for a total of 36 planting dates. Behind each planting is a community that takes long-term responsibility for the care and maintenance of the trees, thus ensuring that the fruit benefits the respective neighbourhoods in the long term. The planting partners include associations, educational institutions, parishes and companies. Together, they make an active contribution to a green, liveable city and region.
The Harvest Planting Festival is one of the activities of the Living Neighbourhood project, one of the five main projects in the Chemnitz 2025 programme, which stands for community involvement and sustainable action in urban areas and in the region. Planting, caring for and celebrating the trees and fruit are the core activities in the Living Neighbourhood project. Since spring 2024, around 1,450 apple trees of over 700 old varieties have been planted in four planting festivals in Chemnitz and the Capital of Culture region. Project manager Dr Julia Naunin is delighted with the response and commitment of Chemnitz residents and people from the Capital of Culture region. Her conclusion: "The final planting festival Harvest exceeded our expectations and the many committed planting patrons shone with their enthusiasm in autumn and rain storms as well as in the sunshine. The youngest apple friend is barely four weeks old, the oldest participating pomologist is 100 years old. Schoolchildren showed mayors how to plant, care for and celebrate, and the city's longest apple pie parade was eaten in 90 minutes. In this way, Gelebte Nachbarschaft contributes to preserving the diversity of varieties and promotes sustainable community action across all generations."
The apple trees mainly grow in publicly accessible areas, such as parks, school playgrounds, communal areas of allotment garden associations and cultural institutions. The participating communities take on the care and maintenance of "their" trees. This includes regular watering, professional pruning and the harvesting and utilisation of fruit that is not collected by others. Companies are also actively involved in the creation of orchards and take on the continuous care of the trees for at least 12 years. This ensures that the trees are preserved in the long term and enrich the city in the long term.
In addition to the planting campaigns, the Living Neighbourhood project also offered further training in tree care. Cultural events in kitchens, parishes and art and music festivals celebrated the apple as a cultural asset and honoured the commitment to shaping our living environment together. The apple trees will continue to grow beyond the Capital of Culture year and bear fruit for their "living neighbourhoods" in the future.