Full courtyard, open doors, new ideas: At the yard festival Vom Wimmeln und Wuseln der Stadtwirtschaft Chemnitz on 8 and 9 August 2025, it became clear how the city can be rethought and redesigned.
Since 2019, a place where creativity, education, craftsmanship and neighbourhoods come together has been under construction on the former site of the city's cleaning department. More than 11,000 square metres in the middle of Sonnenberg are now livelier than ever. For the first time, tenants opened their doors at the same time and invited the Luther neighbourhood, Sonnenberg and guests from all over the city to discover it.
The event kicked off on Saturday evening with a warm-up: music, first encounters and a taste of what was to come. The atmosphere in the courtyard immediately made it clear that a special place was being created here. Sunday began with a round of talks by Lord Mayor Sven Schulze, Building Mayor Michael Stötzer and Stefan Schmidtke, Managing Director of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 gGmbH programme, accompanied by the D'ACCORD choir. The day was then filled with a stage programme, guided tours and encounters. Linocuts for young and old, clothes swaps with Fashion Revolution, a bike and balance bike course, open hands-on workshops in the FabLab, the ZEUX materials warehouse and the stone laboratory of the Chemnitz Museum of Natural History - there was something to try out at every turn. Spray cans open, heads on: Tim Petrovitsch and Rebel Art turned the walls into an ideas board for the Sonnenberg. The TUC Racing Team was also on site with an information stand. In the "Baby, office, burnout?" workshop, the Gründungsgarage (start-up garage) invited participants to discuss multiple workloads and real support for female founders.
The Stadtwirtschaft is one of nine maker hubs in the Capital of Culture region and one of the largest intervention areas of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025. Maker hubs are places where people learn from each other and create new things together. They are also part of the national urban development project and stand for low-threshold redevelopment: spaces are developed in such a way that they are affordable, accessible and open to many different users. "Vom Wimmeln und Wuseln" is an official part of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 programme and is organised by the main project "Makers, Business & Arts" coordinated by the State Association of Cultural and Creative Industries Saxony in cooperation with ASA-FF e.V.
Opening hours
The following locations are now open every Wednesday afternoon:
- FabLab - maker hub and hands-on workshop for anyone who wants to tinker and try things out
- Erika e.V. - creative and cultural association with open programmes
- Marina Klavina - artist and designer with exhibition "Shaping change"
- ZEUX - material initiative for the sustainable reuse of residual materials
Addresses on site
Jakobstraße 46, 09130 Chemnitz:
Access to House D, access to House A (event hall and foyer), access to the courtyards via bridge and stairs
Schüffnerstraße 1, 09130 Chemnitz:
Access to House A (canteen, FabLab, Bandcamp), access to House B (Stadtwerkstatt, showroom), access to House E, access to House K (materials warehouse and city district warehouse), access to the courtyards (at ground level)