In the volunteer editorial team, Volunteers for Chemnitz 2025 publish reports on their experiences, assignments and adventures around the European Capital of Culture.
Julia has lived in Chemnitz since 2012 and has been part of the volunteer programme since February 2025 in order to make new contacts. In the process, she has got to know many different people - her interest in art and culture has been rekindled.
My involvement with IBUG began on 19 July, when I met up with some of the volunteers and the IBUG team Volunteers and the IBUG team to prepare the exhibition space and outdoor area for visitors
For visitors. I was excited to see what the artists had created from the once dreary
former hospital building.
The very long queue in front of the entrance boded well. It also meant that it took me five minutes to find a place to park my bike somewhere at the back of the Stadtparkbrücke bridge. Oh man! So many people! After a brief greeting with "Hello, here are your things and we'll come round with refreshments from time to time", we were taken to our stations. And that was it for five hours in the cold.
That's when I realised that the job of steward didn't really suit me. Sitting in the cold wasn't an option, so I had to do something to pass the time. So I talked to the visitors: What they thought of the graffiti and the themes shown there and what their relationship was to the old hospital, whether they were going to watch Capital of Culture programmes ..
I was also able to use my knowledge from the workshop "Dealing with people with
I was responsible for barrier-free access between the buildings. The feedback was consistently positive and the visitors in wheelchairs were thrilled that they could explore every corner of IBUG.
And somehow the time flew by for me and you know what?
I will be helping out again at the second IBUG weekend. But this time with a thick jumper.