In the volunteer editorial team, volunteers for Chemnitz 2025 publish reports on their experiences, assignments and adventures around the European Capital of Culture.
Kristina lives in Neukirchen in the Ore Mountains. The former archivist and case manager has travelled to numerous events as a volunteer for Chemnitz 2025. She also loves writing, which is why she came up with the idea of collecting the volunteers' experiences - the starting signal for the volunteer editorial team.
The opening of the visitor and information centre in the Hartmannfabrik was one of the highlights of the opening weekend of the Capital of Culture year Chemnitz 2025.
I deliberately chose to volunteer on 18 and 19 January 2025.
Since the handover of the restored building from the landlord to the Kulturhauptstadt gGmbH on 3 May 2024, I too had been wondering how the listed building would be used as a visitor and information centre for the public from January 2025.
Many Chemnitz residents and their guests made their way to Fabrikstraße 11 on 18 January. The entrance doors were opened at 10 a.m. on the dot. It didn't take long for the hall to be filled to capacity, just like on 3 May 2024. Probably for security reasons, security staff briefly stopped the 400 visitors from entering the Hartmannfabrik. People were able to look around in peace.
Families, friends and guests of the city used the now hundredfold used frame with the slogan "C the Unseen" to take photos. Chemnitz residents and guests waited patiently at the information desk to purchase the Chemnitz 2025 programme book for EUR 10. The generously designed cloakroom in the hall was sometimes used as a changing room. After all, the T-shirts, jumpers and baseball caps with the "C the Unseen" logo offered for sale in the merchandise were designed to fit perfectly.
Key rings, mugs, umbrellas, cloth bags and much more are also part of the range. Programme books and merchandise can of course also be purchased online.
Matthias Vogel, the experienced reception manager, would not have been able to cope with the rush of visitors without the support of friendly and competent staff from Kulturhauptstadt gGmbH. The staff of the volunteer programme team had also planned the deployment of us volunteers well. There was plenty to do. We supported the visitors by taking photos on the large photo frame with a click on their mobile phones.
Sufficient programme flyers were very popular and went like hot cakes. The flyer for the opening weekend programme was particularly popular. Our reference to the QR code on it for the survey on the Capital of Culture year met with great interest.
Grateful for all the new things that could be learnt on both sides, there were - as usual - interesting conversations between us volunteers and the visitors. It was not uncommon for things to get emotional.
An elderly woman from Chemnitz, for example, looked in the direction of the entrance to the Hartmannfabrik during our conversation. Her father used to stand at the lathe right there. She had often visited him at work as a child. Several visitors told us how they had got to the city centre. The buses and trams were as full as the "workers' transport" to Altchemnitz or Siegmar back then. I immediately had an idea of how packed the crowds must have been in front of the stages in the centre. Juliane Jelinek proudly showed me her long cardigan with Chemnitz2025 logos. She had bought it several years ago in "Karls Kunsthaus". The conversation with her and her mum was very pleasant. A man from Dresden had travelled with three women to see an artist he found interesting at the big opening party in the evening. A former Chemnitz resident had travelled from Hanover. She was accompanied by a local. Three ladies from Lugau, Chemnitz and Frankenberg helped themselves cheerfully at the bar. Equipped with plenty of flyers, the trio thanked us for our information. A woman from Bayreuth thanked me for - as she said - background information. I noticed a very large group of interested visitors on the morning of 18 January. I learnt that they were people from České Budějovice (Czech Republic), who have the year 2028 in mind for their Capital of Culture. They left with a lot of ideas and inspiration.
Speaking of gratitude. On 19 January in particular, the magic word "thank you" was heard remarkably often and mostly in connection with the words "we'll be back". One explanation for this is certainly the work of the volunteers at the information stands and on the streets in the centre of the city. Competent, friendly and full of enthusiasm - that's what the volunteers are like. By the afternoon of 19 January at the latest, my idea of how the visitor and information centre would function was taking shape. The front part of the hall, with its information desk, huge cloakroom and, not to forget, a modern catering counter, was buzzing with visitors. The rear part of the hall was reserved for a conference with 100 participants from 14:00. The title: "And now? - Europe! Discussion: What can the Capital of Culture do in Chemnitz? #7"
Looking back and looking ahead to the coming years, the programme managers from Bad Ischl Salzkammergut 2024, Chemnitz 2025 and Wrocław 2016 entered into discussion.
The balance between events open to the public and ongoing visitor traffic will therefore be able to be maintained without disruption. More and more Chemnitz residents will be able to explain to their guests and the expected tourists what is behind the name "Hartmannfabrik".