Chemnitz will be the European Capital of Culture in 2025 – once a wealthy city, most recently a symbol of right-wing radical violence. Civil society is against it, but nervousness is spreading before the opening.
The EU’s Capital of Culture program, launched in 1985, was a bit paradoxical right from the start. First, places like Athens, Florence, Berlin and Paris, which have always been cultural capitals, were given the title. However, the label is now being given to cities that are currently lacking culture and could use more of it to boost tourism and the economy or to reinvent themselves. This was the case in 2010 with Essen, the last German cultural capital. The title helped her shake off her steel and coal past. From January 18th it will be seen whether the recipe will also work in Chemnitz, one of this year’s two European Capitals of Culture alongside Nova Gorica in Slovenia.