Chemnitz (Sorbian/Lusatian Kamjenica) is a city in Saxony, Germany. It is located on the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains. Population: 247,723(2003), Area 220.8 km².
The city is the third largest town of Saxony. It is named after the Chemnitz River, a small affluent of the Zwickauer Mulde River. The word "Chemnitz" is originally Sorbian and means "stony brook".
Chemnitz has one sister city, Akron, Ohio, United States.
History
In 1143 there was a Benedictine monastery at the place. A settlement grew around the monastery and around 1170 Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor granted it the rights of an imperial city. In 1307 the town became subordinate to the margravate of Meissen (which was the predecessor of the later Saxon state). In medieval times Chemnitz became a centre of textile production and textile trade. More than one third of the population worked for the textile production. This did not change with the industrialisation: factories were established, and in the early 19th century Chemnitz had become an industrial centre ("Saxon Manchester"). In 1913 Chemnitz had a population of 320,000 and is one of very few cities which were at that time larger than they are today.
In World War II the factories of Chemnitz produced mainly goods for the military. Therefore the city was heavily bombed and almost entirely destroyed.
The East German government decided to turn Chemnitz into a socialist model city. Boroughs full of concrete slab buildings were erected around the city centre, and most of the ancient buildings were not revived. In 1953 Chemnitz was renamed to Karl-Marx-Stadt ("Karl Marx City") and took the original name back on 21 June 1990.
Sights
Due to the Stalinist planning of the 1950s there are few sights, although there was much restoration of old buildings after the German Reunification. There is still a giant monumental bronze bust of Karl Marx.
Monumental Bust of Karl Marx
Other sights include the Old Town Hall with its Renaissance portal (15th century), the Red Tower (12th century) and the castle on the territory of the former monastery.
A very interesting sight is the petrified forest which you can find in the courtyard of "Kulturkaufhaus Tietz". It is almost unique in its existence and dates back to a few million years.
Also on the citylimits in the district of Rabenstein you can find the smallest castle of Saxony called Burg Rabenstein. It is situated very idyllic and is the perfect place to start a little walk.
Pronunciation
In the German language, "Chemnitz" is pronounced "KEM-nits" (IPA: [ʹkɛmnıts]).
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