Eastern German city of Chemnitz kicks off year as EU cultural capital

Agency Report

The eastern German city of Chemnitz is due to kick off its year as European Capital of Culture on January 18 with an opening ceremony attended by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and other dignitaries in front of 700 invited guests.

Others attending include Federal Culture Commissioner Claudia Roth, Saxony Premier Michael Kretschmer and European Culture Commissioner Glenn Micallef, the city authorities announced on Friday.

Chemnitz is to receive the Melina Mercouri Prize worth €1.5 million ($1.55 million) during the ceremony, which is to be held in the city’s opera house and to be broadcast live on public television.

An event is to be held at the Marx Monument, one of the city’s best-known landmarks on the same day. The communist authorities renamed the city Karl-Marx-Stadt (Karl Marx City) in 1953, but the name reverted to Chemnitz in 1990 following a city referendum after the fall of the communist regime and German reunification.

The city, which lies in the state of Saxony across the border from the Czech Republic, is expecting tens of thousands of visitors during the year.