From streetcar station to cultural venue: "Garage Campus" opens

For around 8 million euros, the city of Chemnitz has transformed a derelict streetcar depot into a cultural and event area. The "Garage Campus" is a new cultural venue for the city that can continue to develop, said project manager Tina Winkel. The rooms will offer space for exhibitions, conferences, workshops and concerts, but will also serve as a meeting place for clubs and creative people.

Forecast of the "#3000Garages" exhibition

The "#3000Garages" exhibition - a flagship project in the Capital of Culture year - will be shown here from May. It focuses on the role of garages as hidden places of creativity, tinkering and social interaction. Visitors can get a taste of this this weekend at the opening of the "Garage Campus". On display are a number of works by Leipzig photographer Christoph Busse, who has been photographing garages across Europe for more than 15 years. Also on display are portraits of people in Chemnitz garage yards, taken by Berlin photographer Maria Sturm in her project "Mitgliederversammlung".

The "Garage Campus" is a former streetcar depot. It went into operation in 1880 with the start of the first horse-drawn tram line. This was later followed by electric streetcars and several extensions. The depot was abandoned in the 1980s. It covers around 30,000 square meters and is also home to the Chemnitz Tram Museum.

As a "garage campus", the listed building complex will now offer project, event and creative spaces. True to the Capital of Culture motto "C the Unseen", the aim was to make a hidden place visible and tangible again, said Jens Meiwald, CEO of Chemnitzer Verkehrs-AG. The company owns the complex. Mayor Sven Schulze (SPD) spoke of an "urban development project par excellence". This was an investment in something lasting.

60 million euros for urban development projects in Chemnitz

The site is one of 30 intervention areas of Chemnitz as European Capital of Culture 2025. According to the city, around 60 million euros are being invested in these construction projects. In addition to the "Garage Campus", these include the former Hartmann factory, which has been refurbished as a visitor center, the conversion of the childhood home of artist Karl Schmidt-Rottluff into an artists' house as well as investments in parks and public spaces and facilities.