Europe's Capital of Culture Chemnitz is putting out feelers across the border to the Czech Republic. As a partner, the German-Czech Future Fund is supporting more than 30 joint projects, according to a spokeswoman for the foundation in Prague. The spectrum ranges from photo exhibitions, readings and theater performances to concerts and conferences.
Chemnitz shares the title of European Capital of Culture 2025 with Nova Gorica in Slovenia and Gorizia in Italy. Saxony's third-largest city is located just 40 kilometers from the Czech border.
A new music trail designed by young people and children from Chemnitz together with their peers from the Czech Republic will be inaugurated in the city park at the opening ceremony of the Capital of Culture Year on Saturday. The "Leselust goes Europe" series of events will also kick off, promising an exchange with writers from Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland and Ukraine on current topics such as migration.
Exciting reading and theater experiences
The German-Czech theater project "Chemnitz Utopia" focuses on the Karl Marx Monument in the former GDR district city. It is to be used as a starting point for the question of what remains of the utopias of the past. A conference on the current state of inclusive theater in Europe is then planned for May. Several showcase projects from the Czech Republic will be presented, in which people with physical and mental challenges are artistically active.
One topic that has connected both sides of the Ore Mountains for decades is the former uranium mining in the region with its environmental damage. A traveling exhibition is dedicated to this and will be on display in Chemnitz and the Czech mining town of Jachymov. The "Girls on bikes" project, which aims to promote sustainable mobility in Chemnitz and in Broumov, 250 kilometers to the east, will get people moving.
An overview of all funded cross-border projects can be found on the website of the German-Czech Future Fund. It was founded in 1997 to contribute to cross-border understanding. It is jointly financed by the governments in Berlin and Prague.
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