The new city

The new city
Chemnitz as Chemnitz as Karl-Marx-Stadt

The exhibition at the Schloßberg Museum traces the intense and momentous era of »Karl-Marx-Stadt«, which lasted only a few decades, with a particular focus on developments in urban planning and architecture.

The end of the Second World War heralded a new beginning for the devastated industrial city of Chemnitz in many ways: the GDR was founded in 1949, the federal states were dissolved in 1952 and twelve districts were created as a new administrative structure. Chemnitz was not only given the status of district capital but was also renamed by the ruling SED party in 1953. With the name of the philosopher and communist mastermind Karl Marx, the city was – intentionally or not – assigned a role as a »model socialist city«.

The specific nature of the political circumstances played a key role in this, but local events were also part of international »post-war modernism«. Throughout the system, the destruction of the war was seen as an opportunity for a fresh start in terms of architecture and urban planning, as a chance to realise ideas and concepts of reform that had been around for some time.

The international openness to new ideas in the post-war decades found expression in a special attitude to life, in enthusiasm for technological visions, in design and in fashion. The exhibition brings back to life the world of large panel system buildings, elevated highways, cosmonauts and plastics, without ignoring the contradictions and realities of »real existing socialism«.

In preparation for the 2025 exhibition, a conference on the topic was held in November 2024. The conference theme, developed in cooperation with TU Chemnitz, focused on the reconstruction of Chemnitz after 1945—both in an international context and with regard to the socialist “brother countries” and those behind the “Iron Curtain.” The discussions explored the differences and similarities in post-war architecture. Key reference points included modern architecture from the decades prior to the war.
Renowned experts discussed aspects of post-war building in the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Italy, the USA, various Eastern European countries, and in Chemnitz / Karl-Marx-Stadt.