Thursday, 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th October, 3 pm on each occasion
Language Café
Venue: Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
Admission: free
Link to the event
We are opening our doors to the Chemnitz Language Café – an open, relaxed social gathering where people of different languages and backgrounds can chat, practise German and network.
As hosts, we’re delighted to provide the venue for this wonderful initiative. The organisation and running of the event are in the hands of the Language Café team.
Do come along – open to anyone who fancies a chat and making new connections!
Friday, 2 October, 3 pm to 5 pm
Children’s preview: Mythos & Mattheuer – guided tour
Venue: Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
Admission: free; booking: by email to info.kunstsammlungen(at)stadt-chemnitz.de or by telephone on 0371 488 4424, for children aged 6 to 12
Link to the event
A special experience awaits you at the Art Collections on Theaterplatz!
Come along to the children’s preview from 3 pm to 5 pm and discover our new exhibitions on the themes ‘Myth. From Gods to Superheroines’ and ‘Allegories of Life – Ursula Mattheuer-Neustädt and Wolfgang Mattheuer’.
Myths aren’t fixed stories; they’re constantly changing – from ancient gods to superheroines in comics, right through to their spread across the internet. We’ll be asking questions such as: Which superheroes and superheroines do you know? Who is your everyday hero or heroine? What superpowers would you like to have?
Children may attend the Children’s Preview without an accompanying adult. To do so, please fill in the form on the event page as a parent or guardian and send it to us, bring it with you, or complete it on the day of the event at the venue.
Friday, 2 October, 6.30 pm
Allegories of Life & Myth – Joint Opening
Venue: Art Collections at Theaterplatz
Admission: free
Link to the event
To mark the opening of the two exhibitions ‘Allegories of Life. Ursula Mattheuer-Neustädt and Wolfgang Mattheuer’ and ‘Myth. From Gods to Superheroines’, we warmly invite you, your family and friends to the Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz on Friday 2 October at 6.30 pm.
Welcome address:
Florence Thurmes, Director-General of the Chemnitz Art Collections
Opening remarks:
Sven Schulze, Lord Mayor of the City of Chemnitz
Patricia Werner, Managing Director of the East German Savings Banks Foundation
Introduction:
Diana Kopka, Curator, Collection of Paintings and Sculpture
Literary intervention:
Alexander Ganz-Kuhl, actor
Thursday, 8 October, 6 pm
Dance and Draw
Venue: Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
Admission: 10 euros, register via the event link
Get creative at our after-work party, enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and turn the stairwell into a dance floor.
Our ‘Dance and Draw’ event offers more than just the chance to round off the day to the beats of our professional DJ. Large easels also invite you to sketch spontaneously. In this way, the grand stairwell of the Art Collections at Theaterplatz becomes an open studio for one evening, welcoming anyone in the mood for creativity and socialising.
Let yourself be inspired by our current special exhibitions ‘Myth’ and ‘Allegories of Life’, which will be open for longer on this day. The theme of myth runs like a common thread through both exhibitions. As messengers of fundamental truths, myths not only focus on figures of world-historical significance, but also symbolise the struggle for transformation and the personal journey of each individual.
Friday, 9 October, 4 pm
Work in Focus: Prometheus – Talk
Venue: Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
Admission: Standard rate €10, concessions €6.50; register via the event link
We warmly invite you to the public discussion series ‘Work in Focus’ at the Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz.
‘Work in Focus’ is a 30-minute discussion session centred on a selected work from the exhibition ‘Myth. From Gods to Superheroines’. It offers the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the background to the selected work, to speak with the curator in person and to share your own thoughts. Today’s session will focus on the myth of Prometheus.
The exhibition ‘Mythos. From Gods to Superheroines’ explores the significance of ancient myths from the early modern period to the present day and shows how their motifs continue to influence art, film, comics and digital media to this day. As messengers of fundamental truths, myths not only centre on figures of global historical significance but also symbolise the struggle for human transformation and the human journey.
Friday, 9 October, 5.00 pm
A journey through the city’s history from a Jewish perspective – guided tour
Venue: Schloßbergmuseum
Admission: Standard rate 8 euros, concessions 5 euros; book via the event link
We warmly invite you to a public guided tour of the Schloßbergmuseum’s permanent exhibition. The exhibition traces the history of Chemnitz from the 12th to the 20th century, with a particular focus on the lives and contributions of Chemnitz’s Jewish residents.
From the very beginning, Jewish men and women were part of the medieval settlement movements in Saxony. They played a significant role in the mining town of Freiberg, as well as in Meissen, Dresden and Leipzig. From the 15th to the 19th century, however, people of the Jewish faith were forbidden to reside in Saxony. Nevertheless, we find clear evidence of Jewish life in Chemnitz during precisely this period.
After 1866, Saxony’s Jewish communities flourished once more. In Chemnitz in particular, a large Jewish community emerged, producing successful businesses and committed citizens. Numerous job-seekers of the Jewish faith were also drawn to the booming industrial metropolis. Various institutions that still shape the city today would not have come into being without the work of Chemnitz’s Jewish residents. The Nazi dictatorship brought this chapter in Chemnitz’s history to a brutal end. After 1945, making a fresh start proved difficult for the Jews who remained, those who returned, or those who had recently moved to the city.
Saturday, 10 October, 2.30 pm
Zines as a creative practice – workshop
Venue: Gunzenhauser Museum
Meeting point: 4th floor, Gunzenhauser Museum
Admission: €28, €8 concession; register via the event link
We warmly invite you to the workshop ‘Zines as a Creative Practice’ with paper artist and graphic designer Julia Koschler at the Gunzenhauser Museum. In the workshop, you will be introduced to the medium and history of zines and have the opportunity to get creative yourself.
In the second half of the 20th century, self-published zines were a key medium and means of expression for numerous feminist movements and marginalised groups.
Following an introduction to the historical development and the political and social significance of various zines and zine movements, workshop participants will have the opportunity to design their own zines. The workshop will cover folding and collage techniques and provide a space for participants to contribute their own perspectives and experiment.
Saturday, 10 October, 2.30 pm
A Change of Perspective – Guided tours with the Alfreds Crew Youth Council
Venue: Museum Gunzenhauser
Admission: Standard rate 10 euros, concessions 6.50 euros; register via the event link
The Alfreds Crew Youth Council is a group of committed, art-loving young people who have been contributing their perspectives and ideas to the museum’s work since 2025. For ‘Serving Gender’, they have developed four interventions in which they have engaged deeply with themes from the exhibition. In doing so, they have set their own thematic priorities and drawn connections to their everyday realities. Join two members for an exciting guided tour of the exhibition.
In a global context, women have for centuries borne the brunt of the often invisible, unpaid care work surrounding food: they cook, they provide for, and they feed children, families and communities. ‘Serving Gender’ focuses on women as society’s primary providers of food and explores gender-specific ambivalences regarding food, which are linked to social power structures, cultural norms, assigned roles, and the control and disciplining of the female body.
At the heart of the project is the question of how food not only satisfies biological needs but also reproduces social structures: who prepares food, and who is depicted in images during these processes? What expectations of female care shape the dining table? Who is allowed to have an appetite? And why, in fact, are most top chefs male?
Friday, 23 October, 4.45 pm
Yoga at the Museum – Workshop
Venue: Gunzenhauser Museum
Admission: 12 euros, register via the event link
Round off your day in a special setting: every fourth Friday at 4.45 pm, you can take part in yoga sessions in the exhibition rooms at the Gunzenhauser Museum under professional guidance. If possible, please bring your own yoga mat – a limited number of mats are available.
Yoga instructor: Mileen Rudelt
Saturday, 10 October, 2.30 pm
Zines as a creative practice – workshop
Venue: Museum Gunzenhauser
Meeting point: 4th floor, Gunzenhauser Museum
Admission: €28, €8 concessions; register via the event link
We warmly invite you to the workshop ‘Zines as a Creative Practice’ with paper artist and graphic designer Julia Koschler at the Gunzenhauser Museum. During the workshop, you’ll be introduced to the medium and history of zines and have the chance to get creative yourself.
In the second half of the 20th century, self-published zines were a key medium and means of expression for numerous feminist movements and marginalised groups.
Following an introduction to their historical development, as well as the political and social significance of various zines and zine movements, workshop participants will have the opportunity to design their own zines. The workshop will cover folding and collage techniques and provide a space for participants to contribute their own perspectives and experiment.
Thursday, 29 October 2026, 6.30 pm
‘Mattheuer on the Road’ – Lecture by Melanie Ohst, Kunsthalle Rostock
Venue: Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz
Admission: 6 euros, register via the event link
What fascinated Wolfgang Mattheuer whilst travelling, and how did what he saw become art? This lecture focuses on his drawings created directly on location – from his home region of the Vogtland to his travels abroad. It explores the significance of drawing as an independent medium of observation and as a starting point for later artistic creations. Through a selection of works, it becomes clear how impressions from his travels influenced Mattheuer’s artistic imagery. The talk will also address the journeys he undertook with his wife, Ursula Mattheuer-Neustädt, and the particular conditions of travelling within the GDR and to Western countries.
Melanie Ohst, born in 1990 in Neuruppin, studied art history and education in Kiel. She has been working as a research assistant at the Kunsthalle Rostock since 2016. There, she has organised various exhibition projects, including ‘A Change of Perspective – Art after 1945 from the Collections of the Kunsthalle St. Annen Lübeck and the Kunsthalle Rostock’, ‘Jørgen Buch – Black & White, Danish Art in the Collection of the Kunsthalle Rostock” and “Lights of Usedom”.
Her main areas of research include artists’ colonies, particularly in northern Germany, art after 1945 in East and West Germany, and 20th-century Danish art. She lives in Rostock and Wismar.
English
Choose