People in the City of Chemnitz
It was a challenging task to stroll around the city and take photographs of people. Sometimes people recognized me and reacted to my camera. Often they walked away or started looking directly into the camera. Sometimes they just turned away which was great for me. Of course I do not want to offend personal rights with my pictures, therefore I was anxious not to take photographs of faces respectively I asked the people whether I am allowed to take pictures.
It became a pleasure to watch people entering or getting off a train, riding past by bike or walking down the streets. People passed by and often they took no notice of me. They tried to catch their train or be in time for the next meeting. But sometimes, I became a flâneur in between flâneurs. Mainly the shopping malls offered the great opportunity to watch people wandering around, looking at the shop windows. In this given situation there were mainly female flâneurs who shared the pleasure of wandering around and watching without concrete aim.
|
Culture
The Museumsnacht on Saturday the 5th of May 2012 was a great opportunity to watch people strolling the city at night. The photography of the lonely man standing in front of the opera with his umbrella contains every feeling people could experience that night. There was the warmth of the city that everyone and every place was coated with. However it was raining from time to time, people were not put off to discover the city whether alone as the umbrella-man or in a group as the people standing at the front door of the opera. All the places which could be visited at this special night were crowded and the atmosphere in the city was lively. And often you could hear that not even born citizens of the city of Chemnitz knew about the cultural variety and the beauty of the night. Some of the impressive and inspiring scenes of this night will be shown in the part 'strolling the city at night'.
|
The people of Karl-Marx-Stadt named the monument Nischel, which means head or even pighead in the Saxon dialect (Von Plato 2003, 178). This nickname survived down to the present day. These days, the younger inhabitants of Chemnitz, who grew up with this Nischel, do not call the monument into question, it just belongs to the cityscape and to the people of Chemnitz (Von Plato 2003, 179).
As a flâneur, it was interestig to watch that some people did not even pay attention t this huge head when they passed by. Whereas other people stopped and looked at Karl Marx's face and at his stoic expression. But most of the people seem to perceive the monument as part of their city and maybe even as part of their life. For some of them Marx's face was there when they were born and probably it will be there when the children of their children will be born.
As a flâneur, it was interestig to watch that some people did not even pay attention t this huge head when they passed by. Whereas other people stopped and looked at Karl Marx's face and at his stoic expression. But most of the people seem to perceive the monument as part of their city and maybe even as part of their life. For some of them Marx's face was there when they were born and probably it will be there when the children of their children will be born.
Demography
According to Welt Online, in 20 years Chemnitz will be the 'oldest' city in Europe. Even nowadays a large part of the population of Chemnitz is older than 60 years. Despite the high number of students, most of the young people leave the city after their studies and migrate to economically stronger regions. Despite these facts, Chemnitz is a very colourful city and as you can see in the following sections, young people and children characterize the city on their own way.
|
From Dreadlocks to Creepers - it's all about Music
When strolling through the city of Chemnitz, everyone will soon realize that this city is a stronghold of subcultures. There is hardly a teenager who looks 'normal'. And in this context the question comes up 'what is normal?'. In Chemnitz it seems to be normal not to be or to look normal. I am not sure whether the young people want to attract attention, bring out some colourful points or want to provoke in a city where the people increasingly become older. Maybe they just want to express themselves and Chemnitz provides the opportunity for everyone to be what he or she wants to be. From Hardcore and Metal to Punk, Skatepunk and Rockabilly. Music is a big issue in these subcultures and so it is in Chemnitz. There are numerus different clubs and bars where everyone can find his or her preferred music, style and of course like-minded people. It is a colourful mixture of music and attitude to life.
|
Children
In a city where most of the people are older than at least 50 years of age, it is delighting to watch children playing. They fill the city with laugh, colours and life. And it yields hope that so much young couples decide to bring new life to Chemnitz. It was a real pleasure to stroll around the city and watch how children enhance the streets and places.
|
Still Proletarian?
Chemnitz was always a city of workers. At the time of industrialization, the city acquired the good reputation of being productive and innovative. Academics, engineers and workers helped to establish the region as industrial area. They created the city as we know it today. Behind the Karl-Marx Munument the sentence "Workers of the World, Unite!" is displayed in four different languages (Von Plato 3003, 170).
Although there is an undeniable movement of people, the region of Chemnitz and the Ore Mountains is still densely populated today. This is a result of the traditional industrial character of this region in former times (Koch et al. 2006, 232). The fact that this region offered a large amount of jobs, attracted workers, who came with their families and shaped the region.
|
click the Arcades of Cemnitz to continue flâneurie