Chemnitz and Nova Gorica kick off this year’s European Capitals of Culture
3622 Mins Read
Around 80,000 people attended the opening event on January 18 that launched Chemnitz’s year as European Capital of Culture 2025, a title the eastern German city is sharing with Nova Gorica/Gorizia, which will officially kick of their year on February 8.
“This year, Chemnitz can send out a signal of a new sense of togetherness,” German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said at the opening ceremony.
The Capital of Culture year brings people together who would otherwise have little contact with one another, Steinmeier said, adding that “this is exactly what we so urgently need at this time.”
The day’s celebratory events concluded with a show held next to a giant monument to Karl Marx, a German philosopher and a famous advocate of communism.
Throughout the year, the two cities be hosting cultural events, exhibitions and performances aimed at highlighting the richness of Europe’s shared cultures.
The inauguration of Chemnitz will take place on 18 January. With the motto “See the Unseen”, the city aims to reinforce the role of civic society through community-driven cultural projects and build a network of “European makers of democracy”.
Nova Gorica will start its ECOC run on 8 February. In this framework, the city intends to grow together with the bordering Italian city of Gorizia, becoming a “borderless European Capital of Culture”. It will also be an opportunity to explore, through cultural and artistic means, the concept of borders from multiple dimensions.
The EU’s Commissioner for Culture Glenn Micallef congratulated the 2025 European Capitals of Culture: “I look forward to a whole year of celebrations showcasing the diversity, identities and values of European cultures while highlighting what brings European citizens together in celebration of our diversity, identities and values. It is also an opportunity to reflect on the impact of this prestigious initiative over the last 40 years.”
The title of European Capital of Culture allows cities to boost their local and regional development through culture. It also provides long-term cultural, economic, and social benefits for both the cities and their surrounding regions.
To be selected, the cities had to set up a cultural programme with a strong European dimension, promoting the active involvement of their city’s communities. The Commission has awarded the two 2025 European Capitals of Culture with the EUR 1.5 million Melina Mercouri Prize, funded under the EU’s Creative Europe programme, in recognition of the quality of their preparations for the year.
Commissioner Micallef awarded the Mercouri prize as part of his attendance at the Chemnitz inauguration ceremony on 18 January.
PHOTO: Chemnitz’s Mayor Sven Schulze, left, and the EU’s Commissioner for Culture Glenn Micallef, right, sign the golden book in Chemnitz, Germany on January 18, 2025. EC – Audiovisual Service
