Discover History

From green to Theater Square

Theater square is considered one of the most beautiful squares in the city. Originally created as a “Kommunanger”, or municipal green, in around 1800, the area was much larger at that time. The first major building to appear on it was St. Peter’s Church (Petrikirche) in 1888. The square in front of the church was named Neustädter Markt. It was then renamed Königsplatz, and later Theater Square (Theaterplatz), upon the construction of the King Albert Museum (König-Albert-Museum) and the New City Theatre (Neues Stadttheater) between 1906 and 1909. 1992 saw the completion of the underground car park beneath the square. The circular structure resembling a small amphitheatre, known as the “Theatron”, followed later.

St. Peter’s Church

The neo-Gothic St. Peter’s Church was the first large single structure to be built on the square. It was erected in 1888 to plans by the Leipzigborn architect Hans Enger. At the time, it was the largest church in the city, with seating for 1,200. The colossal brick structure, with its rich and intricate sandstone adornments, is 59 metres long and 36 metres wide. Standing 82 metres tall, the spire remains the highest church spire in the city to this day. Environmental influences and a lack of funds for maintenance in the 1980s led to the church shutting its doors in 1987. In 1992, supported by funding from the federal government and the state, renovation work began on the architectural monument and was undertaken in stages. Thanks to the commitment of the church’s friends’ association, the large organ by Friedrich Ladegast was restored in 2007-2008.

The Chemnitzer Hof Hotel

Calls to build a large new upscale hotel for business travellers and guests of Chemnitz’s major industrial companies grew louder in the “Golden Twenties”. The city responded by holding an architectural competition in 1925. The hotel was eventually built to a design by the Chemnitz-born architect Heinrich Straumer, who had won second place. A modern design, influenced by the New Objectivity, characterised the exterior of the hotel, which opened in 1930, while the interior featured most elegantly furnished guest rooms and salons. Spared from the bombing in March 1945, the hotel has succeeded in retaining much of its original character. At the start of 1906, construction commenced on two cultural buildings on what was then Neustädter Markt: the museum and the New City Theatre. Both were planned and constructed  under the direction of Richard Möbius (1859–1945), Chemnitz’s chief architect and head of the Municipal Building Office.

Kunstsammlungen am Theaterplatz (The King Albert Museum)

The museum was inaugurated on 1 September 1909 in a ceremony attended by the king of Saxony, Friedrich August III, after whose predecessor and uncle, Albert, it was named. Its unusual task of housing five very different collections within the building, coupled with the narrow dimensions of the plot on which it stood, meant that the structure needed to be very elongated, measuring a total of 113 metres. The building uses subtle forms of historicism and has a distinct character through the building material Elbe sandstone. It houses the municipal art collections that were founded in 1920 “in the morning light of the republic”. After being destroyed in World War II, the building was functionally repaired; a comprehensive reconstruction of the original condition of the interior took place from 1994. Today, the museum is one of Germany’s largest and most significant municipal art collections, with a particular focus on international modernism.

The Opera House

The old city theatre, dating from 1838, was no longer able to meet the needs of the rapidly growing industrial city. It was consequently decided to construct a New City Theatre based on designs by Möbius. The theatre then became the Opera House in 1922. Its sumptuous fittings and furnishings were completely destroyed during the bombing raid on 5 March 1945. Rebuilding took place between 1949 and 1951, using simplified forms in some places, particularly in the interior. Due to heavy wear and tear and inadequate technical equipment, the interior was completely renovated between 1988 and 1992, giving rise to one of Germany’s most modern stages.