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Meissen and Saxony

In 1307, the town became subordinate to the Margraviate of Meissen, the predecessor of the Saxon state. In 1356, the Margraviate was succeeded by the Electorate of Saxony. After receiving the bleaching privilege in 1357, Chemnitz developed into a regional centre of weaving, linen manufacturing, and textile trade. More than one-third of the population worked in textile production.

Geologist Georgius Agricola (1494–1555), author of several significant works on mining and metallurgy, including the landmark treatise De re metallica, became city physician of Chemnitz in 1533 and lived here until his death in 1555. In 1546, he was elected a Burgher of Chemnitz, and in the same year, was also appointed Burgomaster (lord mayor), serving again in 1547, 1551, and 1553. Despite having been a leading citizen of the city, when Agricola died in 1555, the Protestant Duke denied him burial in the city's cathedral due to Agricola's allegiance to his Roman Catholic faith. Agricola's friends arranged for his remains to be buried in more sympathetic Zeitz, approximately 50 km away.

In 1639, during the Thirty Years' War, the Swedish army defeated Saxon and Imperial forces at the Battle of Chemnitz.

In 1806, with the end of the Holy Roman Empire, the Electorate was renamed as the Kingdom of Saxony, and this survived until the revolutions of 1918, which followed the Armistice ending the First World War.

By the early 19th century, Chemnitz had become an industrial centre (sometimes called "the Saxon Manchester", German: Sächsisches Manchester, pronounced [ˈzɛksɪʃəs ˈmɛntʃɛstɐ] ). Important industrial companies were founded by Richard Hartmann, Louis Schönherr and Johann von Zimmermann. Chemnitz became a centre of innovation in the Kingdom of Saxony and later in the German Reich. In 1913, Chemnitz had a population of 320,000 and, like Leipzig and Dresden, was larger at that time than today. After losing inhabitants due to the First World War, Chemnitz grew rapidly again and reached its all-time peak of 360,250 inhabitants in 1930. Thereafter, growth was stalled by the world economic crisis.

After reunification

On 23 April 1990, a referendum on the future name of the city was held: 76% of the voters voted for the old name "Chemnitz". On 1 June 1990, the city was officially renamed.

After the reunification of Germany on 3 October 1990, the city of Chemnitz faced several difficult tasks. Many inhabitants migrated to the former West Germany, and unemployment in the region increased sharply; in addition, Chemnitz did not have adequate shopping facilities, but this was increasingly demanded. Large shopping centers were constructed around the city's periphery in the early 1990s.

Chemnitz is the only major German city whose centre was re-planned after 1990, similar to the reconstruction of several other German cities in the immediate post-war years. Plans for the recovery of a compressed city centre around the historic town hall in 1991 led to an urban design competition. This was announced internationally by the city and carried out with the help of the partner city of Düsseldorf. The mooted project on an essentially unused area of the former city would be comparable in circumference to the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin.

Numerous internationally renowned architects such as Hans Kollhoff, Helmut Jahn and Christoph Ingenhoven provided designs for a new city centre. The mid-1990s began the development of the inner city brownfield around the town hall to a new town. In Chemnitz city, more than 66,000 square meters of retail space have emerged. With the construction of office and commercial buildings on the construction site "B3" at the Düsseldorf court, the last gap in 2010 was closed in the city centre image. The intensive development included demolition of partially historically valuable buildings from the period and was controversial. Between 1990 and 2007, more than 250 buildings were leveled.

In late August 2018, the city was the site of a series of protests that an estimated 8,000 right-wing and nationalist protestors and an estimated 1,500 left-wing counter-protesters attended, with violent clashes occurring between them, leading to injuries.

In 2020, the Stefan Heym Forum opened. In 2024, Chemnitz became the site of the Federal Hydrogen and Mobility Innovation Center (HIC), with operations beginning in 2025.

In 2025, Chemnitz served as the European Capital of Culture, and the Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Art Museum opened at his birthplace in Chemnitz-Rottluff.

Culture and sights

The city won the bid to be one of the two European Capitals of Culture (in 2025) on 28 October 2020, beating Hanover, Hildesheim, Magdeburg and Nuremberg.

Theater Chemnitz offers a variety of theatre: opera (opera house from 1909), plays, ballet and Figuren (puppets), and runs concerts by the orchestra Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie (founded 1832).

Tourist sights include the Kassberg neighborhood with 18th and 19th century buildings and the Karl Marx Monument by Lev Kerbel, nicknamed Nischel (a Saxon dialect word for head) by the locals. Landmarks include the Old Town Hall with its Renaissance portal (15th century), the castle on the site of the former monastery, and the area around the opera house and the old university. The most conspicuous landmark is the red tower built in the late 12th or early 13th century as part of the city wall.

The Chemnitz petrified forest is located in the courtyard of Kulturkaufhaus Tietz. It is one of the very few in existence, and dates back several million years (details shown in the Museum of Natural Sciences "Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz", founded 1859). Also within the city limits, in the district of Rabenstein, is the smallest castle in Saxony, Rabenstein Castle.

The city has changed considerably since German reunification. Most of its industry is now gone and the core of the city has been rebuilt with many shops as well as large shopping centres.

The Chemnitz Industrial Museum is an Anchor Point of ERIH, the European Route of Industrial Heritage. Additional unique industrial monuments are located at the "Schauplatz Eisenbahn" (Saxon Railway Museum and Museum of Technology Rope Shunting System) in Chemnitz-Hilbersdorf. The State Museum of Archaeology Chemnitz opened in 2014 and is located in the former Schocken Department Stores (architect: Erich Mendelsohn; opening of the department store: 1930).

The Museum Gunzenhauser, formerly a bank, opened on 1 December 2007. Alfred Gunzenhauser, who lived in Munich, had a collection of some 2,500 pieces of modern art, including many paintings and drawings by Otto Dix, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and others. The other great art museum in Chemnitz is located near central railway station, it is called "Museum am Theaterplatz" (erected 1909 as "König-Albert-Museum"). The Botanischer Garten Chemnitz is a municipal botanical garden, and the Arktisch-Alpiner Garten der Walter-Meusel-Stiftung is a non-profit garden specializing in arctic and alpine plants. The "Villa Esche" (Henry-van-de-Velde-museum) is located near the city center. This historical house was built in 1902 in art-nouveau-style by van de Velde. In Chemnitz-Rottluff the Karl Schmidt-Rottluff museum is located.

Chemnitz is home of the Schlingel International Film Festival, a yearly festival created in 1996 and that focuses on cinema for young audiences.

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