The Küchwald Park has been part of a consciously developed green system in Chemnitz for over 130 years. The city acquired the area located in the northwest as early as 1885. Under the direction of garden architect Otto Werner (1854 – 1923), the forest transformed into a public and forest park between 1900 and 1915.
In 1915, the hospital at Küchwald was also completed. However, the Küchwald got its name much earlier during the time of the Chemnitz monastery on Schloßberg when the forest extended there and supplied the monastery kitchen with wood and game. 2019 marked an anniversary year for many popular facilities in Chemnitz's Küchwald Park. Their history began no later than with the decision of the city council in 1952, which foresaw the further development of Küchwald as a cultural park.
Attractions
Botanical Garden and School Biology Center
The origin of today's facility is the central school garden on the edge of the Küchwald on Leipziger Strasse, which was laid out in 1898/99 according to plans by Otto Werner and opened to the public in 1901. It was considered a model for other school gardens in Germany and in 1906 supplied 46 schools with 615 plant species. War damage sustained in 1945 was repaired in the 1950s and the Young Naturalists' Station was founded in 1955, which developed into the School Biology Center after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1991. The foundation stone for the Botanical Garden had actually only been laid on October 5, 1989. The facility expanded the nature conservation work. In 1996, the Chemnitz Botanical Garden, the Chemnitz School Biology Center (former School Botanical Garden) and the Central School Garden were merged to form the new "Chemnitz Botanical Garden/School Biology and Nature Conservation Center" facility, bringing the park to its current size.
Tennis Club
As part of the transformation into a forest park, the tennis courts of the Chemnitz Lawn Tennis Club were built between 1903 and 1908, alongside the paths with Ringstrasse and Cottaschneise and the festival grounds. The club was founded here in 1894 and maintained its clubhouse, an advanced building by Henry van de Velde from 1907/08, not in the Küchwald, but on Goethestrasse. In contrast to the facilities in the Kapellenberg district, the tennis courts in the Küchwald have been there for more than 100 years.
Küchwald Stage
The Küchwald Stage has a famous predecessor in the Küchwald Park, the Küchwaldschänke, which opened in 1909. The well-known excursion restaurant with a large beer garden was located on the northwestern edge of the festival meadow laid out by Otto Werner. In 1945 it fell victim to a bombing raid. The remains of the building were integrated into the new open-air stage between 1955 and 1963. With 4,500 seats, it offered space for film, music and theater in the open air. The Küchwaldbühne e.V. is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2019.
School camp
The history of the school camp also begins early between the two world wars. It was built in 1921 as a clubhouse for workers' athletes. From 1933 it served various Nazi organizations. After being purchased by the city, it was used as a military hospital in the 1940s and, unlike the Küchwaldschänke, was spared war damage. From 1951 to 1989, the Young Tourists' Station "Junge Garde" was established here.
Chemnitz Ice Sports Center
As early as the 1950s, you could skate on an artificial ice surface in the Küchwald. The ice rink opened in 1965 with the roof covering the clubhouse and stands that had been added in 1957. This was the home of the SC Karl-Marx-Stadt ice skating talent factory with legendary names such as Jutta Müller and Katarina Witt, both honorary citizens of the city of Chemnitz. The speed skating rink was added in 1972. Together with the ice rink and the training hall, this is still the largest connected ice sports area in Germany.
Park Railway
The park railway was built in 1953-1954 as a pioneer railway. Pioneer railways were narrow-gauge railways that were operated by children and young people. The young railway workers were members of the Pioneer Organization, the state youth organization in the GDR. They existed throughout the GDR and in other countries, the first in Moscow in 1932, followed by Tbilisi in Georgia in 1935. Incidentally, this railway is the oldest children's railway still in existence today. In eastern Germany, too, the popular small railways continued to operate after the fall of the Berlin Wall with non-political names such as Parkeisenbahn. This also applies to the Chemnitz Parkeisenbahn. It is celebrating its 65th anniversary in 2019.
Sigmund Jähn Cosmonaut Center in the Adventure Education Center
The idea to build the Cosmonaut Center arose in 1963 as part of the 5th Pioneer Meeting in Karl-Marx-Stadt. It was inaugurated on August 14, 1964 as a leisure and educational facility for children and young people and began operations in 1966. Since then, the "children for children" principle, which is now unique in the space sector, has applied here. An unmissable landmark is the 36 m high rocket, a model of the Vostok, with which Yuri Gagarin was the first person to fly into space in 1961. In 1979, the cosmonaut center was given the name "Sigmund Jähn" by the first German in space. Sigmund Jähn is still an active honorary cosmonaut and patron of the center, as well as an honorary citizen of the city of Chemnitz.
In 2019, the Sigmund Jähn Cosmonaut Center, now part of the Adventure Education Center, is celebrating its 55th birthday and 40 years of being named after it.
