Programme

Getting to know each other – exploring the city together

9am – Welcome Session (St. Johannes Nepomuk parish hall)

The churches and their contribution for the European city of culture events – introduction of the church of culture

10:00am – Holy Mass (St. Johannes Nepomuk church) with parish priest Schäffel and the parish

afterwards introduction into our programme

12:30pm – Lunch together (St. Johannes Nepomuk parish hall)

Afternoon: Different walks through the city of Chemnitz

7:00pm – Forum CLC – exploring the (his)story of our community (St. Johannes Nepomuk parish hall), special guest: bishop Heinrich Timmerevers

9:30pm – End of day gathering:Prayerful review of the day (St. Johannes Nepomuk church)

Topical Sessions – we invite you to look, marvel, and share your thoughts

8:30am – Morning prayer (St. Johannes Nepomuk parish hall)

9:00am – Introduction to the programme of the day St. Johannes Nepomuk parish hall with workshops and guided tours

See below for a description of the thematic offers / workshops

from 5:00pm - Offer evening snack / stand-up snack (St. Johannes Nepomuk parish hall)

6:00pm – Holy Mass with daily examen (St. Johannes Nepomuk church), with elements guided by members of CLC

7:30pm – Concert with Stefanie Schwab (St. Johannes Nepomuk church)

description of the thematic offers / workshops

Workshop 1 - Walking the way of St James

Being able to sense that God is our companion on the way is a basic dimension of our hope, and faith is a way that never ends, that is being experienced anew again and again, mentally and physically, and that can move us in many ways. By walking as pilgrims we take the opportunity to explore our thoughts and share them in our group.

We will embark on a 10km walk and get to know Chemnitz and its environment. This pilgrimage is suitable for everyone who can walk at ease and is happy to go on a 10km walk. After a morning session in the parish centre our group will start together. On our way, we will pass the town shopping centre on Friday morning, where we will be able to buy some food and drinks for the day. Please make sure that you have everything you might need, including comfortable shoes and clothes fit for walking.

Offered by: Monika Gerdes, experienced pilgrim and hostel warden

Workshop 2 - Street retreat in the Sonnenberg area of town

with scripture readings from John 1, 35-51

Thematic introduction in the community centre, then joint walk to the area of town Sonnenberg, here we will meet at the House of the Congregation of Mother Teresa for sharing and exchange. The group will finish together in the Missionaries of Charity house.

Handouts in German and English guide you through the day and there are recommendations for a personalised lunch.

Offered by: Lucas Wolf

Be inspired: Missionaries of Charity - https://katholische-kirche-chemnitz.de/mutter-teresa-schwestern/

Workshop 3 –  A Westerner in Chemnitz: 10 years of discoveries and experiences

My personal West-East-relationship began more than 40 years ago – it is also a relationship between South and North, East (Bavaria) and East (Germany). For 18 years I have not only been here in „the East“ as a visitor, but have lived here – more than 10 years ago I chose to live in Chemnitz, and I like it here. The manifold encounters with people and their personal history, with the eventful past of this place are a special way of learning to see and keep teaching me new lines of sight and thought

On a walk via the city centre to the Sonnenberg, a rather special and exciting part of town where I have worked and which has become home for me, I would like to introduce you to „my Chemnitz“: to traces of former greatness, remnants of socialism and everyday commitment to creating „blooming landscapes“, as well as to hidden distress and to people who strive to alleviate it. Together we can discover how God can be found in all this...

We will walk about 3 kms. At noon we are planning to take a break in the Catholic parish centre of St. Joseph, where a snack will be offered and where we will meet people from the neighbourhood

Offered by: Magdalena Lorenz

Workshop 4 - Show yourselves! Nameless women of the Bible raise their voices

Programme in the morning: Women often play a decisive role in biblical stories, but their names are often not mentioned. They are referred to as someone's wife, mother, sister or handmaid and are therefore often overlooked. See the unseen - this also applies to the Holy Scriptures

We listen to and retell the biblical stories from the perspective of these women, bringing them into focus and creating a completely new perspective: We want to give shape to the women in the shadows, they should “step out of the twilight into the light”, become visible. We deliberately deviate from the traditional narrative threads and give female supporting roles a specific prominent place in the story.

Afternoon Programme: A Chemnitz artist – Marianne Brandt

A guided tour highlights the eventful life and creative work of Marianne Brandt, an excellent graduate of the Bauhaus school of art, and well-known designer. We will also get to know some of her less known works. Marianne Brandt’s study rooms in her parents’ home are open to the public. Here we will enjoy a small, but well curated exhibition on her work and selected literature, which can be perused.

Offered by: Claudia Sticher

Be inspired: https://mariannebrandt-gesellschaft.de/

Workshop 5 - ESPRIT - inspirations for a spirited and inspiring unity

Workshop in the morning: How can trust grow in a group, and how can constructive communication happen? How can good decisions be taken by way of listening and discerning together? How can the unity of a group / a committee be created and strengthened through the spirit of the gospel?

CLC Germany has compiled an online collection of inspirations, ideas, resources and exercises. Wolfgang Zecher will show which possibilities lie in this online collection for a spirited and inspiring unity.

Afternoon programme: Educating – designing – creating – has had a long tradition in Chemnitz

You can learn more about this in the state-of-the-art university library. The history of this library links the industrial history of the city of Chemnitz with industrual culture. The complete redesigning of the building resulted in a creative place of learning and of encounters. You will enjoy an interesting as well as fascinating guided tour through the library and the history of this place.

Offered by: Wolfgang Zecher

Be inspiered: Details and history of the university library https://www.tu-chemnitz.de/ub/kontakt-und-wir/texte/geschichte.html#gebaeude

Restructuring and redesigning of the main library of the Technical University Chemnitz: https://www.sib.sachsen.de/download/2020_NL_Chemnitz_TUC_Aktienspinnerei.pdf

Workshop 6 - Lyrics and Music

Workshop in the morning: “Ever seen it from his perspective?” A change of perspective onto your own life can make visible unseen and surprising aspects.

Song-writer Stefanie Schwab will introduce several songs and will invite us to explore new facets of life. There will also be time for reflection, sharing and prayer.

Afternoon programme: Time for silence and prayer – each person individually, and yet in community. During the Corona lockdowns people came together to make space in their every-day lives for worship and adoration. This group has been in existence in an unconventual and lively way. Together with them we can pray and rest before God.

Offered by: Stefanie Schwab + Margarete Schnarrer

Workshop 7 - Viewing Art

Workshop in the morning: The Art Collections Kunstsammlungen is one of the most renowned privately owned collections in Germany. Among the most significant holdings count the expressionist works of the art group Brücke (Bridge), including pieces by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, who was born in Chemnitz. We are visiting the exhibition and will take time to view some pictures.

Afternoon programme: Visit of the Max Bochmann exhibition in St. Antonius Chemnitz

The artist max Bochmann (1877-1955) is among the most significant Christian wood sculptors in the Saxonian history of art. Born in Adorf, he was working throughout his lifetime in the Chemnitz region. Some of his sculptures can be seen in the church of St. Antonius in Chemnitz. This exhibition wants to highlight the local church space as room for art and culture.

Offered by: David Marschner

Be inspired: Art Collection Kunstsammlungen www.kunstsammlungen-chemnitz.de

exhibition Max Bochmann in St Antonius: https://kulturkirche2025.de/veranstaltungen/max-bochmann-ausstellung/

Workshop 8 - CLC - We are part of a global community in our every-day lives

Morning workshop: CLC – we are part of a global community The Ignatian spirituality is the ‘red thread’ that follows us through our daily lives, and the community is a framework that allows us to deepen it. We are a global community, but our every-day lives are in parts very different, depending on where somebody lives. Which significance has the global community for my daily life? How does this dimension enrich my life – and in which way does it challenge me? Members talk about their insights and experiences.

Afternoon programme: Living a Christian life in the prefab estate

The council estate Fritz Heckert, named after the politician Fritz Heckert, member of the Chemnitz KPD (Communist) party, was one of the biggest prefab estates in Karl-Marx-Stadt (the name of Chemitz during the East German years). It was the third biggest, at times the second biggest building site in East Germany. In 1979, the parish St. Franziskus (St Francis of Assisi) was started. Supported by funds of West Germany, the church was newly built, which today is the home to the oasis of the Christian fellowship Koinonia John Baptist. This is a quite unknown community in our region that furthers and enriches our ecomenical life in the city in a beneficial way. You will be able to see a place that testifies: “In all matters, act as if you did everything, and God did nothing – but trust, as if you did not do anything, but God did everything” (Ignatius of Loyola).

Offered by: Daniela Frank, National Advisor

Be inspired https://st-franziskus.hl-mutter-teresa-chemnitz.de/

https://www.koinoniajdt.de/chemnitz/

Workshop 9 - Growing up in Karl-Marx-Stadt - Life in the unlawful GDR state

Morning workshop: How do you grow up as a Christian in a socialist environment? What does it feel like when you don't suffer any hardship on the outside, but you can't feel free - you feel boundaries at every turn - you always have to be careful about what you say, who you talk to - when you can't move freely and the Western world is unreachably far away?

Thomas Leis grew up and went to school on the Kaßberg in Chemnitz, very close to the Kaßberg prison. Many people who came into conflict with the system or the Stasi were imprisoned here. The 33,000 political prisoners who were ransomed by the Federal Republic of Germany were brought from here to the West of Germany.

On a walk across the Kaßberg to these places, you can immerse yourself in the realities of life for young Christians in the GDR time.

In the afternoon, we will visit the Kaßberg prison as a place of learning and remembrance. During a guided tour, we will learn a lot about the history of this place in different eras and meet a witness of this time who was imprisoned there.

Offered by: Thomas Leis

Be inspired https://gedenkort-kassberg.de/

Workshop 10 - Networking initiatives of CLC Germany

The networking initiatives of CLC Germany are a meeting point for people who want to share their experiences that they are making in their professional contexts. They try to understand their jobs or workplaces as spaces for spiritual mission and enrich their lives that way. The networking initiatives are also used for sharing specific common topics that are connected to various phases in one’s lifetime.

Be inspired: https://gcl.de/vernetzungsinitiativen/

Workshop 10.1 - Networking initiative for people in caring and healing professions

Morning workshop: Searching for and finding God in medicine, care and therapy

In the medical/nursing/therapy profession, we experience daily dilemmas between time pressure, duties of care and bureaucracy and many human needs. How can we set the right priorities, remain open and empathetic and maintain our joy in our profession? Ignatian spirituality helps in the search for possibilities and in discerning what to do and how to do it. We like to learn from each other in exchange, for example at the annual meetings of the ‘CLC networking initiative for people in the healing and care professions’.

Afternoon programme: In our professions, we are often bridge builders, transforming dilemmas into connections, transitions and overcoming difficulties. In the afternoon, we want to cross bridges in the city. Each of them is something special. Crossing bridges - learning interesting and curious facts about the bridges and their history

Offered by: Ottmar Leidner

Be inspired https://www.c-entdecken.de/online/cms/front_content.php?

Workshop 10.2 - Networking initiative for women and men in self-employed work and leadership responsibility

How can I take on the responsibilities of a leadership role for employees and an enterprise, and yet create a constructive everyday working life? We furthermore are looking at topics like “Ignatius resilience” or media ethics.

In the morning we are introducing our networking initiative. We want to give you a taste of what we are doing and how we strengthen ourselves for the daily challenges in our professional working lives.

In the afternoon we will continue our conversations. We will visit places of the industrial history of Chemnitz that tell us about people in leadership responsibility.

Offered by: Christine Neumann

Workshop 10.3 - Autumn of Life – Networking initiative for elderly people

Workshop in the morning: “Elderly” or “old” people in CLC are not part of the old guard! There is the networking initiative “Autumn of Life”, brought to life by some of the elderly for our old and sick CLC members. In this workshop you will hear about the early beginnings of this initiative. The newsletter “Kontaktbrief” (contact letter), which is issued three times a year, will be introduced.

In a meditation period and ensuing time for sharing you are all invited to reflect about your individual aging or being elderly. In a final round we will think and discuss about the question how we can create a community with the elderly and sick members in our region, and what kind of support we might need to bring that about – possibly also by the networking initiative.

Afternoon programme: Visit of the exhibition in the oriels of the smac (State Museum of Archeology in Chemnitz)

The distinctive oriels of the museum building are used to display information about the architect Erich Mendelsohn, designer of this very particular building. In the early 1920s the architect was renowned globally as a pioneer of “new architecture”. The rise of the Schocken company group, which was to be the fourth biggest chain of department stores in Germany, originated in Zwickau in Saxony: one of the founders was Salman Schocken. You will experience an interesting and touching research of the German-Jewish past.

Offered by: Ingrid Bose

Be inspired https://www.smac.sachsen.de/erkerausstellungen.php

Workshop 10.4 - Networking initiative „Families: Living with children”

Outdoor is in front of our doorstep – exploring the local surroundings together with other families

Getting to know friendly people in the labyrinth – family meets family – arriving in Chemnitz using unusual ways – exploring the city – asking the Golden Vulture and the Sleeping Horse what they want to tell us about God and the world. Marvelling and enjoying the Festival of Hats – and in all of these things we can seek and find God – is this really true? Come and see for yourself. Hat festival - and God can be sought and found in everything - is that really true ...? Come and see for yourself.

Offered by: Katharina Leis

Be inspired https://www.hutfestival.de/

9:00am – Morning prayer and introduction to today’s motto: “Finding God in silence and in the streets of Chemnitz”

with suggestions for walks and places of prayer (St. Johannes Nepomuk parish hall)

Afternoon programmes

Offer 1: Invitation to a Photo Presentation: Travelling through the Baltic States

In June 2024, a group from the CLC in Germany and Austria went on a journey to the three Baltic States: Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Among the participants were Angelika and Michael Gutsche from the Würzburg CLC diocesan community.

In his photo presentation, Michael Gutsche shares impressions of warm hospitality, enriching encounters, and new insights into three countries with a unique history and rich cultural heritage.

Offer 2: Visit with guided tour of the Kaßberg prison learning and memorial centre

6:00pm – Holy Mass with extended daily examen (St. Johannes Nepomuk church), with elements guided by members of CLC

7:00pm onwards: Social evening - Dinner together (St John Nepomuk parish hall)

9:00am – Morning prayer (St. Johannes Nepomuk parish hall)

afterwards review of the meeting

10:00am - Holy Mass with the parish, with festive elements guided by members of CLC with music band (St Johannes Nepomuk church)