Antique map - Chemnitz 1874

Plan of Chemnitz in 1874: the rapidly expanding "Saxon Manchester", its machine factories, its former monastery and planned new districts.

This plan shows Chemnitz in 1874. At that time, the city was in the Kingdom of Saxony (Königreich Sachsen), a member of the German Empire since 1871. Today, it belongs to the Free State of Saxony (Freistaat Sachsen). Its French name is the same as its German name: it comes from the Chemnitz River, whose name dates back to the Sorbian word "Kamenica", the stony brook. From 1953 to 1990, under the GDR, the city bore the name of Karl-Marx-Stadt, and it was the European capital of culture in 2025.

The year of this map is also the year in which Chemnitz becomes an "exempt city" (exemte Stadt), the equivalent of a district city. It had more than 68,000 inhabitants in 1871, the year when 8,000 metalworkers held the first major strike of the Empire, and more than 103,000 in 1883, the date on which it became a major city. Its industry earned it two nicknames, one flattering, the "Saxon Manchester", already used in 1859, the other less pleasant, "Ruß-Chamtz", "Sooty Chemnitz".

Places and districts shown:

• The machine factories - the map index numbers about fifty public buildings and factories, including the Sächsische Maschinenfabrik. It was born from the enterprise of Richard Hartmann, founded in 1837 and installed in 1844 in Schloßchemnitz; it became the Sächsische Maschinenfabrik AG in 1870, and manufactured locomotives, machine tools, steam engines and machines for spinning mills. The map also names other machine factories and spinning mills.
• Schloßchemnitz and the Schloßteich - to the north, the municipality of Schloßchemnitz, which was not attached to the city until 1880, surrounds the former Benedictine monastery of Sainte-Marie, founded around 1136 by Emperor Lothar III, and the Schloßteich, a pond dug in 1493 by Abbot Heinrich von Schleinitz for fish farming. An island was inaugurated there in 1870 by the city's beautification society. The map also indicates the Schloß Chemnitz brewery by shares.
• The old town center - the old town forms a tight ring of streets. It obtained market rights in 1143, lost its status as an Imperial city in 1308 in favor of the Wettins, and received in 1357 a bleaching privilege: four burghers could set up a bleaching factory there for the entire Margraviate of Meissen. This privilege made the local textile industry wealthy.
• The planned new districts - a note on the map specifies that the built-up area is hatched, while the planned area is not. The plan thus shows to the west a star-shaped district planned around the Kaßberg, assigned to the "Chemnitzer Bau-Gesellschaft". The population doubled from 1850 to 1870, and it will double again from 1871 to 1900.
• The station and the railways - the station, its goods station (Güterbahnhof) and its workshops are to the east of the city. The Riesa to Chemnitz line opened in 1852, and the map indicates the directions of Dresden, Annaberg and Frankenberg.
• The surroundings - to the right, an insert ("Umgebung von Chemnitz") shows the villages and communication routes around the city. The Zeisigwald and the villages of Bernsdorf, Altendorf, Kappel and Furth appear at the city limits.

Cartographic reference: this "Plan der Stadt Chemnitz" was lithographed and printed in Chemnitz. It is gridded from 1 to 10 and from a to h, and two columns printed on each side list the streets and squares, then the numbered public buildings and factories. The map is thus as economical as it is topographical: the factories are shown alongside churches and schools.

In short: for anyone who has ties to Chemnitz or Saxony, is interested in the industrial history of Germany or in the plans of rapidly expanding cities, this map shows the "Saxon Manchester" a few years before it became a major city, with its planned streets still without houses.

What area does this map of Chemnitz cover? It covers Chemnitz and its surroundings: the old town center, Schloßchemnitz and its pond, the station, the planned new districts, as well as neighboring villages such as Altendorf, Bernsdorf and Furth.

In what year was this map published? This map dates from 1874, the year in which Chemnitz became an exempt city.

Reproduction of the "Plan der Stadt Chemnitz", dated 1874, lithographed and printed in Chemnitz.

Printed on 200 g/m² textured art paper. Landscape orientation, standard formats 50x70cm and 70x100cm: easy to frame.