Karl-Marx-Stadt

Karl-Marx-Stadt: see Chemnitz, Germany.

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Chemnitz

 formerly (1953–90) Karl-Marx-Stadt

City (pop., 2002 est.: 255,800), eastern Germany. It lies along the Chemnitz River southeast of Leipzig. Chemnitz began as a trading place on a salt route to Prague and was chartered in 1143. Germany's first spinning mill was operating there in 1800, and the first German locomotive was built there. The city remains an industrial centre.

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Karl-Marx-Stadt 

an administrative district in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the country’s largest in population and the second most important in industry. Area, 6, 000 sq km. Population, 2, 047, 900 (1970; 82 percent urban) Administrative center, Karl-Marx-Stadt.

Karl-Marx-Stadt District is situated in the southern part of the GDR, covering the northern slopes of the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains, which reach an altitude of 1, 213 m at Mount Fichtel-berg) and the Vogtland Plateau (altitude, between 200 and 400 m). The climate is temperate. Annual precipitation ranges from 650 mm in the foothills to 1,000 mm or more in the mountains. Mixed forest covers the mountain slopes; land on the plateau is largely cultivated.

During the GDR’s period of socialist development the traditional textile industry, which accounts for more than half of the total national textile production, was supplemented by the growth of machine building and the production of transport machinery (16 percent of the national output). Industry, including construction and the crafts, employed 62.7 percent of the work force in 1970; agriculture accounted for only 6.6 percent. The basic products of the machine-building industry include textile machinery and metalworking machine tools (in the city of Karl-Marx-Stadt), equipment for light industry and food processing and automobiles (Zwickau, Karl-Marx-Stadt, Haini-chen, Werdau), motorcycles (Zschopau), bicycles (Karl-Marx-Stadt), and electrical-engineering and electronic equipment. Thecellulose and paper industry and wood working industries makeuse of the forests which cover 30 percent of the district’s area.Almost all of the coal mining in the GDR (1.5 to 2 million tonsannually) is concentrated in the Zwickau-Oelsnitz basin. Lead, zinc, tungsten, tin, nickel, and bismuth ores are mined in the OreMountains, nickel is processed at a plant in Sankt Egidien, andlead and zinc, in Freiberg. The most important cities and indus-trial centers of the district include Karl-Marx-Stadt, Zwickau, Plauen, and Freiberg, all located in the foothills. Notable amongthe crafts of the district is the production of musical instruments, centered at Klingenthal. The agriculture of the district is of theintensive type. Dairy farming is predominant. Rye, oats, potatoes and feeds are also important. There are health resorts(Bad Elster and Bad Brambach) and tourism in the Ore Moun-tains.

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Karl-Marx-Stadt 

(until 1953, Chemnitz), a city in the German Democratic Republic on the Chemnitz River, the administrative center of Karl-Marx-Stadt District. Population, 299, 300 (1970).

Karl-Marx-Stadt is an important railroad and highway junction. It also has an airport. The city first began to take shape in the 12th century on a trade route through the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains). Its economic growth was linked with the growth of the textile industry as early as the 14th century. This specialization in textiles later gave rise to the production of textile machinery for which the city became world famous. Other industry today includes machine-tool and automobile manufacturing and the production of motors, bicycles, electrical equipment for automobiles, electronic computers, electrical instruments, chemicals (dyes and other substances for use in the textile industry), clothing, sporting goods, and furniture. The major industrial districts of Karl-Marx-Stadt are located in the city’s south (Alt Chemnitz) and west (Zigmarschönau). Most of the textile enterprises are located in satellite cities, such as Limbach-Oberfrohna, Burgstädt, Grüna, Hartmannsdorf, and Hohenstein-Ernstthal, much of their production then being sent to Karl-Marx-Stadt for finishing. A machine-building institute and a higher technical school are also located in the city.

Buildings of historical interest, some original and some re-stored since World War II, include the Red Tower (12th cen-tury), Jakobikirche (14th-15th century), Liebfrauenkirche (15thcentury), Schlosskirche (15th-16th century), the Late GothicRathaus (end of the 15th century; rebuilt in 1911), baroquehomes of the 18th century, and the former Schocken departmentstore (1929–30; architect, E. Mendelssohn). In recent years abroad program of industrial, residential, and social constructionhas been carried on. A design for the construction of a citycenter, drafted by the architect L. Hahn, is being implemented.On the central square a monument to Karl Marx of bronze andgranite, designed by the Soviet sculptor L. E. Kerbel’, was un-veiled in 1971.