page_title: Chemnitz
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Chemnitz / History
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Historische Ansicht von Chemnitz in Sachsen. Stahlstich.
context_page_description: Chemnitz is the third largest city in the German federal state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany after Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden. The city is part of the Central German Metropolitan Region, and lies in the middle of a string of cities sitting in the densely populated northern foreland of the Elster and Ore Mountains, stretching from Plauen in the southwest via Zwickau, Chemnitz and Freiberg to Dresden in the northeast.
  Located in the Ore Mountain Basin, the city is surrounded by the Ore Mountains to the south and the Central Saxon Hill Country to the north. The city stands on the Chemnitz River, which is formed through the confluence of the rivers Zwönitz and Würschnitz in the borough of Altchemnitz.
  The name of the city as well as the names of the rivers are of Slavic origin. Chemnitz is the third largest in the Thuringian-Upper Saxon dialect area after Leipzig and Dresden. The city's economy is based on the service sector and manufacturing industry. Chemnitz University of Technology has around 10,000 students.
context_section_description: An early Slavic tribe's settlement was located at Kamienica, and the first documented use of the name Chemnitz was the 1143 site of a Benedictine monastery around which a settlement grew. Circa 1170 Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor granted it the rights of an Imperial city. In 1307, the town became subordinate to the Margraviate of Meissen, the predecessor of the Saxon state. In medieval times, Chemnitz became a centre of textile production and trade. More than one third of the population worked in textile production.
  By the early 19th century, Chemnitz had become an industrial centre (sometimes called "the Saxon Manchester", German: Sächsisches Manchester, [ˈzɛksɪʃəs ˈmɛnt͡ʃɛstɐ] (listen)). 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.
caption: Chemnitz in 1850
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