Pure excitement: Chemnitz crime thriller competition with top jury on April 7th!

Pure excitement: Chemnitz crime thriller competition with top jury on April 7th!

The Capital of Culture short crime thriller competition “Tatort? Chemnitz!” is taking shape and promises exciting insights into the crime stories that will take place in the city in 2025. The first reading for this competition will take place onApril 7, 2025, to5 p.m, in the university library of Chemnitz University of Technology,Road of Nations 33, instead of. Admission to this event is free and no pre-registration is required.

In total there are about120 authorsfrom Germany and Austria took part in the competition. The jury that selects the best entries consists of experts such as Jana Kindt from the Chemnitz Police Department, Prof. Dr. Frank Asbrock from Chemnitz University of Technology as well as Uwe Hastreiter and Prof. Dr. Bernadette Malinowski together. The latter is a professor of modern German and comparative literature and thus brings valuable perspectives into the evaluation of the crime novels submitted. Other jury members are Gabi Thieme and Mandy Kürschner.

The crime stories and their settings

The stories created as part of the competition take place in various striking locations in Chemnitz. Popular crime scenes include:Marx head, theCastle pondand theBotanical Garden. The theme of the competition, "Crime Scene? Chemnitz!", refers to the diverse possibilities that the city offers for exciting chases, thefts or even murders.

An outstanding work will be the crime novel “TUCTod – or: An electron beam is a sensitive thing” by Prof. Dr. Martin Franz-Xaver Wagner, who plays at the University of Chemnitz. This and other stories will be published as part of a volume entitled “Who stole the Nischel?” is. Another book is entitled “The Secret of the Luxor Palace” and comes from the author Diana Drechsel.

Special events surrounding the competition

The Chemnitz publisher Jens Korch, a graduate of Chemnitz University of Technology, played a key role in organizing the competition. Korch noted that attendance significantly exceeded initial expectations of 10-20 and acknowledged the potential of talented writers in the region. The authors receive a small compensation for publishing their stories.

The crime novels will be presented to a broad audience for the first time as part of the Leipzig Book Fair, which will take place at the end of March 2025. The book launch event is forMarch 30, 2025, to11 a.m, scheduled in Hall 2 in the Literature Forum. This sets a milestone for the capital of culture, Chemnitz, and sustainably strengthens the city's literary scene.

With the creative focus on Chemnitz and the crime stories anchored there, the competition not only offers local authors a stage, but also promotes interest in the city as a cultural location. The competition will remain in the memory of the participants and listeners and go down in Chemnitz's history as a cultural capital.