Whenever you are in old buildings, do you ever find yourself wondering what might have happened within those walls?

This thought also crosses our minds from time to time, especially when we walk through the halls of the ‘Alte Aktienspinnerei’. For the past five and a half years, the building located at Straße der Nationen 33 has housed the University Library, and although we can already recount many amusing and curious stories from this period, these are merely a fraction of the events that the building’s walls have witnessed as silent observers.

The Aktienspinnerei was established between 1857 and 1859 following the formation of a joint-stock company; it was the largest spinning mill in Saxony at the time, with around 60,000 spindles. However, operations were gradually relocated to Altchemnitz from 1897 onwards, and the area and its buildings were sold to the city of Chemnitz. Between its use as a spinning mill and as a library, the building served many other purposes, for example as a home for the puppet theatre, the vehicle repair shop of the VEB Kraftverkehr Karl-Marx-Stadt, the public library, or the Wismut department store ‘Glück Auf’. Sadly, the walls themselves cannot tell us their experiences, but fortunately there are eyewitnesses who can offer us fascinating insights into times gone by.

In order to bring the stories surrounding the ‘Alte Aktienspinnerei’ to light and preserve them for future generations, the project ‘Fäden der Erinnerung’ (engl. ‘Threads of Memory’) was launched in 2025 under the leadership of the University Library, in cooperation with the Kulturhauptstadt Europas Chemnitz gGmbH and the Chemnitzer Filmwerkstatt. As part of the project, Heidi Hupfer conducted interviews with people who have a very personal connection to the building. Thanks to the diverse range of impressions, various chapters of the building’s history were brought to light: from performances in the puppet theatre, anecdotes from the vehicle inspection hall, reports of unwanted residents in the city library’s card catalogues, adventurous experiences in the daily life of the Wismut department store, right through to historical finds during the conversion into the University Library with its attached University Archive. Thanks to the team at Chemnitzer Filmwerkstatt, these thrilling stories have been turned into a total of eleven videos so far, which you can watch either via our website or directly on our YouTube channel.

Anyone who has taken a closer look around the University Library over the past few weeks may have spotted some small wooden models of the building on the bookshelves. The models were created by Dipl.-Ing. Karsten Gerlach from the Chair of Assembly and Handling Technology, and each one represents the memories of a person who was interviewed. Each little house has been placed in the building at the spot, where the corresponding facility was located at the time. A QR code is printed on the top of each model, which takes you directly to the matching interview on our website.

We would also like to once again thank everyone involved for their valuable contribution, both in front and behind the camera.

On 30 March 2026, the project team presented the results produced to date in the IdeenReich at the University Library. The event began with a montage of the videos created, giving the audience a little sneak peek of the stories captured on film. Afterwards, there was opportunity to share personal experiences related to the ‘Alte Aktienspinnerei’ in an open discussion. It was truly delightful to hear how many other memories had been mentioned.

One lady recalled a visit with her son to the puppet theatre, where she was captivated by the puppets and the art of puppetry. Apparently, she wasn’t the only adult in the room to feel that way, as the parents seemed to have been more enthusiastic about the performance than the children. But the puppet theatre doesn’t evoke such happy memories for everyone, as during the GDR era it war the gathering point for all men called up for military service before they were marched off to the Reichsbahn at the train station.

The audience also featured librarians from the City Library, who recounted some extraordinary experiences. Among other things, they spoke of the beginning of the digital age, which did not start as planned with working computers, but with a blackout throughout the entire building. When everything was converted for use with technical equipment in the early 1990s, computers were also installed, both for staff and for users. Once all the necessary work had been completed, this milestone was to be celebrated in style. The staff prepared coffee and cakes for all visitors, but when the library opened at 10 am, the whole building was initially pitch black. What nobody had anticipated was that the building’s electrical system was overwhelmed by the sudden surge in demand caused by the computers being switched on and the power consumption of all the coffee machines. Fortunately, the visitors took it all with ease, and so this transition to the digital age remains a vivid memory to this day.

It seemed that other technical devices in the building were not on the staff’s side either, as, for example, the elevator broke down several times. On one occasion, a librarian got stuck in the elevator with a gentleman, who took the situation in good humour. He asked if she had seen the film ‘Abwärts’ (engl. ‘Downwards’), in which the elevator cables slowly snap and the elevator crashes to the ground. After this joking remark, every creak seemed even more alarming to her, and she was truly relieved when she was finally able to leave the elevator after two hours.

The Chemnitzer Volksbühne also joins the list of institutions that were temporarily based in the ‘Alte Aktienspinnerei’. The building housed not only the administrative offices but also several auditoriums capable of seating up to 600 guests. The Städtische Theater Chemnitz used the building as a provisional location for their theatre workspaces. It was the place where the large stage sets were constructed, which could only be transported in an open wagon in fine weather to the opera house, as otherwise the paint would have been washed off.

In the last comment, someone told the story of a lady who, during the Christmas season, managed to secure a set of Christmas tree baubles at the Wismut department store for just 1.60 marks. She was absolutely delighted with her valuable find and carried the box of baubles very carefully all the way home, so that the fragile contents wouldn’t get broken. As the roads were very slippery that day, she kept reminding herself not to slip or fall. But sometimes, when you’re trying so hard to avoid something, it happens anyway, and so she fell onto the pavement. The lady broke a bone in the fall, but it wasn’t a big deal for her because the baubles had survived the accident unscathed. Even today, they still decorate her Christmas tree every year.

It is genuinely fascinating to think of everything the walls of the ‘Alte Aktienspinnerei’ have witnessed – from grand premieres, to small joys and everyday challenges. The project weaves together the individual threads of memory into a comprehensive picture of the building’s history, composed of many different shades and patterns.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? If the camera is a concern, there is no need to worry – your memories are just as meaningful in other formats. If you’d like to tell us your story or have any questions about the project, please feel free to contact our project team at the following email address: spinnerei@bibliothek.tu-chemnitz.de

Although the exam period of the winter semester was likely as packed as ever with written exams, assignments and oral exams, it marked a special premiere for us. In response to repeated requests from our users, we trialled the 24/7 opening of our library from 5 to 13 February 2026, meaning the building was open continuously to members of Chemnitz University of Technology during this period.

Anyone who followed our Instagram channel closely in January was able to take part in our story poll regarding the upcoming 24/7 opening. On average, 38 people shared their views on each question, and although the results weren’t representative, they did give us a brief insight into the general mood. We were delighted to read that you appreciate us as a place to study and that you are able to prepare well for your exams here. When it came to questions about preferred study times, two distinct preferences emerged: studying during the day versus studying at night.

Sixty-two percent of participants cited the morning and afternoon as their preferred time for studying. When asked, “Are you ready for 24/7 opening hours?”, 44 percent of participants stated that they intend to continue studying at the library during the day. In contrast, 38 percent of participants prefer to study at night. For this group, the 24/7 opening hours were apparently of particular interest, as 56 percent of participants were looking forward to it and half of them even planned to visit the library only at night from now on. When asked whether there is currently enough time to study in the library, 64 percent of participants replied that it is not the case for them. As no reasons were given, only assumptions can be made as to the causes. One possible factor could be the library’s opening hours, which have been extended to midnight once again during the exam period. However, from 5 February 2026, everyone should at least have had nine days of sufficient time to prepare for their exams in the library.

The 24/7 opening kick-off was marked by the ‘Long Night of Procrastinated Assignments’, which was attended by around 800 people between 4 pm and midnight. Many students stayed in the building afterwards to spend the following hours ‘at night in the library’. Although we didn’t have any talking exhibition pieces, you still made good use of the time, for example playing games in the common area or for study sessions in your sleeping bags.

However, statistics from our security service indicate that the initial enthusiasm for the extended opening hours quickly waned. Over the following days, there were only around 30 people in the building from 12.30 am onwards, and by 4 am there were only five to ten people left. What has been proven is that the extended opening hours until midnight pay off during the exam period, as an average of 90 people were studying in the library between 10 pm and midnight; the highest attendance was 128 and 118 people.

Overall, only a limited number of users visited the library during the night, meaning that visitor numbers fell short of expectations. The costs associated with security staff and electricity were therefore not justified. For this reason, we do not consider 24/7 opening to be feasible; by contrast, the extended opening hours until midnight have consistently proven to be in high demand.

Although (unfortunately) the saying ‘After the exam period is before the exam period’ applies to most of you, do enjoy the last few days before the start of the summer semester and get some good rest!

Anyone who followed our Instagram channel closely during the last exam period or was a regular visitor to the university library will certainly have seen our survey on learning habits during exam stress. We don’t want to keep the results from you, so we have summarised the votes and opinions we received in this blog post. The specific answers can be viewed in the image gallery at the end of the post.

During the examination period of the 2025 summer semester, we asked students between 21 July and 17 August 2025 about their impressions and habits during this stressful time full of exams and assignments in order to get a small snapshot of the mood and encourage some discussion. A total of eight questions were formulated for this purpose, with a new question being published every Tuesday and Thursday. On Tuesdays, the question could be answered in an Instagram story; on Thursdays, a flipchart was set up in the foyer of the university library for answers to be written down, parallel to the online survey. The questions were:

• Do you procrastinate during exam time?
• Do you learn with or without music?
• Study group or lone fighter?
• What helps you relax during exam stress?
• Do you learn digitally or analogue?
• Morning grouch or sunshine?
• Which learning place is best for you?
• Do you break principles during exam time? If so, which ones?

The flipchart was used extensively throughout – for open questions, the space was almost always completely filled with answers, and for decision-making questions, an average of 345 people cast their votes. On Instagram, the response rate was heavily dependent on the wording of the question, as only three answers were received on average for open questions. Unfortunately, due to our statistical settings, we were unable to determine the exact number of votes cast on decision-making questions afterwards.

Evaluation of the results

The question ‘Morning grouch or sunshine?’ yielded a clear result: approximately two-thirds (64.5%) of participants considered themselves morning grouches, i.e. they work most productively in the afternoon or evening. In comparison, only 35.5% of participants said they were ‘sunshine’ types who use the morning to study. This distribution corresponds with our observations that there was only a moderate crowd of people in the library in the morning, while in the afternoon (almost) all workstations were occupied.

We had the impression that most of the participants were preparing for exams on their own. This assessment is confirmed by the finding that 80% of participants study alone. They probably mainly used our reading room (16%) and the open stack area (54%), which are well suited for independent work due to their quiet working atmosphere. In contrast, 20% of participants stated that they prepared for exams in study groups. If they used the library as a meeting place, they probably chose the common area (22%), whose informal atmosphere and space for exchange offer perfect conditions for this type of work. However, 8% of participants also rated our reading garden as a suitable place to study, which was ideal in the warm summer weather – and for an active break, our table tennis table was ready and waiting.

A narrow majority (52%) of participants prefer digital learning, while 48% favour analogue learning materials. A similarly close result was obtained when asked whether they learn with or without music: 52% of participants learn in silence, while 40.5% work with music in the background. For 15% of participants who used the flipchart for this question, their preference depends on the situation – this is how we interpreted the sticky dots on the dividing line between the two given answer options.

However, music is also good for relaxing or relieving frustration – depending on the genre you listen to. Music was mentioned several times as a remedy for exam stress, alongside other creative activities such as painting, drawing and knitting. Some distracted themselves with games or entertainment shows such as Little Britain and Mr Bean, while others spent time with family and friends. Other participants became active to clear their heads, for example through sport, walks, dancing or shopping. Classic remedies were also mentioned, such as eating, soft drinks, any form of caffeine and good old procrastination – who isn’t familiar with that? During exam periods, even tidying up, doing laundry and taking glass to the glass collection container can be fun – or you can scroll through social media until you realise with a shock how quickly time has passed. When stress becomes too much, some participants find it helpful to give free rein to their feelings by crying or losing their temper. Sometimes, sarcasm seems to be one of the only things that helps, as illustrated by the response ‘de-registration’. In addition to the remedies already mentioned, breaks were very important for many participants, as expressed in the following answers: breaks, planning time for oneself, slow mornings, power naps, switching off and getting enough sleep.

But it seems that the very things that help against exam stress are often neglected. This is confirmed by the results of the question “Do you break principles during exam time? If so, which ones?‘: Although breaks were considered very important, they are sometimes overlooked during exam stress, with leisure time and sleep also having to subordinate to the workload. Health also comes second, as evidenced by skipping workout sessions or unhealthy eating habits. Some participants also resort to a calming cigarette when stressed.

Perhaps you recognise yourself in some of the answers and have picked up some new ideas for dealing with exam stress. We hope you got through the exam period well and were able to recharge during the semester break. We wish you all the best for the new semester and remember that many other students feel the same way during stressful times. 🙂

Last but not least: Many thanks to all participants who took the time to answer the questions!

Picture gallery: Distribution of votes and answers