History up close: Freiberg press house opens doors for 400 visitors!

History up close: Freiberg press house opens doors for 400 visitors!

On September 14, 2025, the Freiberg Press House opened its doors for Open Monument Day. Hundreds of visitors had the opportunity to experience first hand the impressive architectural history of the press house, which is part of the world heritage. This special event not only brought the history of the building to life, but also offered exciting insights into the creation of local newspapers such as the “Freie Presse” and the “Blick”. Over 400 interested people flocked to Freiberg's Obermarkt on Sunday to find out about the facets of journalism and media history, such as freipresse.de reported.

The open monument day is a Germany event that also brought many historical buildings to life in Freiberg. This year the motto "Truthable. Monument owners, clubs and institutions opened their gates and invited the public to tours, visits and discussions. Even if the construction site tours by the train station were postponed to September 28th, the information and the possibility of exploring the monuments remained. Visitors were able to find out more about the historical and social status of buildings and technical achievements in the Freiberg Bergbaurevier, as https://www.freiberg.de/leben-und-freife-freizeit/veranstaltungen/details/tag-des-offen-denklale) describes).

The legacy of monuments

Monuments are not only silent witnesses in our history, they are also part of lively discussions about social values. Since the protests after the murder of George Floyd, monuments have come into focus. Monument scholars are required to deal with the questions of the value and meaning of cultural heritage. As explained [bpb.de, monuments are “visible”, which are assessed in the context of racism and discrimination. The critical discussion about monuments has received a new dynamic in which historical figures and their complex role in society should be recognized.

The fact that monument preservation not only contains the preservation, but also reflection on monuments is particularly evident today. The social negotiation process for the value of monuments is often an exciting and sometimes conflicting -loading undertaking. Historical monuments are to be contextualized and considered in an open dialogue in order to contribute to a positive social change.

The Open Monument Day in Freiberg was a step in this direction by raising awareness of the importance of historical buildings and promoting dialogue between visitors and monument owners. This shows once again how important it is not only to preserve our history, but also to actively discuss it and reinterpret it.