Museum · City Center

smac – State Museum of Archaeology

The smac, the State Museum of Archaeology Chemnitz, is a first-rate sight for its building alone, as it is housed in the former Schocken department store. This store was designed in the late 1920s by the important architect Erich Mendelsohn and opened in 1930. With its curved façade, horizontal ribbon windows and functional elegance, the building is regarded as an icon of the New Building movement and was converted into a museum after an elaborate restoration.

Since opening in 2014, the smac has shown its permanent exhibition on the archaeology and cultural history of Saxony across several levels, spanning 300,000 years, from the first hunters and gatherers to the age of industrialization. Modern staging, large models of Saxony and impressive finds bring the region's earth history and settlement to life in a vivid way. A separate section is also devoted to the history of the department store, the architect Mendelsohn and the entrepreneur Salman Schocken.

With its location on Brückenstraße, right next to the Karl Marx Monument, the smac is part of the cultural heart of downtown and was one of the central exhibition addresses in the 2025 Capital of Culture year. The interplay of groundbreaking modernist architecture and a broadly conceived exhibition makes a visit especially rewarding and appeals equally to families and history enthusiasts.

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