The Berlin Senate has announced budget cuts of 3 billion euros for 2025 and 2 billion euros for 2026. The cultural scene faces cuts of 10 % for 2025, as well as for 2026 and 2027. This would have dramatic consequences for Berlin and its richly diverse cultural landscape. We have joined forces with other Berlin cultural professionals to publicly protest against this.
Please support our cause by signing and sharing this petition from the Deutsche Bühnenverein.
Open letter & petition
The Deutsche Bühnenverein Landesverband Berlin has addressed the Senate with an open letter and a petition: “As an association of opera and concert halls, spoken theater, revue and cabaret in Berlin, we call on the Senate to focus on the social and economic importance of culture in the upcoming discussions on consolidating the overall state budget.”
Berlin’s opera houses and concert halls, orchestras and choirs as well as the Staatsballett also called on Berlin politicians not to implement the planned budget cutbacks in the cultural sector in a joint statement.
The key points:
- The cultural sector accounts for 2.1% of Berlin’s total budget – a small investment that generates maximum reputational benefits for the city of Berlin. Cutbacks in culture – the city’s most important unique selling point – will drastically diminish Berlin’s image.
- Culture is an important economic factor, not only through employment creation in the creative industries but also as an attractive aspect of tourism: studies have shown that more than half of Berlin’s visitors come to the city because of its cultural and artistic attractions. Cutbacks in culture would cause a severe negative impact in these areas, and would result in a massive loss of revenue for the entire city of Berlin.
- Cuts would also threaten the livelihoods of many independent artists, groups and theatres that have helped to shape the cultural life of this city in a way that is unique in the world, and without whose participation major productions in concert halls and opera houses could not be realised.
- The cultural professionals in this city stand together in solidarity to call for a decisive end to plans for cuts in the cultural sector as a whole, and have no desire to be forced into competition with each other over the distribution of funding.
Joint Statement on the 100% elimination of the Youth Culture Initiative, 3 December 2024
Joint Statement: 100% Elimination of the Youth Culture Initiative Endangers the Expansion of Equitable Cultural Participation for Young People Across Berlin.
The topic of “Cultural Participation”– that is, the involvement of all Berliners at all levels of publicly funded cultural offerings – is at the top of the cultural policy agenda of the new Senate. “Cultural education is a key to its implementation.” This was stated in a press release from the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion dated September 21, 2023.
Cultural Senator Joe Chialo is quoted in the release:
“I am very pleased that we were able to include funding for the pilot phase of a ‘Youth Culture Initiative’ in the Senate’s draft double budget for 2024/25. This initiative focuses on the participation of young people in socially disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Cultural education – especially with regard to young people – is not only of great importance for individual personal development. It also forms the foundation for the future sustainability of Berlin’s exceptionally dense and diverse cultural landscape.”(www.berlin.de/sen/kultgz/aktuelles/pressemitteilungen/2023/pressemitteilung.1368085.php).
Young people have a right to cultural education that helps them realize their potential and actively shape their world – regardless of social background, cultural affiliation, or gender. Cultural education is not a luxury, but a foundation that empowers young people to act confidently and engage with society. It creates spaces where they can express their creativity, strengthen social relationships, and become active participants in a democratic society.
The Berlin Senate’s planned 100% cuts to the pilot phase of the Youth Culture Initiative funding program and the project funds of Berlin Mondiale – the organization implementing its accompanying program – threaten these essential opportunities. (Mondiale is also a partner of the Xberg & Du festival initiated by the Berliner Philharmoniker, editor’s note). This decision disproportionately impacts children and adolescents, who already face barriers to accessing cultural programs. Ending the Youth Culture Initiative during its pilot phase will abruptly halt cultural education efforts already underway in districts such as South Neukölln, Spandau, Marzahn-Hellersdorf, Kreuzberg, and Reinickendorf. These decisions weaken not only individual projects but also deprive young people, particularly those living outside Berlin’s S-Bahn ring, of the chance to experience self-efficacy and develop democratic competencies.
Prematurely terminating the Youth Culture Initiative and Berlin Mondiale will not result in long-term savings. By 2024, nearly €1 million had already been invested in the initiative to develop structurally sustainable, decentralized cultural offerings. Partnerships in structurally underserved neighbourhoods were established, staff were hired, district offices were involved, and most importantly, trust and relationships with young people were built. Within one year, the Youth Culture Initiative laid the groundwork for sustainable collaboration between cultural institutions and local stakeholders. Cutting funding now would destroy these achievements and leave behind disappointed, and potentially disconnected, young people. From a purely economic perspective, this approach is also counterproductive – it will cost significantly more in the long run.
Instead of cutting culture and youth programs, we need more investment in cultural education. Pilot programs like the Youth Culture Initiative represent important milestones in the citywide expansion of decentralized cultural work.
We call on the Berlin Senate to take this responsibility seriously and ensure that cultural education remains accessible to everyone – as a foundation for a creative, solidarity-based, and democratic society.
Signatories:
Sasha Waltz & Guests
Schwules Museum
Literaturhaus Berlin
Heimathafen Neukölln
Theater an der Parkaue
Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung
Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz
Berliner Philharmoniker
Konzerthaus Berlin
Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz
Berlin Mondiale
Statement by Clive Gillinson, Executive and Artistic Director of New York’s Carnegie Hall
“Culture lies at the heart of Berlin”
Demonstration at the Brandenburg Gate on 13 November
Together with many other cultural institutions in Berlin, we demonstrated in front of the Brandenburg Gate against the threat of massive cuts in the cultural sector.
Day of action on 16 October 2024
On 16 October, artists, cultural institutions and organizations from Berlin will be holding various campaigns to draw attention to the impending cuts and the associated consequences.