Berlin’s opera houses and concert halls, orchestras and choirs as well as the Staatsballett call on Berlin politicians not to implement the planned budget cutbacks in the cultural sector. The latter currently 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.
It cannot be in the interests of those politically responsible to reduce the quality of life in the metropolis of Berlin by making significant cuts in the cultural sector.
Culture is also 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.
Joana Mallwitz, chief conductor and artistic director of the Konzerthausorchester: “We should all realise by now that we need to strengthen the core of our society and its cohesion, and that we need to give our cultural identity a positive image. So our aim must be to make it even easier to have access to music and culture. The damage that would be caused by cuts to the cultural budget would be immense and would not only severely affect us as a cultural organisation, but also jeopardise the cohesion of our society as a whole.”
Kirill Petrenko, chief conductor and artistic director of the Berliner Philharmoniker: “If we want to maintain Berlin’s extremely important cultural diversity and continue to attract the best in their field from all disciplines, we must not tamper with the financial foundations of our institutiuons, let alone call their very existence into question.”
Christian Thielemann, general music director of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden: “Berlin’s classical music scene is unrivalled, and has a worldwide reputation. In addition to concerts in the city, we all contribute to making Berlin synonymous with cultural excellence through our tours and media broadcasts. Do the politicians really want to allow such a devastating message to be sent out from Berlin to the rest of the country?”
Joint statement by the artistic directors and general managers: “Culture is the heart of Berlin – it attracts people from all over the world, is an important economic factor, creates jobs and makes our city worth living in. Our city’s cultural institutions are not only places of art with international appeal, but are also urgently needed to maintain Berlin’s reputation as a location for business. One thing is clear: cuts in the cultural sector would massively damage the city of Berlin in the long term.”
Philip Bröking, artistic director and opera director, Komische Oper Berlin
Susanne Moser, artistic director and managing director, Komische Oper Berlin
Sebastian Nordmann, director of the Konzerthaus Berlin
Anselm Rose, managing director of ROC Berlin – Rundfunk Orchester und Chöre GmbH
Dietmar Schwarz, general manager, Deutsche Oper Berlin
Elisabeth Sobotka, artistic director, Staatsoper Unter den Linden
Christian Spuck, artistic director, Staatsballett Berlin
Georg Vierthaler, general director, Stiftung Oper in Berlin
Andrea Zietzschmann, general manager, Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation
In a petition, the Deutsche Bühnenverein is calling for Berlin's culture to be protected in the budget crisis. Sign now!