The good news: Apparently everything isn’t as bad as feared, and as announced by Senator for Culture Joe Chialo.
According to the corrected consolidation list, which was first reported by the RBB and which is also available to the Tagesspiegel, a number of drastic cuts are no longer required for Berlin’s cultural institutions. Or they are noticeably reduced. The new list should be launched by the government coalition on Friday evening, and it will be on the agenda for the second reading in the main committee next Wednesday. The “central tariff provision” is also secured again, so the houses do not have to compensate for the tariff increases themselves.
The bad news: This has less of an impact on the independent scene than on the big houses. Of course, it is to be welcomed if the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra does not have to make a savings contribution at all, and especially the children’s and youth theaters do not. The cuts were reversed at Grips and the Theater an der Parkaue, as well as at HAU and the Rundfunk Orchester und Chöre GmbH. At the concert hall close to the audience, the BE, the Schaubühne and the Deutsches Theater, they were reduced by between 400,000 and 1.4 million euros.
However, there can be no talk of a happy ending: it remains the end of the Berlin Mondiale or the Kulturraum Berlin gGmbH, which provides affordable work spaces for around 3,000 artists from all disciplines – even if it is said that commitments of funds are being examined. What is probably meant are the rental agreements, some of which are long-term. It is with relief that one reads that the diversity fund in Germany’s most diverse city will not be abolished, but will only shrink from 500,000 to 400,000 euros. But there is no change in the cuts for the Künstlerhaus Bethanien, for example, nor in the cuts for the Lautten Compagney, the traditional early music ensemble that is popular with audiences.
And what will happen to the Komische Oper, the deleted budget title 70105? Without the 10 million euros planned for 2025, the construction and renovation project will be stopped, with guaranteed significant additional costs. There is currently nothing noted on the correction list. Rumors are circulating in the city about new financing, as reported by the “BZ” a few days ago, possibly with the help of the sale of a state-owned property.
According to reports, the matter is still being investigated, and the main focus at the moment is to secure the “means of migration” so that the opera can continue to play in the Schiller Theater. Things are in flux, Chialo said in the culture committee two weeks ago. Apparently it is a river full of whirlpools and rapids. Until the budget is finally passed on December 19th, the affected institutions and cultural workers will probably hear a lot of changes from the press.
Nevertheless, the relief is great. So have all the protests, petitions and funeral marches been of any use? Nope. Apparently it is by no means the case that Joe Chialo was able to convince the householders with weighty arguments and dissuade them from the culture’s obligation to a greater market orientation. Rather, it has only now become clear which items can be saved without any need.
The biggest item: Budget title 89110, “Grants for the expansion of work spaces for artists” (not to be confused with the grants for the Kulturraum gGmbH) amounting to 21.35 million euros. Instead of two million euros, a total of 18 million euros will be cut, money that will now be used to remedy the situation elsewhere. The reason given is that these funds have not yet been used.
Who hasn’t seen or known about this despite months of developing the savings list? Joe Chialo, the Finance Senator, the party leaders? The situation is similar with the grants to the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which according to the original list should not be reduced. Now almost six million euros can suddenly be saved because Berlin’s payments are linked to those of the federal government – and the latter will no longer apply in 2025. Was this not known to anyone in the cultural administration two weeks ago?
The 130 million euros that culture must contribute to consolidating Berlin’s budget remains the same. The damage from the cuts may be less severe for now. But the damage caused by the chaotic hustle and bustle is there. Berlin’s cultural scene, which is the envy of the whole world, now knows that there is little to rely on the words and figures of the responsible senator. Politics is not a reliable partner for culture.