Exhibition on urban development in Brandenburg: “We are fighting for this house, for this square, for our city center”

“When we look back today at 35 years of urban development funding in Brandenburg, we are not telling a story about what was bad in the past and good today,” said Crumbach. “We tell a story of change – and of how much courage, persistence and passion it takes for a region to change its face without losing its soul.” There is a story behind every renovated facade. Behind every place that invites you to linger today, there are debates, sometimes arguments, often compromises – “and in the end the common will to make a place better.”

Because money alone does not explain why endangered streets became lively neighborhoods again. “It took people who said: We’re not giving up on our neighborhood, we’re fighting for this house, for this square, for our city center.” Attitude and pride, says Crumbach, are not concepts “that we can leave to the loudest people on the edge of the political spectrum.” Being proud of your own country, your own city or what you have achieved together is nothing dangerous. “It only becomes dangerous when this pride is used to make others small.”

Schüle emphasized that monument protection is not an official task. Rather, it is a “declaration of love for our homeland.” The preservation of Brandenburg’s inner cities would never have been possible without support associations and initiatives that fought for every house. The Potsdam building councilor Berndt Rubelt also emphasized how important urban development funding is for cities and municipalities. In view of the increasingly complex tasks, municipalities are now more or less dependent on these resources.

Of the 75.9 million euros that went to municipalities in urban development funding for a wide variety of projects in 2025, the state capital received 2.42 million euros. Almost three million euros went to Prignitz, including Perleberg and Pritzwalk. Municipalities in the Uckermark received more than 2.8 million euros.