Germany, one billion euros to culture for energy crisis

In Germany, Culture Minister Claudia Roth has earmarked a major sum, one billion euros, to be allocated to cultural institutions as part of the Economic Stabilization Fund, or the big 200-billion maneuver announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz in late September and aimed at helping citizens and businesses cope with rising energy costs.

The decision was made on Nov. 2 and announced the following day. November 2, said Minister Roth, “was a good day for culture in Germany.” The decision to allocate one billion of the plan to culture was due to the fact that “cultural institutions play a special role in our society, from their obligation to preserve cultural assets to their status as places of social interaction,” and that, despite the fall in electricity and gas prices in recent weeks, there are still financial burdens that cannot be absorbed by everyone. “We have agreed with all parties involved that the Economic Stabilization Fund will provide 1 billion euros for cultural institutions, and I am very grateful to Ministers Lindner and Habeck [finance and economy ministers, respectively, ed.], but also to the prime ministers of the federal states, that we can go down this road together.”

The next step, Roth went on to say, will be to work out the recipients of aid and to define the administrative procedures. The minister’s main concern is the preservation of the cultural offerings of cinemas, theaters, concerts and museums, especially of those who do not have the resources to cope with the crisis. However, federal institutes are also asked that it is necessary to achieve 20 percent energy savings. This will be important to make the aid effective.

Image: a room in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin

Germany, one billion euros to culture for energy crisis

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