The promotion of artistic production and reception is achieved on the one hand by funding the cultural institutions and on the other hand by creating art-friendly conditions. This also includes the provision of basic and advanced artistic training, primarily through 52 music, theatre and art colleges and four federal academies.
The Federal Government’s cultural funding focuses on the following areas of responsibility: national, establishing a regulatory framework for the development of art and culture, funding cultural institutions of national interest (e.g. the National Library, the Federal Archives, the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany) and projects, preserving and protecting cultural heritage, cultural foreign policy (e.g. Deutsche Welle), fostering historical awareness and promoting Berlin as a capital city (Capital City Funding Agreement).
Other central funding instruments of the federal, state and local governments include specific programmes – in accordance with their responsibilities. Examples of programmes at federal level are:
Examples of programmes at the federal level are:
- Nationally valuable cultural monuments (since 1950, by 2020 over cultural monuments could be preserved and restored with a total volume of approx. 387 million euros),
- Investments for national cultural institutions in Germany (since 2004, until 2019 focus on Eastern Germany, from 2004 to 2019: approx. 87 million euros, since 2020 the programme has been extended to the whole of Germany),
- Initiative Musik (since 2007),
- National Prevention Programme against Islamist Extremism (since 2017 – 400m euros until 2020),
- Excellent Orchestra Landscape Germany (since 2017, continued 2021 to 2024),
- Preservation of the written cultural heritage (since 2017),
- Youth Remembers (since 2019, 2 funding lines: targeted examination of the Nazi era + sustainable reappraisal of the SED dictatorship).
At the federal level, support for artists is primarily provided through the cultural funds – the Art Fund, the German Literature Fund, the Socioculture Fund and the Performing Arts Fund as well as support projects of the German Music Council. This support includes, for example, nationally significant exhibitions of contemporary art, competitions, scholarships, prizes and other appropriate forms.
A central actor in the promotion of culture by the federal government is the Federal Cultural Foundation. Its task is to promote programmes and projects in an international context. In addition to general project funding, which is not restricted to specific genres or themes, it develops its own programmes, current e.g. “ZERO – Climate Neutral Art and Culture Projects”, “TURN 2 – Artistic Cooperation between Germany and African Countries”, “JUPITER – Performing Arts for Young Audiences” and “Culture digital”.
Another funding programme is “Art in Buildings”. This is understood to mean an obligation on the part of the state in particular, as a building owner, to use a certain proportion – usually around 1 per cent – of the construction costs of public buildings for works of art out of its claim to building culture. This obligation is laid down in corresponding regulations at the federal and state levels. Some cities have taken on this obligation at the municipal level.
Particularly important, however, is the individual arts / artists’ funding for the various sectors. Special support for companies, start-ups, self-employed and freelancers in the cultural and creative industries is offered by the Federal Government through the Competence Centre for Cultural and Creative Industries; with eight regional offices they offer individual services and advice.
During COVID-19, numerous programmes were launched to support the arts and culture sector. Of particular importance here is the “NEUSTART KULTUR” programme, which the federal government launched in summer 2020. It initially comprised 1 billion euros, which was increased to 2 billion in spring 2021. Together with the cultural associations and funds, the federal government developed 74 different programme lines within “NEUSTART KULTUR”, the funds were allocated by the cultural associations and funds. In doing so, the programme targeted three areas in particular: a) maintaining production – especially through project funding and scholarships, b) promoting investments that became necessary due to pandemic-related hygiene requirements and c) investing in digital infrastructure. The programme will continue in 2022.
In addition, the federal government has provided a special fund for cultural events amounting to 2.5 billion euros. It consists of economic aid for (smaller) events that can only take place with a reduced audience and of cancellation insurance for larger events. (see also See also: https://www.culturalpolicies.net/covid-19/country-reports/germany/)
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