Berlin unveils €2.5 billion fund for cultural sector
May 26, 2021
The fund represents the country's biggest-ever support package for culture. The government said it hoped the measure would "bring the diverse cultural landscape in Germany back to life."
The fund aims to encourage organizers to start planning events now that infection rates in Germany are droppingImage: Annegret Hilse/Reuters/dpa/picture alliance
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The German government on Wednesday unveiled a €2.5 billion ($3 billion) fund to kick-start the country's pandemic-hit cultural sector.
The fund will provide insurance in cases where a spike in coronavirus infections forces events to be canceled or postponed. It will also supplement event ticket sales if audience numbers have to be capped to meet social distancing rules.
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told a press conference in Berlin that the fund's aim was to "literally bring the diverse cultural landscape in Germany back to life."
"It's about giving people the courage to make plans," he said.
Germany's culture scene and the pandemic
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How will the fund work?
Organizers of concerts, theater shows, readings, movie screenings, comedy festivals, opera and variety performances will be eligible to receive payments from the fund.
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Financial assistance will kick in from July for events registered with up to 500 people. Aid for events with up to 2,000 people is set to follow in August.
Insurance covering the cancellation of larger events will apply from September.
The aid package comes on top of existing government assistance for businesses and artists hit by pandemic-linked closures.
How Germany lost control of its coronavirus response
Culture Commisioner Monika Grütters said the new fund was recognition of "the burden placed on the cultural sector during the corona crisis, but also a recognition of the sector's importance."
"Many of us have missed the shared experience of culture," Grütters said.
The German Culture Council hailed the fund as a way to "reduce the financial risks" of planning events with large audiences.
"The doors to culture must reopen as soon as possible," council head Olaf Zimmermann said. "This will help us do that."
On Wednesday, the seven-day incidence rate dropped below 50 new cases per 100,000 people for the first time since October. The Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases put the figure at 46.8, although officials stressed this was partly due to a bank holiday on Monday that reduced the number of cases recorded.
"One goal is clear: as many vaccinations as possible, as few infections as possible, until the end of June. Then it will be a really good summer," Spahn told broadcaster RTL.
About 40% of the population of around 83 million people have received at least one dose and about 14% are fully vaccinated.
Where culture is reawakening in Europe
COVID vaccination is allowing a growing number of European countries to reopen the doors of their cultural institutions. Germany is still mostly holding back, but Bavaria is going its own way.
Pictures like this one from May 2020 will soon be reality again: Starting on May 10, counties and independent cities in Bavaria with a stable 7-day incidence below 100 new daily COVID infections per 100,000 inhabitants can open outdoor restaurants until 10 pm. Theaters, concert halls, opera houses, cinemas and sports facilities will also be allowed to reopen.
Image: Reuters/A. Gebert
Culture with face masks in Rome
Italy, too, is gradually relaxing its pandemic rules. Where infection numbers are moderate, restaurants and bars are allowed to serve people at tables outside into the evening hours. Museums and cinemas have also reopened in parts of the country with lower infection rates. In Vatican City, the Vatican Museums have reopened to visitors wearing mandatory face masks.
Museums in Poland reopened on May 4. From mid-May, outdoor film screenings and theater performances will start; two weeks later, the authorities hope to allow all theaters to truly open their doors again, at half their capacity and with mandatory face masks. Some Polish film festivals plan to go ahead with a limited audience, including the one in Krakow, starting on May 30 (photo above from 2017).
Image: Krakow Filmfestival/Tomasz Krcynski
Exhibition inauguration in Porto
Portugal is also opening up institutions previously closed because of the pandemic. Libraries reopened in March, whereas weekly markets, art galleries and museums, such as the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art in Porto (photo) opened in early April. Movie theaters, theaters and event centers welcomed visitors again shortly after.
Image: Teresa Nunes/Zuma/picture alliance
An early start in Zurich
In Switzerland, museums and libraries reopened in early March despite the fact that the number of infections was still rising at the time. On April 19, restaurants with outdoor seating, cinemas and theaters (above, the Zurich Schauspielhaus) opened their doors. Open-air concerts and soccer matches can also take place again — with limited audiences wearing mandatory face masks.
Image: Ennio Leanza/KEYSTONE/picture alliance
Feierlaune in Liverpool
Thanks to a lengthy lockdown and an advanced vaccination campaign, the coronavirus situation in the UK is relaxed. Pubs and restaurants in England and Wales have been allowed to reopen outside; in Scotland, people are even allowed to meet indoors until the evening. Liverpool hosted a test-run music festival with several thousand people at the beginning of May. The crowd was clearly delighted.
