The flocks of tourists now enjoying pre Christmas festivities here in Berlin are testimony to the magnetic appeal of Germany's cultural attractions. It's an appeal that politicians and the private sector are eager to preserve. For the past four years, a parliamentary commission has been working on new guidelines for public funding. That means making crucial trade-offs, for although culture may have commercial and economic spinoffs it doesn't come cheap. Take the capital city and its multitude of opera houses. Among them the Staatsoper is considered first among equals but is drastically in need of a very expensive refurbishing...