cultural policy | Nobel music temple instead of culture for everyone

The conversion and renovation of the Cologne Opera House, which was put into operation in 1957, took 15 years - the old one, which was damaged in the war but could be renovated, was demolished in 1958. Photo: IMAGO/Horst Galuschka A few weeks ago, the Cologne Opera and the neighboring theater were ceremoniously reopened - after almost fifteen years of renovation. The renovation ultimately cost 1.4 billion euros, including expenses for the alternative accommodation. When the council decision was made, there was talk of 250 million. A financial scandal, because the cash-strapped municipality now lacks money elsewhere.

The consequences are primarily borne by the “subcultural sector”: funding for independent theaters and other institutions is to be cut. The city also wants to cut funding from “Reading Worlds,” an educational project run primarily by volunteers that aims to get disadvantaged children interested in books.

Stefan Bachmann, director of the Vienna Burgtheater since 2024, previously managed the interim venue “Depot” in Cologne-Mülheim for eleven years. He and his team made an industrial wasteland in the impoverished and migrant-influenced district flourish, not just in the literal sense through urban gardening on former concrete areas. The theater people sought contact with the district, successful performances such as “The Gap” addressed the right-wing terrorist nail bomb attack in neighboring Keupstrasse in 2004. They also took part in local festivals such as “Birlikte” and “Mülheimer Nacht”.

Bachmann demonstratively stayed away from the opening of the opera in the city center, which had been renovated at great expense, despite an express invitation. He expresses himself "sad, angry and disappointed" about the local politicians who have now sold off the depot area to a commercial musical operator - despite promises to the contrary. “Kampnagel, the now internationally renowned venue for the independent scene in Hamburg, was also created through an interim,” Bachmann points out a positive counterexample. The city of Cologne sacrificed an important place of this kind.

The case demonstrates in a particularly blatant form how, elsewhere, an elitist-oriented understanding of culture contributes to the division of society. The Humboldt Forum in Berlin, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg or the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth enjoy priority, while cultural development work is left behind.

Stefan Bachmann, director of Vienna's Burgtheater and previously head of the interim theater venue "Depot" in Cologne-Mülheim, expressed himself as "sad, angry and disappointed" about local politicians who sold off the Depot area to a commercial musical operator.

The state subsidizes publicly supported stages with a total of around ten billion euros in tax money per year. The financial support of non-commercial venues that do not have to follow purely business logic is undoubtedly a cultural policy achievement. But especially in Germany, funding is based on questionable priorities. Nowhere in the world are there as many opera houses as here, apart from Austria. This is the ambiguous legacy of the former small German state, when every provincial prince had his own (music) theater.

Cultural diversity, presence in the countryside too, that's all well and good. But an opera ticket that costs an average of 40 euros is publicly subsidized by an additional 210 euros. The entrance fee would actually be 250 euros. The performances are predominantly attended by a culturally interested middle class, not always, but often coupled with elitist arrogance towards "popular" and supposedly less valuable entertainment offerings. The horrendous subsidy is often legitimized with the argument that wealthy people pay much more taxes than those who receive basic security. To put it bluntly, it is about cultural class warfare from above - and about the one-sided and inappropriate state support of a luxury good.

There is another way. This is demonstrated by thousands of projects across the country that do more for social cohesion than any opera or philharmonic orchestra. Not far from Cologne, for example, are the “Murals” in Wuppertal, an originally purely private initiative that had around 50 free-standing building facades throughout the city designed by street artists, some of whom were internationally renowned. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia co-sponsored the project.

Not all of the pictures shown are museum-worthy, but that doesn't seem to matter that much. The social connection is much more significant: Even people in poorer neighborhoods who were previously uninterested in art are proud that there is now something special to see in their area and that even tourists from out of town are stopping by.

The residents of Cologne-Mülheim, in turn, feel it is a loss when the municipal theaters have to give up their home in their neighborhood after more than ten years and return to the city center without leaving behind a non-commercial follow-up project on site.

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