Autumn is coming soon, and the cultural scene is surprisingly quiet. Have we come to terms with massive cuts in the Senate budget? For months there has been speculation about how Senator for Culture Joe Chialo the threatened cut of perhaps ten percent of its budget – whether it will stay that way or whether the story will take a turn and it will not be as bad as feared.
The problem is: what should we protest against? The announcements sound threatening, but also vague. At the end of last week, Chialo met with representatives of Berlin’s cultural institutions in the Humboldt Forum. Finance Senator Stefan Evers was present at the crisis summit, a first. Figures and savings rates were not disclosed. There was an exchange of ideas, at least. And Evers agreed to the unusual appointment.
How much? How little?
It is quite possible that Chialo hoped that the meeting between his CDU party colleague and the cultural people would lead to a rapprochement. The finance senator should know who he is dealing with, who will have to bear the costs of the announced but not yet specified cuts.
The deadlines are short. It’s about the budgets for the next two years. Most houses, whether opera, theater, orchestra or museums, have their schedules and programs for 2025/26 finalized. If cuts have to be made, it will only be in the artistic sector. Then events have to be canceled, contracts annulled, appointments canceled. That also costs money.
Chialo wants to fight. He promised this at the weekend at the premiere of the Komische Oper in Hangar 4 in Tempelhof, where Handel’s “Messiah” is being performed. Chialo is fighting on two fronts. Firstly, he has to make a certain contribution to savings in the Senate; culture will not receive any special arrangements; that would not be credible. Secondly, he has to prevent major damage to his institutions. He rejects a halt to construction at the Komische Oper in Behrenstraße. However, there is no more news of the ZLB moving to the Galeries Lafayette.
Everyone will have to save. But at around one billion euros per year, the cultural budget is the smallest item in the overall budget – with maximum impact. Chialo emphasizes this. Berlin has little industry, Berlin has culture. The mantra does not become wrong just by repeating it.
