Report creation date: 14.10.2008 - 10:36
Countr(y/ies): Germany
Chapter(s): 1,2,21,22,23,24,241,242,243,244,245,246,3,31,32,33,4,41,42,421,422,423,424,425,426,427,428,429,4210,43,5,51,511,512,513,514,515,516,517,518,519,52,53,531,532,533,534,535,536,537,538,539,5310,6,61,62,63,64,7,71,72,73,8,81,811,812,813,82,821,822,83,831,832,84,841,842,9,91,92
Germany/ 1. Historical perspective:
cultural policies and instruments
In contrast to most European
countries, Germany was made up of many independent feudal states and city
republics that each pursued their own cultural policies and established a host
of cultural institutions. Among them were distinct cultural traditions that
were not centralised nor assimilated in the German Empire (Reich), founded in
1871. While, the new Reich government was responsible for foreign cultural
policy, the constituent states retained responsibility for their own cultural
policies. The special autonomy of the municipalities extended to the area of
cultural affairs which was supported by a strong civic commitment to the arts
and culture. Under the new constitution of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933),
public responsibility and support for the arts and culture was divided among
the Reich government, the governments of the Länder (the constituent states),
the city and municipal councils.
The approach adopted by the National
Socialist regime (1933-1945) replaced the diversity that had evolved over the
course of centuries with forced centralisation, stifling civic commitment and
instrumentalising culture to serve the aims of the Regime. This experience with
centralisation later led to the emergence of a strong penchant for federalism
in the Federal Republic of Germany.
The National Socialist tyranny and
World War II ended on 8 May 1945. The German Reich was then divided into three
Western occupation zones. These three zones eventually became two: the Federal
Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic (formally a Soviet
occupation zone). Following a brief period marked by co-operation between the
Federal Republic and the GDR, cultural policy evolved independently and
developed along different lines in the two German states. This changed
following Germany's reunification 40 years later on 3 October 1990.
Cultural policy in the German
Democratic Republic was based on a concept of culture that encompassed the
"humanistic heritage" of classical art forms, on the one hand, and
new forms of everyday culture on the other. It enabled the working class led by
the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) to participate in cultural events,
the ideological basis of which, however, was a one-sided view of history that embraced
only certain traditions of the workers' movement. In addition to the
reactivation of the traditional cultural institutes, new institutions engaged
in cultural activities emerged, such as "houses of culture" or youth
clubs. Particularly important were those activities organised by social and
cultural associations as well as worker's unions within larger companies, all
of which were under tight state control. Such companies, along with the state,
were the most important supporters of this "popular culture". As a
rule, the cultural work of all organisations was funded by the state and
orchestrated by the SED. In the German Democratic Republic, a break was made
with the tradition of cultural federalism that had prevailed in Germany until
1933. In 1952, the Länder were dissolved and replaced by 15 districts. From
1954, the state-controlled cultural sector was headed by the Ministry of
Culture.
This phase of cultural policy
development ended with the accession of the German Democratic Republic to the
Federal Republic of Germany on 3 October 1990 ("Reunification").
Responsibility for many of the traditional cultural institutions supported by
the state or the districts was passed on to the newly re-constituted Länder and
municipalities. Virtually all cultural activities and facilities of the former
state run companies and worker's unions were shut down; responsibilities for
some of these activities were taken over by sponsors. Since then, the
structures for cultural policy development in Germany's eastern Länder have
essentially become similar to those of the "old" Federal Republic.
Following World War II, Western
Allies prescribed a very narrow role for the government of the new Federal
Republic of Germany in the field of cultural policy, mainly as a consequence of
the National Socialists' former abuse of culture and the arts. Following the
restoration of the cultural infrastructure, cultural policy remained largely
limited to the promotion of traditional art forms and cultural institutions.
Not until the process of social modernisation got under way - accompanied by
the youth and civic protest movements of the 1960s onward - did the scope of
cultural policy broaden to include other areas of activity.
A "New Cultural Policy"
emerged in the 1970s as part of a general democratisation process within
society, the thrust of which was expanded to encompass everyday activities. The
arts were to be made accessible to all members of society if at all possible.
In the 1970s, the call for "culture for everyone" and for a "civil
right to culture" led to a tremendous expansion of cultural activities,
the further development of cultural institutions and the emergence of numerous
new fields of cultural endeavour financed by increasing public expenditure.
This growth was matched by continuously rising popular demands for a variety of
cultural goods and services.
The reform-oriented cultural policy
objectives of the 1970s were replaced in the 1980s by new priorities which saw
culture as a factor enhancing Germany's attractiveness as a location for
business and industry.
The 1990s were profoundly influenced
by the unification of Germany. In the new eastern Länder, adoption of the
administrative structure of the "old" Federal Republic and its
approach to cultural policy prompted a restructuring of and radical changes in
the cultural landscape. These years have also been marked by austerity measures
and budgetary constraints and by the increasingly evident structural problems
of the major traditional cultural institutions.
In the early years of this decade,
cultural policy in Germany stabilised in comparison to the changes of the
1990s. However, the cultural policy still faces large challenges and requires
re-orientation. The main issues are financial, on the one hand, and, on the other
hand, are structural in nature and concern the conceptional basis of cultural
policy. Despite an improved state budget, there is ongoing pressure on cultural
institutions to increase their economic equity-ratio, to lead their
institutions more economically, as well as to obtain funds from other sources
such as sponsorship, patronage and marketing. In particular, the structural
problems require a readjustment of the relationship between the state, market
and society concerning the financing of cultural institutions, among other
methods, through public private partnership models and a stronger integration
of civic commitments. In addition, the conceptional basis of past cultural
policies has been challenged by migration processes, rapid media development and
a change in the composition of audiences (a decreasing total population and an
increasing number of older people). Currently, intensive discussion is taking
place in Germany on the requirements of cultural policies, due to these
societal changes.
Germany/ 2. Competence,
decision-making and administration
2.1 Organisational structure
(organigram)
Germany/ 2. Competence,
decision-making and administration
2.2 Overall description of the
system
Germany is a federally organised
country with different tiers of government: the Bund or Federal
Government (i.e. national authorities, Parliament etc), the Bundesländer
(autonomous states) and the municipalities (cities, towns, counties).
The German Constitution (Grundgesetz) stipulates the division of
responsibility and competencies among the different levels of government.
Article 30 of the German Constitution assigns most competence to the Bundesländer:
"the exercise of state powers and competencies lie with the Länder, except
where specifically stipulated or permitted by the German Constitution". At
the moment, there is no general constitutional clause giving the Federal
Government responsibility for areas such as culture or education. Hence, the Bundesländer
are the main public actors in the cultural field and are responsible for
setting their own policy priorities, funding their respective cultural
institutions and for supporting projects of regional importance.
Article 28 (2) of the German Constitution, affirms the role of
municipalities in cultural affairs at the local level. The respective
Constitutions of each Länder reinforce this provision and further define
specific cultural responsibilities for local governments.
Within this federal and highly
decentralised system, there are a number of bodies which formulate and
implement cultural policy: legislative or self-governing bodies (i. e.
parliaments, councils), government administrations (i. e. ministries or
departments for cultural affairs), or consultative bodies (i. e. expert
committees). The size and structure of these bodies will differ across the
country.
Within their fields of competence,
the Federal Government, the Bundesländer and the municipalities are
largely free to shape cultural policy as they see fit, in other words, to
determine the form, extent and priorities of their cultural programmes.
Federal Government bodies
responsible for cultural affairs
The Federal Government has
jurisdiction over foreign cultural policy, including schools and higher
education. The extent to which the federal authorities have competence in other
areas of culture having a nationwide or international impact is currently being
discussed.
In 1998, the Federal Government
created, for the first time, a Federal Government Commissioner for Cultural
Affairs and the Media (today: Federal Commissioner for Cultural and Media
Affairs / Beauftragter für Kultur und Medien); thus creating a central contact
point for cultural affairs at the federal level. A corresponding Committee
on Cultural and Media Affairs was subsequently set up in the German
Bundestag (Parliament). It acts as a supervisory body for the work of the
Federal Commissioner for Cultural and Media Affairs and for the department
responsible for foreign cultural policy at the Auswärtiges Amt (German
Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs).
One of the most important
responsibilities of the Parliamentary Committee on Cultural and Media Affairs
is to examine all legal initiatives and changes with respect to their possible
effect on culture (Kulturverträglichkeit), e. g. tax laws including
special provisions for non-profit organisations. It also initiates cultural
policy debates on issues of nation wide importance such as the setting up a
monument for the victims of the Holocaust, the refugees after the Second World
War or the victims of bombing. The Committee makes decisions concerning the
budget.
The Parliamentary Committee is
sub-divided into specialised bodies such as the sub-committee for "Civic
Engagement" or "New Media". In autumn 2003, a Commission of
Enquiry or "Enquete-Kommission" on culture in Germany was set up for
a limited period. It was comprised of 11 members of Parliament and 11
independent experts. The main task of the Commission was to examine a broad
range of issues related to cultural policy in general and to the support of
culture in particular. Due to the early parliamentary elections called in September
2005, the work of the Commission came to a premature end and without a final
report. However, a few months later, in December 2005, the Commission of
Enquiry was reconvened and worked till autumn 2007.
Following three-year work, the
Enquete-Kommission finally presented its final report on 13 November 2007,
which will be debated in the winter 2007/2008 in the Bundestag. The 1 000
page long report contains a description of the current situation relating to
culture, the arts and artists in Germany in the various sectors, as well as
approximately 400 recommendations of action for the different political levels.
Bundesländer and municipalities
The Bundesländer and
municipalities are the main actors responsible for cultural policy in Germany.
The scope and priority areas can vary greatly from Länder to Länder and from
municipality to municipality.
Each of the 16 Bundesländer
have their own Parliaments, Parliamentary Committees that deal with cultural
affairs and Ministries responsible for culture. As a rule, culture is combined
at the Ministerial level with other policy areas, mainly education or science.
In such cases, there are specific departments for cultural affairs. Recently,
some Länder (federal states) have abandoned this tradition and transferred responsibility
for cultural affairs to the Staatskanzlei (Office of the Prime
Minister), as has occurred in North Rhine Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein,
Berlin and Bremen.
On the municipal level, cultural
affairs fall, in most cases, under the responsibility of specific Kulturdezernenten
(Cultural Commissioners) with their own administrative structures. They are
responsible for programmes, public cultural institutions such as local
theatres, libraries, museums or music schools, etc. Local city and county
councils have their own cultural affairs committees.
The individual Länder can transfer
budgetary resources for culture to the municipalities at their own discretion.
The "Act on the Cultural Areas in the Freistaat of Saxony" is
one important example. This Act was initially passed in 1993 for a period of 10
years. In 2003, this period was extended to 2007 and has been extended once
more until 2011. It stipulates that 86.6 million euros should be transferred
from the budget of the Land to 9 rural and 3 urban areas to support cultural
institutions and activities of regional and trans-regional importance. In other
Länder (e. g. Baden-Wurttemberg), support for individual sectors, for
example theatre, is given in the form of co-financing, the amount of which is determined
on the basis of a fixed percentage of the total spending invested by the
municipality. In some cases, resources are transferred from the Länder to the
municipalities for activities which are not necessarily cultural.
On 1 September 2006, a reform of the
federal system came into effect. This has involved a re-distribution of
competences between the federal government and the Länder in some policy areas.
In the field of culture, the federal government (or level) assumed more
responsibilities with respect to culture in the capital, Berlin, and to the
conservation of cultural heritage. German representation in the field of
cultural policy within the European Union (Article 23, Abs. 6 GG)
has been given greater weight. Because the federal government is prohibited
from co-financing cultural projects (Article 91b GG), the
possibilities of supporting cultural education projects are limited.
Non-governmental actors
In addition to government bodies and
actors, there is a host of actors involved in supporting different forms of
cultural work and cultural programmes such as: radio and television
broadcasters, business-sector institutions, various groups in society
(churches, unions, and associations), civic organisations and initiatives,
clubs and private individuals.
This extensive network of
intermediaries between the state and the culture scene complements
public-sector activity and is indispensable for a vibrant and progressive
cultural life in Germany. Pluralism of sponsors and vehicles of culture is a
structural and important element of the system which is also indicated in the
Constitution and the laws governing Germany's cultural sector. The various
forms of commercial cultural activities likewise play an important role in the
nation's cultural life.
As a rule, there is no organised
form of co-operation or coordination of cultural activities between "the
state" and this diverse network of non-governmental actors. There are,
however, more and more instances where public cultural affairs administrations
at the Federal, Land and local level are cooperating with intermediaries
(arms-length bodies) in order to implement their support programmes or to
generate sponsorship for cultural institutions.
Germany/ 2. Competence,
decision-making and administration
2.3 Inter-ministerial or
intergovernmental co-operation
There is no official body in charge
of coordinating cultural policy initiatives, programmes and measures undertaken
by all levels of government.
The Standing Conference of the
Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal
Republic of Germany (KMK) acts as a platform for co-operation and exchange
among the Länder.
Co-operation platforms also exist at
the municipal level through local authority associations such as the German
Association of Cities, the German Association of Towns and
Municipalities, and the Association of German Counties. These
associations have created specialised divisions and cultural affairs committees
to address specific topics which may also be relevant at the Länder and Federal
levels. The sub-committees prepare recommendations which are submitted to the
respective local authorities for consideration.
The office of the Federal
Commissioner for Cultural and Media Affairs (BKM) cooperates with the KMK
on specific subjects as needed. Regular communication takes place on a working
level. Representatives of the BKM regularly attend meetings of the KMK's
Committee for European and International Affairs and the Film Committee of the
Länder.
Consultation and coordination of
cultural policy between the Länder and their municipalities is handled in a
number of ways. In addition to bilateral contacts between the relevant ministry
and individual municipalities, consultations take place between the ministry
and the local authority associations on issues of significance for the Land as
a whole. In several municipalities, specific offices have been created to
facilitate supraregional cooperation. In other municipalities this type of
cooperation is accomplished by Regional Conferences on Cultural Affairs.
The various levels of government
have rather different approaches to the systematic integration of culture into
other policy areas and to strategic planning. However, dwindling resources at
all governmental levels have encouraged greater inter-ministerial coordination
in terms of the definition of goals and the use of resources.
Within the general process of
intensifying transversal debates across different policy areas, the Federal
Chancellery organised a summit in July 2006 on intercultural dialogue and
integration. A "culture and integration" working group was set up
within the office of the Federal Commissioner for Cultural and Media Affairs,
with members drawn from the different levels of government: federal, Länder and
municipalities, plus representatives of non-governmental organisations. The
task force produced a paper that forms part of the "National Plan of
Integration" (Nationaler Integrationsplan) which was passed at the second
integration summit in July 2007.
Germany/ 2.4 International cultural
co-operation
2.4.1 Overview of main structures
and trends
Since the debate on a new conception
of foreign cultural policy in the 1960s, it has been considered the third
pillar of foreign affairs. During the 1980s, first ideas to shape this policy
in a more dialogue-oriented way came up, e.g. in conferences organised by the Auswärtiges
Amt (German Federal Foreign Office). The latter continues to be the main
actor in this field, despite a growing influence of local and regional bodies
and NGOs. Since the end of the 1990s, there has been intensive discussion on
new aims and instruments of foreign cultural policy, which was reflected, for
example, in the position paper "Konzeption 2000" and the
"Aktionsplan zivile Krisenprävention, Konfliktlösung und
Friedenskonsolidierung" (Action Plan for Civil Crisis Prevention, Conflict
Resolution and Peace Consolidation). Following the political change on the
federal level in 2005, and the major coalition between the conservatives (CDU /
CSU) and the social democrats (SPD), a new debate on the role of foreign
cultural policy ensued. In 2006 and 2007, major conferences were held to
highlight the new political importance attributed to foreign cultural policies
and to discuss the future developments.
In the last 20 years, foreign
cultural policy has repeatedly suffered from cuts in funding, which in part
have led to the closure of a number of branches of the Goethe Institute. This
adverse trend came to an end in 2005. This higher place of cultural foreign
policy on political agendas has been underlined by changes in the federal budget.
Against the former trends, funding for foreign cultural policies increased
again in 2007 and 2008.
Germany/ 2.4 International cultural
co-operation
2.4.2 Public actors and cultural
diplomacy
Article 32 (1) of the Constitution states: "Relations with foreign
states shall be conducted by the Federal Government". Following from this
article, the Federal authorities and Parliament are responsible for foreign
cultural policy.
The political guidelines establishing
the priorities for foreign cultural policy are formulated and coordinated by
the Foreign Office. The Federal Commissioner for Cultural and Media Affairs is
responsible for a number of important fields, for example foreign broadcasting
services or the restitution of art works ("looted art"). Other
federal ministries, such as the Federal Ministry of Education and Research or
the Ministry for Economic Co-operation are also active in foreign cultural
policy, although to a much lesser extent than the Foreign Office and the
Federal Commissioner. There has been a Committee for External Cultural
Policy in the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) since 1969.
The most important areas of foreign
cultural policy (including education) are cross-border co-operation in
education and science, international cultural dialogue, promotion of the German
language abroad, and exchanges in the fields of art, music and literature. For
the most part, this policy is implemented by intermediary organisations funded
by the Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs such as: the Goethe-Institut
(GI), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Institute
for Foreign Cultural Relations (IfA), the Alexander von Humboldt
Foundation (AvH), and the German UNESCO Commission (DUK). They are
free to create their own programmes.
The relevant bodies of the Länder
cooperate closely with the Federal Government in the field of foreign cultural
policy. Municipalities and civil society groups are actively involved in
cultural work abroad.
Germany/ 2.4 International cultural
co-operation
2.4.3 European / international
actors and programmes
International co-operation in the
cultural sphere is taking on increasing significance. A particularly important
example in this context is the intensified efforts to cultivate a dialogue
between cultures. In 2005, the German National Commission for UNESCO was
particularly active in the process of developing and passing a convention on
protecting and promoting the diversity of cultural expressions as an
international legal instrument. In February 2007, the German parliament passed
the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of
Cultural Expressions and simultaneously the UNESCO Convention concerning
the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage
(UNESCO-Übereinkommen zum Kulturgüterschutz), 35 years after this document was
signed by the UNESCO and several countries.
Europe-wide co-operation in the area
of culture has evolved since 1992 on the basis of Article 151
(formerly Article 128) of the Treaty Establishing the European
Community. Member states work together to adopt common legal framework, such as
Directive 96/100/EC on the return of cultural objects unlawfully
removed from the territory of a member state and through specific programmes
facilitating co-operation among the member states themselves and between the
member states and neighbouring third countries such as Culture (2007-2013),
Europe for Citizens, MEDIA 2007 and the European Capital of
Culture.
During the German EU presidency in
the first half-year 2007, special attention was given to the topic of European
cultural policies and their closer association with national cultural policies.
This issue formed part of three large international cultural policy congresses:
the UNESCO convention on "Cultural Diversity" of the German UNESCO
Commission (April 2007, Essen); on the "Culture Industries" by the
Friedrich Naumann Foundation (May 2007, Berlin) and on
"culture.powers.europe. - europe.powers.culture." by the Association
for Cultural Policy (June 2007, Berlin).
In March 2006, in the context of the
preparations for "Ruhr 2010", when the Ruhr district will be European
Culture Capital, representatives from 31 Ruhr district cities and 92 European
twin cities came together in Essen, Dortmund and Duisburg, to discuss the
issues of "urbanity", "identity" and
"integration" and agreed upon further co-operation. (TWINS).
Germany/ 2.4 International cultural
co-operation
2.4.4 Direct professional
co-operation
In addition to the longstanding
international town twinning arrangements, communities in all the Länder have
entered into bilateral or multilateral regional partnerships with comparable
territorial communities or authorities of other countries, primarily - but not
exclusively - in Europe. This cross-border cultural exchange is particularly
lively in the so-called "Euregios" (Saar-Lor-Lux, Euregio Egrensis,
Euroregion Erzgebirge e. V., Euroregion Elbe / Labe, and the Communal
Association of the Euroregion Neisse).
Since the 1970s, many private
actors, professional organisations (e.g. of theatres, museums or libraries) and
informal networks have started to develop their own international relations and
exchange programmes, which are not necessarily linked any more with the
official foreign policy.
Germany/ 2.4 International cultural
co-operation
2.4.5 Cross-border intercultural
dialogue and co-operation
There are no special government
programmes to support trans-national intercultural dialogue, except through the
instruments and institutions that were mentioned under 
chapter
2.4.1 to 2.4.4. The majority of these bodies are very active in this field.
An important actor is the Federal Cultural Foundation (Bundeskulturstiftung),
with many programmes and projects on cross-border intercultural dialogue (http://www.Kulturstiftung-bund.de).
Some private foundations, such as the Bosch-Stiftung, are also very active in
this field.
Central to the content and
orientation of intercultural dialogue is the debate with the Islamic world and
Islamic culture, stimulated by the issues presented by fundamental Islamism.
Another main focus is dialogue with countries and cultures in Asia, in
particular China, Japan and Korea.
For more information, see our Intercultural Dialogue section.
Germany/ 2.4 International cultural
co-operation
2.4.6 Other relevant issues
Information is currently not
available.
Germany/ 3. General objectives and
principles of cultural policy
3.1 Main elements of the current
cultural policy model
Cultural policy in Germany is based
on a federal model. It is governed by the principles of decentralisation,
subsidiarity and plurality; a tradition rooted in the nation's historical development
and reaffirmed in its Constitution.
All levels of government operate
within a Constitutional framework which specifies their respective competence
in the cultural field (see chapter
2.2). They are supposed to cooperate within one another on cultural matters
- Kulturföderalismus - by jointly supporting cultural institutions and
activities. In reality, there is a high degree of competition among the
different Länder, towns, cultural institutions, artists and other
intermediaries.
An important objective influencing
the development of cultural policy throughout Germany, is to find a balance
between public-sector responsibility for ensuring the existence and funding of
cultural institutions and programmes without government interference in
cultural activities. The Constitution guarantees freedom of the arts (Article 5
(3)) which not only provides the basis for artistic autonomy and
self-governing rights of cultural institutions and organisations but also
stipulates a form of protection from state directives and regulation of
content. Accordingly, the state is responsible for actively encouraging,
supporting and upholding this artistic freedom in what is referred to as a Kulturstaat
(cultural state).
This approach to cultural policy is
primarily supply-oriented. This means that the majority of cultural
infrastructure is governed under the rule of law and is supported by the
government - mainly by the individual Länder and by the cities. More recently,
there have been discussions concerning the privatisation of public services and
institutions which has intensified efforts to promote more efficient arts
management. As a result, there is a greater receptiveness to public-private
partnership models and a willingness to privatise some cultural institutions.
For a number of years there has been
an ongoing debate regarding a greater pooling of resources among the different
levels of government. Prompted by the problematic financial situation of many
Länder, the Federal Government has been called upon to co-finance
"landmark cultural institutions". A precedent was set for its
involvement in the 1990 Unification Treaty calling on the Federal
Government to support cultural institutions located in the Länder of the former
GDR. This is especially important for cultural institutions located in the new
capital city, Berlin, which face a plethora of structural and financial
problems as a consequence of German unification and which require substantial
support from Federal agencies. Along with additional obligations and
competences, this Federal involvement gives agencies a greater say in cultural
matters at the national level; a development that is contested by some of the
Länder on constitutional grounds.
Germany/ 3. General objectives and
principles of cultural policy
3.2 National definition of culture
There is no binding definition of
culture that could serve as the basis for cultural programmes and measures in
Germany. In contrast to the situation in the first two decades after the
founding of the Federal Republic of Germany, one can safely say that the
cultural philosophies of the democratic parties at all levels of government no
longer significantly differ. One reason for this convergence is the intense
cultural policy debate that began in the early 1970s in the context of the
"New Cultural Policy" (see chapter
1). This debate led to a broadening of the narrow concept of culture
prevailing in the 1950s and 1960s, which had been very strongly oriented
towards the traditional cultural value system handed down for generations, to
include new content and focus. The term "culture" today, thus
encompasses contemporary creative and artistic activity (both inside and
outside the framework of the traditional cultural institutions) as well as the
culture of everyday life.
Germany/ 3. General objectives and
principles of cultural policy
3.3 Cultural policy objectives
From the very beginning, the
"New Cultural Policy" of the 1970s and 1980s reflected the priorities
put forward by the Council of Europe on issues related to cultural identity,
cultural heritage, cultural diversity and participation in cultural life.
Today, one of the main objectives of
cultural policy in the Federal Republic of Germany is to make the arts and
cultural events accessible to as many people as possible.
In recent years, there has also been
acknowledgment in the cultural field that Germany is a country of immigration.
It has also been recognised that cultural policy - particularly at the
municipal level - has to take this issue into consideration, which means taking
multicultural diversity as a given, integrating the culture of immigrants into
cultural policy and for cultural policy to take account of the cultural needs
of people with immigrant backgrounds.
Germany/ 4. Current issues in
cultural policy development and debate
4.1 Main cultural policy issues and
priorities
The collapse of the system in Eastern
Europe and the unification of Germany in 1989/90 produced new cultural tasks,
both within the Federal Republic of Germany and in its relations with European
neighbours.
The difficult financial situation of
all public funds has been a determining factor in cultural policy discussions
on the municipal and Länder level since the mid-1990s, and increasingly
so since the turn of the century.
In the past five years, discussions
and action (on the part of both public and private actors) have focused on:
- support for culture institutions in the new capital
city Berlin;
- giving greater competence for cultural affairs to the
Federal Government;
- streamlining and optimising cultural funding among the
different levels of government;
- passing of new laws in the fields of copyright and
taxation for foundations as well as re-enforcing social insurance
provisions for self-employed artists;
- repatriation of unlawfully seized cultural assets;
- UNESCO
Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural
Expressions;
- constitutional protection for culture;
- greater civic commitment to culture;
- responding to a cultural public with increasingly
diversifying needs;
- migrants, cultural diversity, intercultural
co-operation; and
- outsourcing public sector tasks.
Capital Culture
In the early 1990s, the Bundestag
(German Parliament), the Bundesrat (Council made up of representatives
from the 16 Länder) and the Bundesregierung (Federal Government) all
moved to Germany's new capital city Berlin. The transfer of power from Bonn
(former capital) to Berlin underscored the national cultural significance of
the new capital and led to a growing commitment on the part of the Federal
government to support cultural life in the city. In this context, a
"Capital Culture Contract" was signed between the Federal Government
and the Land Berlin which specifies areas of support, namely:
- the restoration of cultural institutions making up the Museumsinsel
Berlin;
- cultural institutions formerly administered by the Land
Berlin, e.g. the foundation establishing the Jewish Museum Berlin,
the Academy of Arts, the Memorial to German Resistance during
World War II;
- cultural events which have been grouped into a limited
liability company "Berlin GmbH", encompassing the Berlin
Festival, the Martin Gropius Building, the House of World
Cultures and the Berlin International Film Festival;
- in 2006, the Federal Government established a further
financial allowance to support the co-operation of the three opera houses
in Berlin; and
- in autumn 2007, a special cultural fund of 400 million
euro was established by the Bundestag, from which 200 million euro is
intended for the renovation of the Berlin Staatsoper.
The Capital Culture Fund, set up to
support projects in Berlin, is also financed by the Federal Government.
Greater federal competence for
cultural affairs
In 1998, the Federal Government was
given greater competence in the field of culture through the creation of a
Federal Commissioner for Cultural Affairs and the Media (renamed Federal
Commissioner for Cultural and Media Affairs) and a corresponding Parliamentary
Committee. This was followed in 2002 by the establishment of a Kulturstiftung
des Bundes (Federal Cultural Foundation). While the creation of these
bodies was initially highly controversial, there is now greater acceptance of
these offices. Nevertheless, debates arise from time to time regarding the
reach of the Federal Government's involvement in the cultural field, for
example: in 2004 the Bundesrat refused to allow the Federal Government
to take over the running of the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts and in 2005
it did not agree to the establishment of a Stiftung Baukultur (Federal
Foundation for Architecture). In the meantime, demarcation disputes have been
resolved, with both institutions continuing to operate, and a reform of the
federal system came into effect in the summer of 2006. Since the summer of
2007, a working group consisting of representatives from the Länder and the
federal government has been making proposals for the second part of this reform
of federalism, which is supposed to restructure the financial relationship
between the political levels.
Streamlining and optimising cultural
funding
At the time of the establishment of
the Kulturstiftung des Bundes (Federal Cultural Foundation) there was an
intense debate between the Federal Government and the Länder regarding
measures to streamline and optimise the system for funding cultural activities
and a merger between the Kulturstiftung der Länder (Cultural Foundation
of the Länder) and the Kulturstiftung des Bundes. Negotiations to merge
both foundations failed in December 2003, and the Federal Government terminated
its commitment to the Cultural Foundation of the Länder at the end of
2005. In December 2006, negotiations failed again and both foundations arranged
for closer cooperation instead of unification.
Since 2006, an extensive process of
evaluation of cultural funding began in the field of cultural policy on all
levels.
Legal regulations
Since 1998, the Federal Government
has launched legal reforms in the area of Foundation Law (especially
with regard to taxation), Copyright Law and the Law Governing Social
Insurance for Artists. In summer and autumn 2006, a Draft Bill for New
Regulations on Copyright Law, submitted by the Federal Government, caused a
great deal of debate with respect to payments to artists. It has enacted
legislation to safeguard the system of fixed book prices and has extended support
to the film sector under the Federal Film Promotion Act. In 2006, the
Federal Government agreed on a new measure of support for the film industry,
providing 60 Million euros per annum; this will come into effect at the
beginning of 2007 (see chapter
5.3.6).
The Federal Government has broadened
the scope of support for: research on German culture and history in Eastern and
Central Europe under section 96 of the Federal Expellees Act (see chapter
5.3.10) and; memorials commemorating the victims of dictatorship.
Repatriation of unlawfully seized
cultural assets
Since the fall of the Iron Curtain,
international discussions concerning the repatriation of cultural assets
unlawfully seized from their rightful owners during World War II have led to
the return of individual objects of art. The Federal Government, including the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Commissioner for Cultural and Media
Affairs, in consultation with the Länder, is negotiating the return of specific
items from neighbouring countries. In July 2003, an advisory commission was set
up concerning the return of cultural assets, especially Jewish property that
had been seized from their rightful owners during the National Socialist Era.
Its task is to mediate restitution claims, especially in difficult cases. Its members
are renowned scientists and prominent personalities. Since autumn 2006, a
far-reaching debate on the restitution of works of art began, prompted by the
return of a famous painting by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner by the government of
Berlin to the heirs of the former owner, since it was claimed that the latter
had been forced to sell it in the 1930s. Subsequently, a number of similar
files became public. Museums are intensifying the research on the provenance of
their works of art (Provenienzforschung) and have been supported by special
funds.
UNESCO Convention on the Protection
and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions
The process to develop a UNESCO
Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural
Expressions as an international legal instrument has been supported by the
German Commission for UNESCO with active support from civil society
actors, the German Bundestag and the Federal Commissioner for Cultural
and Media Affairs. A nation-wide "Coalition for Cultural Diversity"
was established and met 4 times during the year 2004 to discuss the draft
Convention from a German perspective.
The initiative was paramount in
raising awareness of the inherent dangers to public support for culture which
could arise from WTO international trade agreements (e. g. GATS) or the EU
Services Directive. The Federal Government of Germany signed the convention in
September 2006. The German Parliament passed the convention on 1 February 2007.
Constitutional protection for
culture
Growing problems of funding public
cultural institutions have led to initiatives and discussions calling for more
legal protection on the maintenance of cultural infrastructure and on
"basic cultural needs". A proposal has been made by an Enquete-Kommission
(Parliamentary Commission of Enquiry) to include the protection of and support
to culture as an article in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Germany. For more information see the report of the Enquete-Kommission:
http://www.bundestag.de/parlament/kommissionen/kultur_deutsch/zwischenbericht2005/index.html.
In autumn 2007, a new imitative of parliamentarians from several parties
started to anchor culture as a national objective in the constitution
(Staatsziel "Kultur").
Civic commitment
In the past centuries, public
involvement in cultural life was fuelled by civic initiatives in specific
disciplines, institutions and projects; such initiatives were particularly
strong in those cities that were not residencies of the ruling nobility which
had founded their own cultural institutions. Stifled during the National
Socialist era and submerged in the decades thereafter, this civic commitment
has meanwhile resurfaced, manifesting itself in an increase in, for example,
membership to friends'-of-societies, volunteer work, endowments and sponsorship
/ co-financing. There are also a growing number of cultural activities and
institutions that are supported by different kinds of civic initiatives.
Cultural policy makers, who have long thought solely in terms of state
financing, as well as specialists in the field and the general public, are now
adapting to this development. Following on from the work of the Parliamentary
Commission of Enquiry on Civic Commitment, in the legislative period ending
2005, a Committee on Civic Commitment was established in the newly
elected German Bundestag (Parliament). In July 2007, the Bundestag passed a Law
on the Stabilisation of Civic Commitment, which raised tax free allowances
for training supervisors to 2 100 euro and donations were raised uniformly
to 20% of the income.
Responding to a cultural public with
increasingly diversifying needs
The members of the culturally interested
public are less and less inclined to embrace a narrow approach to culture
expressed through specific institutions, their programmes and events. Their
receptiveness to and desire for participation in cultural activities vary
widely and are highly individualised. As a result, urban cultural institutions,
projects and events have multiplied and diversified to a hitherto unheard-of
degree in the past two decades. Due to its relatively narrow focus of support -
especially in times marked by financial constraints - Länder and municipal
cultural policy has been unable to react in a sufficiently flexible manner.
Therefore, more demand-driven approaches to state and municipal support to
culture have been proposed.
Migrants, cultural diversity,
intercultural co-operation
The high number of ethnic groups -
whose members in some cases constitute up to 30 % of the population in
mainly western German cities - has long been acknowledged. Numerous
associations for members of different ethnic groups have emerged in urban
areas; over 200 during the past ten years in Hamburg alone. Acting on their own
initiative, these associations work to further intercultural understanding and
co-operation. In many cities there are funding programmes to support and
encourage their efforts. This type of cultural work, which has long been
practised at the local level, was long time unknown at the Federal and Land
levels. Meanwhile, the debate on multiculturalism and the related challenges to
cultural policy continued, involving many cultural policy participants at each
level. In the interest of national cultural cohesion, efforts to further
intercultural understanding will be one of the most important aspects of
cultural policy at all levels of government in the years to come (see chapter
2.3, chapter
3.3, chapter
4.2.1 and chapter
4.2.2).
Outsourcing public sector tasks
In the context of the international
"new public management approaches" and the ever greater financial
constraints at all levels, efforts have been stepped up to modernise policy
administration systems and the structure of cultural institutions. The aims have
been to increase efficiency, enhance transparency and proximity to the citizen,
reorient services and redefine objectives. To this end, for instance, some
public institutions have been privatised, benchmarking procedures tested, and
public-sector tasks delegated or outsourced to third parties. Private
commercial and voluntary non-profit organisations have been more widely
acknowledged as partners of the public sector in the field of cultural policy.
Cooperative arrangements and private-public partnerships are being encouraged
and civic commitment accorded a more prominent role. In recent years, this
reform process has slowed down. Some Länder have even revoked certain reforms,
for example, the Land Lower Saxony cancelled the outsourcing of support to socio-cultural
projects to a non-government organisation.
Germany/ 4.2 Recent policy issues
and debates
4.2.1 Cultural minorities, groups
and communities
The Federal Republic of Germany
ratified the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of
National Minorities. Under this Convention, which entered into force for
Germany on 1 February 1998, the autochthonous (i. e. resident) minorities and
ethnic groups with German nationality living in Germany are protected. These
are the Danes, the North Frisians, the Sater Frisians, the Sorbs and the German
Sinti and Roma. The Federal Government and the Länder provide substantial
funding to these groups. Preservation of the Sorb cultural and ethnic identity
is guaranteed under an interstate agreement concluded between Land Brandenburg
and the Freistaat of Saxony on 28 August 1998 (where traditionally the largest
settlement of Sorbs is found).
The above groups are distinguished
from immigrants and "Germans with an immigrant background". Whereas
the above-mentioned indigenous minorities all consist of very small populations
(e.g. the Sorbs numbering at most 60 000; Sinti and Roma approx.
70 000; Danish minority 8 - 50 000), immigrants and "Germans
with an immigrant background" constitute a considerable proportion of the
population living in Germany. In 2006, 7.32 million foreigners had their
principal residence in Germany (8.9 % of the population), in addition to 8.01
million Germans with an immigrant background (9.7 %), together making 15.33
million out of a total population of 82.46 million (18.6 %).
While the "Germans with an
immigrant background" have the same political rights as all other Germans,
they still frequently suffer from discrimination in everyday life, at school,
in seeking accommodation and in the work-place. Foreigners living in Germany
are subject to a variety of regulations. Following the reform of the Law
Concerning Foreign Residents (1990) and of Citizenship (2000), the Immigration
Law of 2005 was a third major political issue on the way to acknowledge the
Federal Republic as a country of immigration, resulting in an improvement of
the situation for people from other cultures and countries living here. Binding
regulations for immigration and integration were established for the first time
in Germany and were officially approved. This is an important development as
many conservative politicians refused for a long time to acknowledge that
Germany is a country of immigration.
For some years, the integration of
people of differing ethnic backgrounds, religious orientation and cultural
traditions has been regarded not only as a central task of society but
increasingly also as a significant challenge to cultural work and cultural
policy. Meanwhile, a very diverse intercultural practice has evolved, but in
this field there is still a considerable need for further development in many
large cultural institutions such as theatres, museums and symphony orchestras.
The same is true of cultural policy.
In a growing number of towns (for
instance Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Dortmund, Essen, Osnabrück) and Länder (for
example North Rhine-Westfalia), programme-based cultural policies are
endowed with sufficient public funding for ethnic minorities and Germans with a
migration background. Over the last years, there has been a discussion on the
need for cultural policy to accord greater attention to the cultural interests
and rights to participation and self-organisation of ethnic minorities. In 2006
and 2007, the Chancellor organised two conferences on integration, in Berlin,
concerning, among other topics, cultural and cultural policy issues. In
addition, a set of country wide conferences were held on cultural policy tasks
within intercultural work and intercultural dialogue. They took place in
Stuttgart, Bonn, Wolfenbuettel and, in 2008, Nuremberg and Dortmund will
follow. In 2006/07, North Rhine-Westphalia presented a programme where six
larger cities will be supported to develop cultural policy concepts for
intercultural work. Three documents were produced on "Cultural Diversity
in the City Community" by the German Association of Cities and Towns
(2004); "Stuttgart's Impulse to Cultural Diversity" involving members
of cultural organisations (2006); and the cultural part of the "National
Integration Plan" of the Federal Government (2007).
Particular attention is currently
being focused on the importance of school and pre-school education for the
mediation of intercultural expertise and the acceptance of cultural diversity.
Concrete stipulations are suggested in several education plans for pre-schools
and primary schools of the individual Länder. The German Kulturrat has also
elaborated a cultural policy paper named "Interkulturelle Erziehung - eine
Chande für unsere Gesellschaft" (Intercultural Education - A Chance for our
Society).
There are some special institutions
and funding available to promote the art and culture of national and ethnic
minorities for the purpose of intercultural exchange. Intercultural programmes
are offered or sponsored inter alia by the federally funded House
of World Cultures, by the federally endowed Sociocultural Fund
and in the context of projects (such as the celebrations of foreign cultures)
launched by individual Länder and numerous municipalities.
Germany/ 4.2 Recent policy issues
and debates
4.2.2 Language issues and policies
German is the official language in
the Federal Republic of Germany and the language used in schools, the media and
other forms of communication. Cultivation of the German language is the task of
all groups in society. Learning the German language is also an important
prerequisite for the integration of foreigners living in Germany. Improvement
of the language skills of immigrants and foreign residents is, therefore, a
focus of efforts to further their integration. In addition to programmes of the
Länder and the municipalities, the Federal Government funds a multitude of
measures to promote language learning. A broad range of courses are also
offered by the private sector.
Dialects of the German language are
cultivated and promoted on a regional and local basis. The European Charter
for Regional or Minority Languages entered into force in Germany on 1
January 1999. Under this Charter, Niederdeutsch is protected as a
regional language, and funding is provided to further its use in the Länder
where it is spoken. Minority languages that are protected benefit from funding
provided by the Federal Government and the Länder in which they are spoken.
Languages of the minorities traditionally residing in Germany (i. e. autochthonous
minorities) are protected under the Framework Convention for the Protection
of National Minorities including: Danish, North Frisian, Sater Frisian,
Sorbian and the Romany language spoken by German Sinti and Roma.
Germany/ 4.3 Recent policy issues
and debates
4.2.3 Intercultural dialogue:
actors, strategies, programmes
Intercultural dialogue in Germany
refers both to discussions within the country (with population groups that have
an immigrant background), and those at an international level. In the global
context, the principal actors and programmes in Germany are those of foreign
cultural policy. In addition to the institutions already mentioned in chapter
2.4.2, the following are particularly important: the Goethe Institute, the
Institute for Cultural Exchange, the House of Cultures of the World and the Foreign
Office and the German National Commission for UNESCO (Deutsche
UNESCO-Kommission - DUK). Central to the activities of the DUK, in the last two
years, have been debates on the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and
Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expression, which included a broad
alliance of political and social actors (see chapter
4.1).
Many cultural institutions of
various kinds in towns and cities are committed to intercultural dialogue and
have developed numerous programmes and activities. These activities often link
intercultural dialogue with people who have an immigrant background living in
Germany, with global cultural dialogue, for example, intercultural theatre,
music and film festivals or the Carnival of the Cultures, a parade of various
ethnic and cultural groups, which takes places on the streets of e.g. Berlin,
Bielefeld or Frankfurt.
For more information, see:
Database of Good Practice on Intercultural Dialogue and our
Intercultural Dialogue section.
For more information on the
government's National Strategy for the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue
please see: http://ec.europa.eu/culture/eac/dialogue/strategies_en.html
Germany/ 4.3 Recent policy issues
and debates
4.2.4 Social cohesion and cultural
policies
The objectives of the new cultural
policy in Germany largely reflect requirements and aims corresponding to the
Council of Europe's definition of "social cohesion". In addition,
they are of increasing importance with respect to equality of cultural
opportunities, cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue.
In this context, the 1999 integrated
Action Programme of the Federal Government and Länder, which has been given the
title "Social Town" (Soziale Stadt), is also of interest. 260 cities
and other local authorities are participating in 360 programme areas in order
to counteract social and spatial division. Concrete areas of activity include
"Urban District Culture"(Stadtteilkultur), "Social Activities
and Social Infrastructure", as well as "Different Social and Ethnic
Groups Living Together" (http://www.sozialestadt.de/programm). In 2006, North
Rhine-Westphalia alone made 40 million euros available for this programme.
Social Town Programme: The positive
impact that culture and the arts have on the process of cultural integration
and social cohesion is increasingly being acknowledged. Only a few local or
Länder authorities, however, run concrete programmes and projects. Some Länder,
such as North Rhine-Westfalia (NRW), have special funding programmes.
Local authorities (like Nürnberg or
Stuttgart) and public or private cultural institutions (like cultural centres)
continue to be the main actors in this field. On the other hand, public
foundations take into account the social impact of culture and the arts. The
Federal Cultural Foundation ("Shrinking Cities") and the Cultural
Foundation of the Länder ("Kinder zum Olymp") may be highlighted in
this aspect, both co-operating with civil society institutions. The cultural
activities of the churches are also growing in significance.
Exchange of experiences and best
practice between actors and institutions (also via the internet) helps to
accelerate communication and adoption of new ideas and conceptions. Addressing
audiences, especially those rather remote from the arts, is at the heart of
projects that have a major concern with social cohesion. Experiments such as
employing artists in public schools (NRW) or projects by theatres or orchestras
working in social contexts, such as town districts, residential homes for
elderly people, hospitals etc., are examples which are seen as both innovative
and effective. There has been a certain revival of social and cultural ideas of
the seventies and eighties, where cultural policy had a focus on the social
impact of culture and arts as it is expressed with the term
"Socialculture" ("Soziokultur").
Themes linked to a value-based
cultural policy are - among others - being discussed in the so-called
"guiding culture debate" ("Leitkultur-Debatte"). This has
an impact on the formation of public opinion. Themes like trust, respect,
appreciation etc. play a major role here. Discussion, however, is only just
starting. A debate, which is already more advanced, concerns topics like
voluntary work, empowerment, participation, etc. Another focus of research and
debate has been on the question of whether it is necessary to promote social
cohesion more so than what is prescribed in the Constitution and laws of the
country; the latter stating the values of society including the tradition of
Christianity and Enlightenment. The initiative for the recent debate was taken
by the president of the Federal Parliament Norbert Lammert.
Germany/ 4.2 Recent policy issues
and debates
4.2.5 Media pluralism and content
diversity
Only in recent years have the media
become a greater focus of public cultural policy in the narrower sense. Prior
to this, only measures to promote the film sector were adopted by both the
Federal Government and the Länder in order to further the development of film
as an element of the country's cultural heritage and to support it as a
national culture industry.
Television and radio programmes in
Germany are produced and broadcasted by both public corporations and private
firms (the so-called "dual system" of broadcasting). All
broadcasters, however, agree that programme content should help to promote the
cultural diversity of the regions and the country as a whole. Article 6
of the Interstate Broadcasting Agreement of 31 August 1991 (as amended by
the Sixth Act to Amend the Interstate Broadcasting Agreement) stipulates
that "television broadcasters shall reserve the greater part of total time
scheduled for the transmission of feature films, television plays, series,
documentaries and comparable productions for European works in accordance with
European law". There are nevertheless no official quotas to which the
broadcasters must adhere. Culture and media policy in the Federal Republic of
Germany has thus far reflected the view that the imposition of quotas - also in
regard to certain groups - is an unsuitable instrument for the promotion of
European films and television productions.
Media policy formulated at the
European level is also taking on increasing importance for the relation between
the media and culture. The EU Television Without Frontiers Directive of
1989/1997 is playing a particularly prominent role in this context. As a result
of the - in some cases breathtakingly - rapid pace of technological
developments in the media sector, the EU Television Without Frontiers
Directive will be revised in the next few years. In the course of this
revision, attention will also be given to other Community regulatory
instruments affecting the media.
Binding on the press, publishers and
audiovisual mass media are the general provisions of the Law Against
Limitations on Competition (Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen - GWU),
as the central standard of German law on cartels and competition. The original
version, dating from 1957, has been amended several times - the comprehensive 7th
Amending Bill came into force in November 2005 - and is regularly brought
into line with European legislation on competition, most recently in November
2006. The GWU is supervised by the Federal Cartel Office, a Federal authority
based in Bonn, or, where only individual states are affected, by Land cartel
authorities. In recent years, the Federal Cartel Office has frequently
forbidden mergers between publishing houses or TV companies.
The balance between fiction
programming produced locally and foreign productions is markedly different in
public television companies and commercial ones. In 2005, in the two big public
broadcasting corporations ARD and ZDF, the share of German-made productions
(including co-productions) was 66% and 61% respectively. European productions
made up 10% and 13% and US productions 21% and 20%. In the case of the two big
private broadcasters SAT1 and RTL, German productions made up 62% and 50%,
European programmes - 2% and 1%, and US programmes - 35% and 46%. In the third
large private TV broadcaster PRO7, German productions had a share of only 8%,
US programmes - 78% and those from European countries had a share of 3%.
Germany/ 4.2 Recent policy issues
and debates
4.2.6 Culture industries: policies
and programmes
The culture industries are a
separate and autonomous pillar of cultural life in the Federal Republic of
Germany.
Generally, the cultural field is
divided into three sectors: private cultural enterprises, state or municipal
publicly financed institutions or activities like theatre, cultural heritage,
monuments, libraries, museums, etc. and not-for-profit, intermediary
organisations, foundations, associations etc.
Kulturwirtschaft refers to all private businesses and independent
contractors operating in the different fields of the cultural sector such as:
music markets; film and other audio-visual productions; the distribution of
books; literature and art markets; craft persons / artisans; freelance artists;
private theatre and musical enterprises. Between 1991 and 2000, the real value
created by the cultural sector and the publishing sector together rose from 29
billion euros to 32.7 billion euros (at constant prices). This amounts to 4/5
of the value created by the chemical industry and is about equal to that of the
food industry (see Michael Söndermann: "Zur Lage der Kulturwirtschaft in
Deutschland 1999/2000" in: Jahrbuch für Kulturpolitik 2001).
In addition to the culture
industries, in the narrower sense, the internationally more commonly used term
"creative industries" is now also becoming more significant in
Germany. The latter also includes advertising (2003: approx. 13.7 billion
euros) and software / games (2003: approx. 21.4 billion euros) and, in 2003,
had a total turnover of 117 billion euros.
According to the current statistics
of the Arbeitskreis Kulturstatistik (ARKStat e.V.), as of November 2006, the
turnover of the culture industries in Germany fell by 11.8% between 2000 and
2003 (inclusive), from 92.8 billion euros to 81.5 billion euros. (In the same
period, the creative industries (see above) saw a drop of 7.8 %.) Among the
losers in the sector were, in particular: the film industry / TV-production
(-31.0%) and publishing and recording (-10.0%). Architecture (-18.6%) and
Design (-12.7%) also experienced decreases in turnover. Only the software /
games branch, which is not included in the culture industries definition above,
was able to show an impressive increase in turnover from 17.7 billion euros to
21.5 billion euros (+21.6%). In 2003, with real value creation of 35 billion
euros, that is 1.6% of the gross national product, the culture industries
achieved a larger share than the software or energy industries at around 30
billion euros each. Despite the falls in turnover in the period 2000-2003 which
have been noted, the culture industries were able to achieve higher growth
(+39%) than the economy as a whole (+27%) over a longer ten year period from
1994-2003. (See Michael Söndermann: "Kulturwirtschaft", in: Kulturpolitische
Mitteilungen, Nr. 116 (I/2007), p. 64-67)
Several Länder have commissioned and
published reports on the state of the cultural industries: North
Rhine-Westphalia has produced 5 reports; others come from Berlin, Hessen,
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. Some cities have
also published cultural industries reports, e.g. Aachen, Dortmund and Dresden.
As in other countries, strategic
partnerships are increasingly being formed in Germany between the public and
private sectors (public-private partnerships) in order to fund cultural
projects and institutions. These strategic partnerships are expected to
proliferate in the future. Even during periods of sluggish economic activity,
the culture industries have been determined as an economic growth factor.
Culture industries have been
increasingly supported through cultural policy measures: indirectly through
measures like tax exemptions and more directly e.g. though support to a music
export office.
In 2007, intense discussions were
held on the relevance of culture and creative industries for economic
development and the employment situation in Germany. Several large congresses
took place. In the Bundestag, two debates were held on this topic (in April and
October 2007) and, at the end of October, the interfactional request
"Culture and Creative Industries as an Engine for Growth and Employment in
Germany and Europe" was discharged The Federal Government, in particular
the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Minister of State for Culture,
introduced the programme "Culture Initiative and the Creative
Industries" as a method of optimising the framework for their growth and
to support financially and infrastructurally the "Music Initiative",
a core area of the Creative Industries. This topic held an important place in
the German EU Presidency, in the first half of 2007.
There are special training and
in-service training programmes for professionals in the culture industries, but
the overall current position is unclear. At the higher education level, a
number of cultural management and cultural marketing courses have been set up
in the last ten years, which also provide qualifications for the culture
industry sphere (e.g. the Institute for Culture Management at Ludwigsburg
College of Education, the Academy of Music and Theatre, Hamburg, Passau
University); they concentrate, however, on management and marketing methods.
There are more concrete efforts to provide training - organised by private
business - in the individual industry sectors and also, for example, within
publicly financed small business start up programmes for art and the culture
industries. Exemplary in this area, has been StartART, which forms part of the
North Rhine-Westphalia start-up network Go!nrw (http://www.gib.nrw.de/de/job/existenz-kultur.htm),
and, within that, the Start Up Centre Culture Industry Aachen (Gründerzentrum
Kulturwirtschaft Aachen), In 2007, the Ministry of Economic Affairs of
Northrhine-Westphalia started a new programme in this field, particularly for
young cultural entrepreneurs and artists with "create.nrw" (http://www.kreativwirtschaft.nrw.de/).
Germany/ 4.2 Recent policy issues
and debates
4.2.7 Employment policies for the
cultural sector
According to data compiled by the Working
Group on Cultural Statistics (ARKStat) about 815 000 persons
were employed in German cultural industries in 2003 (based on EU definitions).
Almost one quarter of those (197 000) were self-employed (the trend is
rising), whereas the average share of self-employed persons in general
employment in Germany amounts to around 10 %. In addition, 150 000
persons were employed in culture-related occupations outside of the cultural
sector in production, trade, and private or public services. A total of
965 000 employed persons accounted for a share of 2.7 % of the total
work force in Germany (36.2 million), which is comparable to the employment
potential of the agricultural sector (895 000 persons). This share places
Germany in the medium range in a European comparison, between France, Italy or
Spain (ranging form 2.0 to 2.2 %) and the UK, the Netherlands and the
Nordic countries, which range from 3.0 to 3.5 %.
Out of a total of 815 000
persons employed in 2003, 618 000 (= 75.8 %) were employees;
more than 70 % (444 000 persons) of these were liable to social
security deductions - this trend is decreasing. The remaining 174 000
persons were employed in mini-jobs, part-time or project-related contracts -
this trend is rising. While the cultural sector showed an above-average
economic dynamic during the mid-1990s (with a 5-year increase of more than
20 % as compared to a general growth in employment of 2 %), it slowed
down between 1999 and 2004 to a rate of 7.2 %, which is clearly below the
top results of the past decade. However, compared to a decrease in general
employment of 2 % during the same period, this is still a remarkable development.
For more statistical information see M. Söndermann: "Beschäftigung im
Kultursektor in Deutschland 2003/2004. Ergebnisse aus der
Kulturstatistik"; Jahrbuch für Kulturpolitik 2005, 459-477;
"Der Kultursektor als Beschäftigungs - und Wirtschaftsfaktor in
Europa"; Jahrbuch für Kulturpolitik 2007, 387-406. Internet: http://www.kulturstatistik.de.
The extent to which the cultural
sector figures in labour market policy has been the subject of discussion for
many years. Thus far, however, this discussion has had no sustained practical
impact. While ideas and suggestions have been floated and small-scale
programmes implemented at the Land level to generate employment in the cultural
sector (such as the funding of centres for culture industry business start-ups
in North Rhine-Westphalia), no national cultural policy strategy has been
developed.
The new Bundesländer, but also some
structurally weak regions in the west part of Germany, have repeatedly attracted
EU funds to support employment in the cultural sector. These funds have been
used to support, for example, the development of municipal cultural planning
(in Brandenburg) or the training of cultural managers in the rural districts of
Lower Saxony, co-financed by the Land and the Federal Agency of Labour.
Indirect employment effects for the
cultural sector are also generated through other EU Structural Funds. The European
Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) is often used to
finance the restoration of protected monuments like castles and churches or for
the protection and restoration of cultural heritage in the context of rural
development. The Land Brandenburg derived funding from the European
Programme for Regional Development (EFRE) to create a municipal
investment programme for culture. In North-Rhine-Westphalia, the Ruhrgebiet
has benefited the most from the Structural Funds, e. g. to develop the Zeche
Zollverein in Essen, which is on the UNESCO list of World Cultural
Heritage.
Therefore employment measures in the
Bundesländer are at least indirectly supported via the Social Funds and
Structural Funds of the EU as well as from economic and investment support
programmes of the Länder and the Federal Government (e. g. the Investment
Support Law), which are increasingly being opened up to the culture sector.
Germany/ 4.2 Recent policy issues
and debates
4.2.8 New technologies and cultural
policies
The information society has
considerable untapped potential for improving productivity and enhancing the
quality of life. This potential is growing as a result of the technological
development of broadband and wireless access, i. e. the possibility of
accessing the Internet not only via PC but also via digital TV and 3G devices.
Drawing a clear line between teleservices (individual use) and media services
(available to the general public, of relevance to publishing) is
extraordinarily difficult. These technological developments are opening up not
only new economic and social opportunities but new cultural opportunities as
well. New services, applications and content will afford easy access to
information and communication vehicles and further "electronic
integration", social cohesion and cultural diversity. All in all, from the
perspective of cultural policy, the positive effects associated with
digitalisation outweigh the negative.
The Internet opens up new scope for
creativity, brings people closer together - performing musicians and their
listeners, for example - and tends to break down high brow hegemonic market
power structures. In the online environment, intermediaries retain control of
the mass market; only on the fringes of the market and in niches has it been
possible for new forms of marketing to take hold that concede creative artists
greater control over the exploitation of their work.
Globalisation trends in the culture
industry are marked by interplay of globalisation and localisation.
"Cultural globalisation" is furthered by economic globalisation. As
the latter progressively extends the range of markets and the scope of
entrepreneurial activity (to the point where corporations are active
worldwide), the central cognitive activity associated with "cultural
globalisation" manifests itself in a proliferation and intensification of
comparative social processes. The Internet changes the cultural significance of
near and far - building and strengthening cultural cohesion and a sense of
belonging.
Modern communication technologies
are of special importance to migrants who, without them, would not be able to
keep close contact to their former home countries or their parents and
grandparents. Similarly, the new media are of great importance to children and
young people. That is why the governments of the Bund, the Länder and the
municipalities put a lot of emphasis on media training both inside and outside
of formal school learning environments through programmes such as "Schools
to the Net" which is jointly financed by the state and computer
industries.
Germany/ 4.2 Recent policy issues
and debates
4.2.9 Heritage issues and policies
Heritage is a cultural policy
priority at all levels of government and includes museums as well as the
conservation of historic monuments and sites which bear witness to the
country's cultural traditions. The importance of the conservation of historic
monuments and sites lies not only in its preservation of cultural heritage but
also in its economic significance for the construction industry, in particular
specialised small and medium-size businesses. The protection of historic
monuments is promoted through government sponsored public relations campaigns,
e. g. the "Day of the Monuments".
Germany's immaterial cultural
heritage is continuously addressed and examined from a modern perspective in
theatrical, musical and literary productions. Municipal and state sponsors of
cultural institutions provide facilities for this purpose.
New challenges for cultural heritage
policies are posed by the archiving of works and productions of media arts
(e.g. video art and digital art), requiring new technologies for documentation
and conservation. The Act on the German National-Library, of July 2007,
enhanced the displaying of their collection-order although on the internet.
A public debate on the importance of
immaterial and material cultural heritage in cultural policy has been going on
for several years. It is usually fuelled by large scale projects and events of
outstanding political significance in the Federal capital, e. g. the
reconstruction of the Stadtschloss (former castle of the Emperor) or the
reconstruction of the Museumsinsel in Berlin. The same debate took place
in other towns; in 2007, for example, in Braunschweig, relating to the
reconstruction of the former castle and, in Frankfurt, relating to the proposal
to rebuild a great part of the old town centre dating from the 17th and 18th
centuries.
The cancellation of support
programmes of the Federal and Länder governments did not go unnoticed by the
public, e.g. the programme for "Protection and Maintenance of Cultural
Monuments in the New Länder" was intensely discussed. The main issues to
be continuously addressed are questions on how many and which
monuments from the past the state should protect, reconstruct and maintain and
by which measures. The rich, albeit rather dilapidated, heritage of cultural
monuments in the East has absorbed huge public funds throughout the 1990s
including the reconstruction of historic city centres, parks and gardens (e.g.
the Programmes "Urban Construction and Monument Protection" or
"Culture in the new Länder"). However, experts estimate that the
amount of funding available to date only covers about 50 % of the
monuments requiring restoration in the eastern part of Germany.
Cultural monument protection and
policies which support the built cultural heritage are under growing pressure
in the face of dwindling financial resources and difficulties to find
appropriate and economically sound concepts for the use of reconstructed
buildings. This also applies to some monuments of industrial culture included
on the UNESCO World Heritage List, e.g. the Völklinger Hütte in
the Saarland or Zeche Zollverein in Essen (NorthRhine-Westphalia).
Financial reasons are only one aspect of the problem; another lies in the
widened concept of culture that was developed in the 1970s and 1980s which
included objects of everyday life as well as industrial culture - a concept
which is no longer generally accepted. The reunification of Germany increased
the number of objects worth protecting and reconstructing to an extent that
makes the development of new evaluation criteria a necessity.
During 2007, in the city of Dresden,
there was controversy over the building of a bridge over the Elbe after the
UNESCO World Heritage Committee denied Dresden the title of UNESCO World
Heritage Site if the bridge was built, as it would destroy the view of the Elbe
valley, decisive in the original awarding of the title. After several dilatory
court decisions in November 2007 and against numerous protests, preparatory construction
began.
There are frequent discussions on
whether objects of industrial spaces can be used in a meaningful and
sustainable way by cultural projects because public funds are more and more
insufficient to pay for their high maintenance costs. More fundamental cultural
policy considerations regarding financial support to works of art and culture
from the past leaves little room for support to contemporary living art, thus
upsetting the balance between protection of heritage and support to
contemporary creativity. Therefore, there is a demand to reconsider the
criteria used to determine public support for culture and that expensive
cultural institutions such as the theatre and music be modernised and
economically streamlined.
The debates in 2006 concerning
cultural heritage were focussed on two issues. First, the discussion on the
implementation of the UNESCO Convention concerning the Protection of the
World Cultural and Natural Heritage (Kulturgüterschutzabkommen) in Germany
has been the centre of attention. This Convention came into force in February
2007 - 35 years after its adoption by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1972.
The submitted draft bill has been criticised by some actors: in particular
representatives of the art trade assume that it is too far-reaching, while
other actors complain that the draft bill is unfair to poorer countries.
Secondly, since October 2006, there
have been discussions regarding museums and libraries selling works of art in
order to acquire funds for the upkeep of cultural institutions. Some
municipalities and one Land announced their intention to sell works of art,
despite the ongoing debates. However, such moves led to highly controversial
public debates and the concerned public authorities were forced to retreat.
In July 2007, the Minister of State
for Culture presented a Memorial Place Concept with the title "Notice
Responsibility, Strengthen Refurbishment, Deepen Memories". It relates to
the memorial places such as the former concentration camps and, on the other
hand, memorial places to the memory of the GDR oppression. In November, the
Federal Government announced a ‘concept' for the winter of 2007/08 on the
German and eastern neighboring countries disputed Documentation Centres on
the Fate of the Refugees.
For more information, see
European Heritage Network: Country profile Germany
Germany/ 4.2 Recent policy issues
and debates
4.2.10 Gender equality and cultural
policies
Women continue to be
underrepresented not only in leadership positions in the cultural policy sector
but also in artistic professions and cultural institutions. More recent
studies, however, indicate a certain trend towards greater involvement of women
in decision-making positions of cultural institutions and in public cultural
policy making. Only 16% of the culture departments have women in
decision-making positions, but 48% of the culture administrations are led by
women. In two of the 16 Lander of the Federal Republic, women hold a position
as Minister or State Secretary for Culture.
A number of Land ministries for
cultural affairs have budgeted funds to promote cultural activities by and for
women or to support independent organisations which promote women in cultural
life such as the Frauenkulturbüro NRW, an office for female artists in
North Rhine-Westphalia. Numerous cultural institutions and programmes for women
have become firmly established at local level as well, such as the Frauen
Museum in Bonn and Wiesbaden, the Women's Film Festivals
"Feminale" in Cologne and "femme totale" in Dortmund. The
cultural activities of the local gender equality offices deserve special
mention in this context.
The "Gabriele Münter
Prize", is awarded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior
Citizens, Women and Youth to professional women artists over the age of 40
for their works.
Germany/ 4. Current issues in
cultural policy development and debate
4.3 Other relevant issues and
debates
All the relevant issues and debates
on cultural policies in recent years are described above.
Germany/ 5.1 General legislation
5.1.1 Constitution
At present, the Federal Constitution
for the Republic of Germany (Grundgesetz - GG) includes one phrase
referring to culture and the arts: "The arts and science, research, and
teaching shall be free." (Article 5.III GG). According to the
interpretation of the Constitutional Court, this clause not only stipulates a
right for creative artists to protection from state interference but also
mandates the state to preserve and promote culture and the arts. This principle
was explicitly reaffirmed in Article 35 of the 1990 Unification Treaty.
In the past two decades, there have been efforts to insert a more precise
"cultural clause" or to include culture among the main goals of the
state in the federal constitution. The last of these proposals was issued in
2005 by the Commission of Inquiry set up by the German Parliament entitled "Culture
in Germany".
In contrast to the Federal
Constitution, the majority of the Länder Constitutions address the arts
and culture more specifically - the only exception being the city-state of
Hamburg. Three of the Länder - Bavaria, Brandenburg and Saxony - include culture
among the main goals of the state in clauses such as: "Bavaria is a legal,
cultural and social state" (Article 3.I). Similar or identical
to the clause in Article 3.III GG of the Federal Constitution,
basic protective rights are found in 11 of the Länder Constitutions.
Furthermore, provisions regarding authors' rights can also be found in e. g.
the constitution of Hessen: "The rights of authors, inventors and artists
enjoy the protection of the state." (Article 46)
Most constitutions of the Länder
include pledges for public support to the arts or cultural development,
e. g. in clauses such as: "The Land protects and supports cultural
life" (Berlin, Article 20.II). In addition, many of the
Constitutions oblige the authorities to foster public involvement in the arts
and culture, e. g. "The whole people should be given the opportunity
to make use of the cultural goods of life." (Rhineland-Palatinate, Article 40.III)
Many Länder Constitutions include
legal obligations with regard to specific public responsibilities, such as in
the field of heritage protection or adult education and some mention the
promotion and protection of cultural traditions of ethnic minorities.
In a wider context, some clauses
propose cultural goals for the educational system, such as in the constitution
of Bavaria: "Openness to everything that is just, good and beautiful"
(Article 131.II) or Thuringia: "Peace-loving and living
together with other cultures and peoples" (Article 22).
Germany/ 5.1 General legislation
5.1.2 Division of jurisdiction
With regard to the division of
competence between the federal authorities and the Länder, the Federal
Constitution stipulates that "except as otherwise provided or permitted by
this Constitution, the exercise of state powers and the discharge of state
functions is a matter for the Länder" (Article 30).
Legislative and executive powers must therefore be expressly conferred on
federal authorities by individual provisions in the Federal Constitution, which
has resulted in some responsibilities of relevance for cultural policy. One
example is cultural relations with third countries.
There is not much dispute about the
role of federal authorities to represent the country in culture matters and
particularly in the federal capital Berlin. Other Federal responsibilities
relate to the protection of the national and world heritage, the care for
specific sites, the protection, acquisition and return of cultural goods of
national importance, the funding of important cultural institutions in the
Eastern part of Germany ("light towers") and the promotion of
cultural unity in the country. Also, the Federal Cultural Foundation (Kulturstiftung
des Bundes) falls under the competence of the Federal Government. However,
plans to merge this foundation with the Cultural Foundation of the Länder
(Kulturstiftung der Länder) were revived by the new grand coalition
government elected in 2005, but failed at the end of 2006. Film funding and the
governance of the Foundation for Prussian Heritage are matters to be addressed
in co-operation with the Länder.
Other public responsibilities in the
cultural sphere are usually regulated by the Länder. However, the Länder
transferred the majority of responsibility for cultural affairs to the local
level (cities, towns and counties), as can be read explicitly in some of their
respective Constitutions and municipal codes.
Competence of the municipalities in
the cultural field is, on the one hand, enshrined in Article 28.II
of the Federal Constitution as well as in various Land constitutions and county
and municipal codes.
Germany/ 5.1 General legislation
5.1.3 Allocation of public funds
In general, there are no legal
provisions governing cultural financing in Germany, which would indicate the
specific amount and / or means to distribute public funds. Exceptions are the Act
on the Cultural Areas in Saxony ("Sächsisches Kulturraumgesetz"),
which provides for joint funding of cultural endeavours of regional or
supra-regional importance by the Land, the counties and the municipalities, and
a cultural treaty for the federal capital, which defines the funds to be
allocated by the Federal Government to cultural institutions and activities in
Berlin. Additional commitments can be found in the laws establishing public
foundations, such as the Federal Culture Foundation or the Foundation for
Prussian Heritage and the Foundation "Classic Weimar", with the
latter being governed jointly by federal and Länder authorities. There are
special laws or regulations governing the respective cultural foundations in
many of the Länder.
Beyond these exceptions, the funding
for cultural institutions and general cultural activities supported by the
federal and Länder authorities is regulated via the annual parliamentary budget
appropriations. The same procedures apply for most of the Länder allocations to
local cultural institutions and for the cultural budgets of cities and
counties.
Germany/ 5.1 General legislation
5.1.4 Social security frameworks
Artists and journalists / authors in
the Federal Republic of Germany enjoy comprehensive social security coverage.
When employed, they are covered under the general social security regimes.
Self-employed artists and journalists / authors are obliged to join the Artists'
Social Insurance Fund (KSK). The special protection for
self-employed artists and journalists / authors provided for under the Artists'
Social Insurance Act encompasses statutory health, long-term or old age
care and pension insurance. Like employees, the artists and journalists /
authors must only pay half of the social insurance contribution. Sixty percent
of the "employers share" is paid by the firms that regularly exploit
and market the work of artists and journalists / authors. The enterprises are
charging the artists' social insurance levy on all fees and royalties paid; the
level has been set at 4.9 % from 2008 (down from 5.1% in 2007). In
addition, the Federal Government provides a subsidy to help fund the
"employer's share" with 40 % of the expenditures of the Artists'
Social Insurance Fund. With the third change in the Artist Social Security
Law, from June 2007 their financial basis was improved by broader coverage
and a stricter examination of the contributors.
For more information, see our Status
of Artists section.
Germany/ 5.1 General legislation
5.1.5 Tax laws
Indirect state support for the arts
and culture in the form of tax breaks is not laid down in a separate piece of
legislation but instead consists of a multitude of regulations contained in
various specialised acts. In the case of VAT, some cultural products (such as
books) are subject to a lower rate of 7 % instead of the standard
19 %; under certain conditions, public cultural operations and non-profit
activities (e. g. theatre performances) are exempt from VAT and corporate tax
altogether.
Since January 1st, 2000, an Act
on the Taxation of Foundations is in force, which includes tax incentives
for the establishment of and donations to foundations. In recent years,
additional tax breaks have been incorporated into the law governing donations,
and the tax-exempt ceiling for income from voluntary activity (the so-called
standard exemption for course instructors) has been raised and extended to
apply to other groups.
The reform of the Law on
Non-profit Character and Donations in July 2007 eases taxation of civic
commitment. Amongst others, donations remain free from income tax to a limit of
20% and the tax free allowance for the establishment of foundations was raised
from 300 000 euro to 1 million euro.
Germany/ 5.1 General legislation
5.1.6 Labour laws
With the exception of the Artists'
Social Insurance Act (see chapter
5.1.4 and chapter
5.3.9), there are no special laws regarding the terms of employment for
artists and other cultural workers. The general labour legislation is applied.
If artists or cultural workers are employed in municipal, Länder or federal
facilities, then the public service regulations are applied. On the basis of
the general Wage Agreement Law (TVG), special contracts and wage
agreements for the cultural sector, including non-artistic staff, were
concluded by unions and employers organisations for single artistic sectors and
cultural facilities such as theatres, orchestras and music schools. The
conditions of work for main occupational groups such as singers, actors,
orchestra musicians etc., are laid down in these agreements. In addition,
special courts of arbitration ("Bühnenschiedsgericht") have been set
up to settle employment disputes in theatres.
The right of employees to
participate in decision making processes is guaranteed through the General
Worker Co-determination Laws (Mitbestimmungsrecht) and similar
regulations for public service staff. However, these rights are somewhat
restricted in companies such as e.g. theatres, museums or libraries with regard
to management decisions of artistic or scientific relevance.
Of relevance for independent artists
and journalists is a regulation in the wage agreement law (§ 12a TVG)
which was revised in October 2005. Under the revised law, freelancers who work
predominantly for one company can enjoy an "employee-like" status
which allows their professional organisations to conclude wage or fee
agreements with their contractors.
For more information, see our Status
of Artists section.
Germany/ 5.1 General legislation
5.1.7 Copyright provisions
Along with the Copyright Law,
the introduction of a standard levy on audio equipment was passed in 1965 which
was to be administered and distributed by the collecting societies. A levy on
audio and video recording equipment was added in 1985. This applies to
recording and reproduction equipment with a certain playing time and capacity.
Since the form of reproduction is irrelevant in this regulation, authors and
performing artists also receive levies on digital reproductions, including
computer related technology. These standard levies are collected by the collecting
societies and distributed to professionals. Public lending rights were first
introduced to the general Copyright Law in 1972 (Article°27).
The Amending Law on Copyright
came into effect on the 10th September 2003, which began to implement the
European guidelines on "Copyright in the Information Society" (2001/29/EU).
It makes, inter alia, the evasion of copyright for commercial and private
purposes a punishable offence (§§ 95 a ff. UrhG). Further elements of
the revision are the clear definition of "Internet Law", in
terms of "Right of Public Accessibility" in § 19 UrhG,
and the retention, in principle, of the system of payment for private copying.
It also contains adjustments to take account of the new technological
developments, in particular of the digital use and distribution of artistic,
literary and scholarly and scientific works.
A new reform of Copyright Law
(the so-called second tranche) was passed by the Bundestag in July 2007 and
continued the work on fully implementing the EU guidelines on Copyright in
the Information Society (2001/29/EU). After long and intensive arguments
between artists' representatives, the users, as well as the appliance industry,
a compromise was reached. Afterwards, the lump-sum payment system, which
adjusts charges to include a levy for private copying, will be reformed so that
in the future, the rate of duty will be independently negotiated by the
collecting societies and appliance industries (see: http://www.urheberrechtsbuendnis.de).
Germany/ 5.1 General legislation
5.1.8 Data protection laws
At the national level, the Federal
Data Protection Act (BDSG) of January 1st, 1978 regulates the data security
of the federal authorities and for the private sector, including business
enterprises. In addition, the Länder data security laws apply on the level of
state and municipal authorities. The purpose of the data security laws is to
protect "the individual against an infringement of his personal rights through
the misuse of his personal data" (§ 1.1 BDSG). This right of
"information self-determination" is considered, according to a ruling
of the Federal Constitutional Court, as a fundamental right of all German
citizens. The basic principle of the law is a general ban on the collection,
processing and use of person related data, except where explicitly permitted by
law or individually approved - usually in writing - by the person concerned.
Other important principles of the law include those on "data avoidance"
and "data thrift" (e. g. the former Federal film statistics were
abolished, in this context). A Federal Representative for Data Security
and similar officials in the Länder are responsible for supervising and
guaranteeing these provisions.
These general data protection laws
are complemented and clarified by many other data regulations, e.g. in the
social security domain or with regard to church life. However, the BDSG
regulations are also relevant in the cultural area, where they have gained
relevance e. g. in the marketing work of cultural facilities. Since May
23rd, 2004, companies are obliged to appoint a data security official in cases
where more than five employees handle, or have access to, personal data.
On May 23rd, 2001 the minimum standards
of the European Data Security Guidelines were implemented into national German
laws.
Germany/ 5.1 General legislation
5.1.9 Language laws
There are no general regulations
governing the representation of languages in the media. In areas with official
ethnic minorities, such as Saxony, Brandenburg and Schleswig-Holstein, the
languages of these minorities are represented in the media (see chapter
4.2.5). In larger cities, especially in Berlin, in addition to single
foreign-language radio channels (RFI and BBC); some programmes
for ethnic minorities are produced by public broadcasters (such as SFB
Multikulti or WDR 5) in alternating foreign languages. In addition,
private radio and television stations feed foreign-language programmes into the
cable network.
Germany/ 5.2 Legislation on culture
Legal aspects of cultural policy are
governed by related provisions in constitutional and administrative law. These
provisions, however, are not codified in a single text; they consist of a host
of constitutional and statutory provisions, above all the Federal Constitution
and the constitutions of the Länder, the municipal and county codes, a few
specialised statutes of the Länder relating to cultural affairs, federal
legislation such as the Act on the Protection of German Cultural Heritage
against Removal Abroad, the Copyright Law, the Federal Film
Promotion Act and the Artists' Social Insurance Act, and various
provisions relating to cultural matters in legislation such as the Federal
Building Act, the Federal Regional Planning Act and the Federal
Act for the Expellees (see also chapter
5.3.10). In addition, German cultural policy is bound by the provisions of
international legal instruments such as the United Nations Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, which includes the stipulation that "everyone
has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to
enjoy the arts ..."
Moreover, the federal authorities -
based on the constitution (see chapter
5.1.1 and chapter
5.1.2) and on the jurisdiction of the Federal Constitutional Court - lay a
claim to competence originating "in the nature of the matter" where
the matters in question are tasks that in a federally structured union are
peculiar to the national level and cannot be effectively handled or regulated
by a Land. In practice, the Federal Government and parliament derive their
competence on these grounds when functions of significance for the state as a
whole are at stake, such as representing the country in its entirety. This
includes concrete activities in the area of promoting culture, whereby the
Federal Government - aside from exceptions such as its contractual commitment
to fund cultural institutions in the capital - generally only acts together
with one or more Länder or with a municipality. Prior to unification, cultural
matters relating to both German states fell within the remit of the national
government. Upon unification, the aspect "promotion of unity" as
expressed in Article 35 of the 1990 Unification Treaty took
centre stage.
The cultural competence of the
Länder is limited by the tasks of the federal authorities defined in the
Federal Constitution and by the responsibilities transferred to the
municipalities within the framework of "local self-government" (Article 28.2
GG), as well as by the obligation of the municipalities under many Land
constitutions to cultivate and promote cultural life. In contrast to the other
two levels, the competence of the Länder is more precisely defined by
provisions in their constitutions and by individual laws.
Specific cultural laws exist at the
Länder level as regards archives, the care of monuments and adult education.
Individual Länder have a Law on Music Schools (Brandenburg) and a Library
Law (Baden-Wuerttemberg). However, no special laws exist for the largest or
most important cultural institutions such as public theatres, museums or
orchestras. Legal competencies in the mass and electronic media are divided
between the federal and the Länder authorities.
Germany/ 5.3 Sector specific
legislation
5.3.1 Visual and applied arts
As is the case in other artistic
fields, visual and applied art activities are covered under the Freedom of
Art Guarantee of the Federal Constitution (Article 5.III GG). This
provision guarantees everyone the right to freely work in the artistic domain
and to strive for recognition of his / her work by the public, that is: the
guarantee includes not only the "sphere of the creative work", but
also the "sphere of impact" of that work via its publication and
distribution.
With regard to the dissemination and
use of artistic works, the frequently amended Copyright / Authors' Rights
Law dating from September 9, 1965 (UrhG) is particularly relevant. The law
includes regulations for publication, exhibition and transfer or granting the
right of utilisation (e. g. via loans to museums) of artistic work. Other
clauses clarify that the creator is entitled to economic returns from the use
of his works (§11.2 UrhG, see also chapter
5.1.7). However, an exhibition royalty demanded by artists' organisations similar
to the existing public lending right (see chapter
5.3.4) is not included in the present Copyright Law.
The Artists' Social Insurance Act
(see chapter
5.1.4 and chapter
5.3.9) is important for all independent artists and for companies
exploiting their works, by which the latter is required to pay a levy on all
fees ("employer's share").
Germany/ 5.3 Sector specific
legislation
5.3.2 Performing arts and music
Apart from the general
constitutional regulations and to the Labour Law (see chapter
5.1.1 and chapter
5.1.6), there are no separate legal provisions for the fields of music and
theatre. The practical organisation of work in this domain is regulated through
individual contracts between the authorities in charge of a facility or company
and its manager ("Intendant"). Contracts are then drawn up between the
facilities and the artistic and other staff members along the lines of general
wage agreements such as the "Normal Contract Stage", which summarises
the main terms of employment of the different artistic groups working in a
theatre.
For music schools, the state's supervision
of educational matters is based on a general legal guideline, with special
definitions existing in six of the Länder. Only Brandenburg has a special Law
for Music Schools.
Germany/ 5.3 Sector specific
legislation
5.3.3 Cultural heritage
One of the central tasks of cultural
policy is the protection and preservation of the built heritage, i. e.
cultural monuments and man-made landscapes including architectural,
archaeological and paleontological monuments as well as parks. At the Land
level, monument protection legislation has been passed. In addition to their
sovereign right to define their own tasks, the Länder also consider it their
duty to preserve such monuments and provide funds for this purpose.
Municipalities are also involved in monument conservation; as a general rule,
they have been assigned specific roles in this domain.
Despite the primary role of the
Länder in monument conservation, a programme at the federal level has been
operating since 1950 to promote monument conservation measures in order to
preserve and restore immovable cultural monuments of national significance.
This involves federal co-financing of those cultural monuments that are
significant for Germany as a whole. Following re-unification, the Federal
Government launched several monument conservation programmes to help meet the
special needs for long overdue monument conservation work in Germany's eastern
Länder. These programmes are co-financed by the Land involved. The federal and
Länder authorities work together in the German National Committee for
Monument Protection.
Private sector activities in the
area of monument conservation are of great importance. There are a substantial
number of volunteer monument conservators in Germany who work hand in hand with
the respective public authorities. Furthermore, private funding has become
indispensable in this field.
The German Foundation for the
Protection of Monuments functions
as a useful and effective link between public and private sector activities in
this area. The Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and
Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany (KMK) serves
as the national clearinghouse for recommendations of monuments to the UNESCO
World Heritage List.
Whereas monument conservation measures
are designed to preserve and safeguard immovable cultural assets and thus
protect this part of the nation's cultural heritage, other cultural heritage
protection measures serve to protect its movable cultural treasures. These,
too, are at risk of deterioration and destruction. The greatest threat to the
nation's movable cultural heritage is, however, the loss of specific treasures,
especially through their sale abroad.
The statutory basis for state
protection against the export of cultural objects is the Act on the
Protection of German Cultural Heritage against Removal Abroad. This
legislation is in line with EU law, which - contrary to the generally
prescribed free movement of goods within the EU internal market - expressly
provides for such a restriction on trade and movement in the case of
"cultural objects classified ... as national cultural treasures possessing
artistic, historic or archaeological value". Protected from export are
objects that have been entered by the Länder in their registers of cultural
treasures and archives that possess national value. The vast majority of these
objects are privately owned such as paintings, medieval books, musical
instruments, archaeological objects or archives. The Federal Commissioner
for Cultural and Media Affairs (BKM) maintains a consolidated register of
cultural treasures and archives possessing national value that is compiled from
the Land registers and published in the Federal Gazette. The Commissioner is
also responsible for deciding whether to permit the export of such objects.
In order to safeguard national
treasures, the Federal Government also assists the Länder and the
municipalities in purchasing important objects when it is feared that they may
be sold abroad (see chapter
4.2.9).
Germany/ 5.3 Sector specific
legislation
5.3.4 Literature and libraries
Article 5.1 of the Federal
Constitution guarantees the freedom of
expression of opinion and is, therefore, an important legal prerequisite for
the development of free and lively literature. Furthermore, this article
stipulates that everybody has the right "to inform him / her unhindered
from generally accessible sources". This could be interpreted as a duty
for the state and its public facilities, in particular libraries, to provide an
"unhindered" access to the literary resources administered by them.
However, the right to participate in state services and educational supplies
cannot be brought to court.
Only one of the German states
(Baden-Wuerttemberg) has a Library Law which regulates the public
provision of suitable facilities. In all other Länder, the general legal
background for public library services must be derived from the Federal
Constitution (see above), the respective Länder constitutions as well as from
regulations existing on the level of counties and other local communities.
On 1 July 2007, the Act on the
German National Library came into force with a stretching of the collection
on the internet.
The Copyright / Authors' Right
Law of 1965 (UrhG) is another legal instrument of importance in the
literature and library sector. Among other items, the law regulates the rental,
duplication and copying of printed products and media. Article 27 UrhG
tries to balance the interests by introducing a public lending right:
a library royalty paid by state authorities to authors' societies (VG
Wort, GEMA, VG Bild-Kunst), which then compensate the authors
as appropriate. For copying machines, Article 54 UrhG
foresees a royalty both for the individual machine and for those operators
which regularly use them for copying protected works. The VG Wort
collects these duties from importers / traders, commercial operators and, as
regards the libraries, from the Länder (see chapter
5.1.7).
The Law on Fixed Book Prices (BuchPrbG),
of 2nd September 2002, is also an important piece of legislation for literature
and its dissemination. Publishing companies are obliged to fix the retail
prices for their new books. This regulation is meant to safeguard a stable book
market and with it a diverse supply structure, from which both the authors and
readers should benefit. With the exception of the UK, Ireland and Finland, all
member states of the European Union have introduced, or are preparing, laws
supporting a fixed book price.
Germany/ 5.3 Sector specific
legislation
5.3.5 Architecture and environment
As early as 1950, a federal Law
on Art for Public Buildings ("Kunst am Bau") was passed to
promote visual artists and to bring art into public spaces (actually, a
regulation of the same name for the Reich, the Länder and the towns already
existed in 1934). The law foresaw that 1 percent - later 2 percent - of the
construction budget of public buildings should be spent on works of art
connected with the architecture. This regulation was reworked several times and
is known today as the "K7" component of the "Guidelines for the
Realisation of Construction Assignments of the Federal Government" (RBBau
K7). At the beginning of the 1990s, the 2 percent rule was taken out of the
regulation.
The RBBau K7 applies only to
constructions carried out on the federal level. The Länder introduced similar
regulations for constructions carried out under their responsibility, some of
them with the same name "K7", others under the title "Art in the
Public Space". Some local authorities also developed similar guidelines.
More general definitions relating to
architecture and town-planning are laid down in the Federal Construction
Code and in building regulations, above all at state level.
In 2005, the Bundestag / Federal
Parliament decided unanimously to establish a National Foundation for
Architecture (Stiftung Baukultur). However, this plan failed because of the
resistance of the Bundesrat (Chamber of the Länder in the Parliament) and
because some Länder feared too much influence from the national authorities.
Environmental care and landscape
protection in general do not fall into the area of cultural policy in Germany.
Both on the national and regional level, they are administered through separate
laws and regulations by ministries for environmental affairs. However, the
protection and care of the natural heritage and built monuments in the narrow
sense are at least partly addressed by authorities in charge of the care of
monuments, based on the laws for monument protection of the 16 Länder (see chapter
5.3.3).
Germany/ 5.3 Sector specific
legislation
5.3.6 Film, video and photography
Both the Federal Government and the
Länder provide support for film. National film support has its legal base in
the Federal Film Promotion Act (FFG) which is constantly being updated.
The present version came into force on January 1st, 2004 and is valid until the
end of 2008. The most important instrument of film promotion on the national
level is the Film Promotion Agency (FFA). Its task is to provide
"measures for the promotion of German films as well as for the improvement
of the structure of the German film economy" and to support the overall
interests of the film economy, e. g. through marketing research and the
protection of copyright. The FFA is financed via a "film levy"
raised from all industries involved in the utilisation of films: cinemas, the
video industry and broadcasting companies (§ 66 following FFG). The annual
budget of the FFA amounts to 77.4 million Euro (2005) and is used, among
other things, to support productions, scripts, the rental and distribution of
films, cinemas and video stores.
In addition to the FFA, the German
film industry is also supported by the Federal Commissioner for Cultural and
Media Affairs (BKM). Every year, more than 130 million euros in total flows
into awards (for example, the German Film Award) and promotion programmes
(support for productions, scripts, cinemas, etc.). Since 2005, the German Film
Award (with prize money of 3 million euros) is organised by the German Film
Academy, founded in 2003. Furthermore, film festivals and symposia (for
example, The International Film Festival Berlin), international film
productions (through bilateral film agreements), as well as institutions
dedicated to the restoration and preservation of film cultural heritage (for
example Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek in Berlin and the Deutsche Filminstitut in
Frankfurt am Main) are also supported by the BKM.
On January 1st 2007, a new support
model entitled "Encouragement and consolidation of film production in
Germany" came into force, which offers film producers a reimbursement of
15 to 20 % of production costs, spent in Germany, on the production of a
cinema film. 60 million euros p.a. has been provided. The intention is to
increase Germany's attraction as a production location for large-scale international
productions.
In addition to support measures for
the improvement of the artistic quality of films, federal policies in this
domain include regulatory measures, e.g. concerning taxation and copyright
frameworks. In that context, tax shelters for film funds were abolished in
November, 2005.
Film promotion programmes also exist
at the Länder level. These differ considerably in scope and are funded by a
variety of sponsors and bodies. In order to coordinate the film policies of the
Länder with the Federal Government, the Standing Conference of the Ministers
of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of
Germany (KMK) established a Film Committee of the Länder in 1994, which
involves the participation of the respective state chancelleries and economic
ministries.
Germany/ 5.3 Sector specific
legislation
5.3.7 Culture industries
The German cultural sector can be
subdivided into three areas:
- the publicly funded and maintained cultural
institutions;
- the activities and facilities funded and run by
voluntary non-profit organisations ("third sector"); and
- the private or commercial culture industries, notably
the book, film, music and fine arts market, as well as the communication
and information systems on the Internet associated with all three areas.
In general there are no special
statutory provisions or forms of state support for the culture industries that
would set it apart from other sectors of the economy, aside from the
aforementioned lower rates of VAT for some products. Exceptions to this rule
are film promotion (see chapter
5.3.6) and the areas in which public and private providers are both active,
such as radio, television and the computer-based communication media.
The statutory basis for the public
radio and television corporations (financed mainly by licence fees) and the
private (commercial) television broadcasters (financed by advertising revenue)
is the Interstate Broadcasting Agreement concluded among the Länder. On
the basis of this Agreement and within the framework of their responsibilities
for radio and television broadcasting, the individual Länder have enacted
detailed provisions in their respective Land Broadcasting Acts.
The legal framework for the new
information and communications technologies is defined by the Telecommunications
Act, which entered into force on August 1st, 1996, the Federal
Information and Communication Services Act, which entered into force on
August 1st, 1997, and the essentially identically worded Interstate
Agreement on Media Services concluded among the Länder.
The national system of fixed prices
for books, formerly a self-imposed obligation of the parties engaged in the
book trade, was safeguarded through the adoption of an Act that entered into
force on October 1st, 2002 (see chapter
5.3.4).
Below the statutory level there are
numerous forms of public support for the culture industries, such as special
measures for music companies or, in the case of individual artists and small
institutions, support for business start-ups in some of the Länder.
Germany/ 5.3 Sector specific
legislation
5.3.8 Mass media
See chapter
4.2.5 and chapter
5.3.7.
Germany/ 5.3 Sector specific
legislation
5.3.9 Legislation for self-employed
artists
The most important law for
independent artists is the Artists' Social Insurance Act (KSVG)
which came into force on August 2nd, 1981. It is based on the proven fact that
most independent artists and journalists are in an economic and social
situation which demands a similar protection as that of employees, for which a
general compulsory insurance exists and to which employees and employers
contribute equally. With the KSVG, the legislator has created a compulsory
insurance which allows freelancers to participate in the social pension, health
and old age care insurances. Companies which exploit the works of
artists and journalists / authors and the Federal Government pay 50 % of
the contributions to the Artists' Social Insurance Fund (KSK),
the other half comes from the independent artists and journalists (see chapter
5.1.4). The contributions of the "exploiters" (§ 24 KSVG) are
levied by way of a percentage of artists' social contribution (2007: 5.1%,
2008: 4.9%) of the fees / remuneration paid) on all companies and institutions
which regularly acquire and market artistic works / services. The amount of the
contributions which the KSK deposits at the insurance is allocated
according to the prospective annual income of the insured persons in a calendar
year.
For more information, see our Status
of Artists section.
Germany/ 5.3 Sector specific legislation
5.3.10 Other areas of relevant
legislation
Additional laws of relevance for
culture include Article 96 of the Federal Law for the Expellees:
both the Federal Government and the Länder are obliged to preserve the cultural
traditions of those regions in Central and Eastern Europe which were formerly
inhabited by Germans. In 2000, a "New Concept for the Investigation and
Presentation of German Culture and History in Eastern Europe" was
developed in an effort to match this task with the changed political and social
conditions after the collapse of the socialist state systems.
The Federal Archive Law - and
corresponding laws of the 16 Länder - was enacted in the 1980s in order to
regulate the protection, preservation, development and utilisation of archive
goods.
Germany/ 6. Financing of culture
6.1 Short overview
The financing of culture in the
Federal Republic of Germany rests on several pillars. In keeping with the
subsidiarity principle, culture - and thus the public financing thereof - is
first and foremost the responsibility of the citizens and their local
communities. Only when the scope or nature of a cultural policy task is beyond
the community's resources does the state step in as a sponsor. The municipalities
thus bear the lion's share of the cost of financing public cultural activities
and institutions, followed by the Länder. Due to its limited competence in the
field of cultural policy, the Federal Government provides only a small share of
the total support for culture in Germany (see chapter
6.2). Impossible to quantify through financial statistics - but by no means
insignificant - are the funds stemming from other policy fields, especially job
promotion. In Germany's western Länder, the overwhelming majority of these
funds were allocated to third sector sponsors of cultural activities and
institutions even prior to unification. In the eastern Länder, they have taken
on great importance in the course of the past ten years for all cultural
institutions.
Cultural institutions, events and
projects are also privately funded to a considerable extent. Estimated
private-sector expenditure for publicly subsidised institutions alone is
approximately 500 euros million.
The municipalities, the Länder and
the Federal Government operate on the basis of rather different definitions of
the term "culture", however. As a result, public cultural expenditure
statistics often vary considerably, in some cases by billions of euros.
EU cultural statistics with yet
differing definitions and the very broad UNESCO statistical framework
add to these various definitions of cultural statistics. Meanwhile, the problem
of harmonising cultural statistics has also been discussed in the Enquete-Kommission
of the German Bundestag (Federal Parliament). A partial harmonisation was
achieved when the Federal Office for Statistics co-operated with statistical
offices of some Länder to produce the Cultural Finance Report 2000,
2003 and 2006.
Different standards to collect
cultural statistics are used by German municipal statistical offices, the Standing
Conference of the German Länder, the Federal Government and the Federal
Statistical Office. This is further complicated by the number of different
categories used by EUROSTAT and UNESCO. The discussions around a
standardisation of cultural statistics were also taken up by the
"Enquete-Kommission" on Culture in Germany, which submitted, in its
final report, a suggestion on the harmonisation of cultural statistics. In
2008, this suggestion will be discussed and at least partly introduced.
Regardless of these differences, cultural
expenditure increased disproportionately in comparison to other areas of public
expenditure in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1990s and the 2000s however - aside
from the rise in cultural expenditure at the federal level due to unification -
total public expenditure increased nominally but declined in real terms.
According to provisional data, this negative development seems to end in
2006/2007 and the cultural expenditure is rising slowly in nominal and in real
terms. For example the budget for cultural affairs on the federal level rose in
2006 by 3.4% and in 2007 by 1.3%.
Germany/ 6. Financing of culture
6.2 Public cultural expenditure per
capita
Due to the various definitions of
"culture", the available statistics differ widely. In the interest of
presenting the most comprehensive picture possible, two sets of statistics are
given here:
- the first set of statistics are taken from the
statistical survey "Zur Lage der öffentlichen Kulturfinanzierung
in Deutschland" (The State of Public Financing of Culture in
Germany) conducted by Michael Söndermann and published in the Jahrbuch
für Kulturpolitik 2000, 2002/03 and 2006 (Cultural Policy
Yearbook 2000 - 2006), which used figures adjusted to reflect revenues and
the flow of payments between the various policy levels; and
- a second set is provided from the Kulturfinanzbericht
2003 and 2006 (Cultural Finance Report 2003 and 2006) published
by the Federal Statistical Office and the statistical offices of
the Länder.
According to the survey conducted by
Michael Söndermann, public cultural expenditure increased by 7.3 % between
1995 and the year 2003, overall from 7.65 billion euros to 8.21 billion euros
and per capita from 95 euros to 99 euros. During the same period, the general
price index rose by about 8 %. The percentage of overall public
expenditure (all public budgets) attributable to cultural expenditure thus
declined from 1.3 % to 1.3 %. (2002) According to this methodology,
public cultural expenditure has decreased from 8.56 billion euros in 2000 to
8.0 billion euros in 2004.
According to the Kulturfinanzbericht
2003 and 2006 (Cultural Finance Report 2003 and 2006) published by
the Federal Statistical Office, public cultural expenditure increased
from 7.47 billion euros (1995) to 8.07 billion euros (2003) and per capita from
91.1 euros to 97.8 euros. The percentage share of public expenditure (all
public budgets) attributable to cultural expenditure in the gross domestic
product thus decreased slightly from 0.40 to 0.37 %.
Germany/ 6. Financing of culture
6.3 Public cultural expenditure
broken down by level of government
Table 1:
Public cultural expenditure: by level of government, in billion euros and in %
from 1995 to 2003
|
|
1995 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
|
Municipalities |
|||||||
|
Expenditure |
3.42 |
3.47 |
3.47 |
3.47 |
3.75 |
3.68 |
3.55 |
|
% share of total |
44.71 |
45.72 |
44.15 |
43.65 |
43.91 |
43.60 |
43.19 |
|
Länder and city states* |
|||||||
|
Expenditure |
3.61 |
3.57 |
3.68 |
3.78 |
3.67 |
3.61 |
3.57 |
|
% share of total |
47.19 |
47.04 |
46.82 |
47.55 |
42.97 |
42.77 |
43.43 |
|
Federal Government |
|||||||
|
Expenditure |
0.62 |
0.55 |
0.71 |
0.70 |
1.12 |
1.15 |
1.10 |
|
% share of total |
8.10 |
7.24 |
9.03 |
8.80 |
13.11 |
13.63 |
13.38 |
|
Total |
7.65 |
7.59 |
7.86 |
7.95 |
8.54 |
8.44 |
8.22 |
Source:
as broken down in: Jahrbuch für Kulturpolitik 2000, 2002/03 and 2006.
*
Berlin, Bremen, Hamburg
Table 2:
Public cultural expenditure: by level of government, in billion euros and in %
from 1995 to 2003
|
Level of government |
1995 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
|
Länder and municipalities billion euros % share of total |
6.50 87.00 |
7.20 87.70 |
7.36 87.60 |
7.23 87.10 |
7.06 87.50 |
|
Federal government billion euros % share of total |
0.97 6.50 |
1.01 12.30 |
1.04 12.40 |
1.07 12.90 |
1.01 12.50 |
|
Total |
7.47 |
8.21 |
8.40 |
8.30 |
8.07 |
Source:
as broken down in: Kulturfinanzbericht 2006 (Cultural Finance Report
2006).
Germany/ 6. Financing of culture
6.4 Sector breakdown
Table 3:
State cultural expenditure: by sector, in billon euros, and in %, 1995, 2000
and 2003
|
Field |
1995 |
2000 |
2003 |
|
Performing arts (theatre and
music) billion euros % share of total |
2.75 44.6 |
2.80 44.4 |
2.99 37.9 |
|
Libraries (non-academic) billion euros % share of total |
0.65 10.6 |
0.69 10.9 |
1.27 15.7 |
|
Museums (non-academic) billion euros % share of total |
0.97 15.7 |
1.02 16.2 |
1.30 16.1 |
|
Monuments and sites % share of total |
0.32 5.1 |
0.34 5.4 |
0.45 5.6 |
|
Other cultural heritage
conservation billion euros % share of total |
1.02 16.5 |
1.04 16.5 |
- - |
|
Administration billion euros % share of total |
0.47 7.5 |
0.42 6.6 |
0.52 6.4 |
|
Cultural affairs abroad billion euros % share of total |
- - |
- - |
0.30 3.7 |
|
Art colleges billion euros % share of total |
- - |
- - |
0.43 5.3 |
|
Other cultural Financing billion euros % share of total |
- - |
- - |
0.81 10.0 |
|
Total |
6.18 |
6.21 |
8.07 |
Source:
as broken down in: Kulturfinanzbericht 2006 (Cultural Finance Report
2000).
Germany/ 7. Cultural institutions
and new partnerships
7.1 Re-allocation of public
responsibilities
Over the past few years, the Federal
Government, the Länder and the municipalities have increasingly relinquished
direct responsibility for running cultural facilities and programmes. This
organisational restructuring of the cultural sector is not only strongly
advocated by the state but also favoured by representatives of the business
sector and groups in society, provided it does not involve an abdication of the
state from its responsibility to ensure financing.
Institutional reforms now reflect a
growing preference for new sponsorship models while at the same time demanding
that the public sector maintains its responsibility to ensure funding. Two
strategies should be distinguished in this context:
- the partial liberation of cultural institutions from
the confines of budgetary and public service law and from municipal and
other administrative structures through choice of another legal form such
as a limited liability company or a foundation. The assumption that such
change of legal form would result in a reduction of public funding,
however, has thus far proved incorrect; and
- the transfer of tasks (such as allocation of public
resources and maintenance of facilities) to institutions in civil society
(generally foundations and associations). This strategy of cooperating
with intermediary organisations is particularly prevalent at the federal
and Land levels.
Irrespective of these trends, which
certainly reflect an increasingly widespread acknowledgement of the important
role of civil society or third sector actors, the fact remains that most
municipal cultural institutions are still integrated into and bound by the
structures and hierarchies of public administration.
The transfer of public sector
responsibilities to private sponsors in the cultural sector began in Germany as
early as the 19th century. Prominent national and internationally renowned
cultural institutes such as the Bach Archives in Leipzig, the Beethoven
House in Bonn, the Archives of German Literature in Marbach, the Goethe
Museum in Frankfurt am Main, the Weimar Classics Foundation in
Weimar, and the National Museum of German Art and Culture in Nuremberg
are privately run but receive public funding from all three levels of
government. Many of these institutions belong to the Working Group of
Independent Cultural Institutes.
Germany/ 7. Cultural institutions
and new partnerships
7.2 Status/role and development of
major cultural institutions
The wealth of vibrant cultural
institutions in all of Germany's regions - a number of which are renowned
throughout Europe - is a product of German history. Following each profound
societal change (in 1918, in 1945 and - in eastern Germany - in 1990), the
Länder and the municipalities reaffirmed their responsibility for theatres,
orchestras and museums. While the most important public theatres and museums
still enjoy fairly stable means of public support, the increasingly severe
financial problems of the Länder and the municipalities have prompted, in
recent years, an ongoing nationwide debate on a reform of public cultural
institutions (see chapter
7.1 and chapter
7.3) as well as of wage and salary scales at theatres and orchestras.
Germany/ 7. Cultural institutions
and new partnerships
7.3 Emerging partnerships or collaborations
Numerous types and models for
partnerships between public cultural institutions and private firms have
emerged in Germany in recent years. However, most cultural institutions,
including the largest ones, are still exclusively state-run. Permanent
co-operation and co-financing arrangements have been reached mainly for smaller
institutions at local level, i. e. between local businesses and the respective
city administration. There are now more and more examples of institutionalised
cooperation in the realisation and maintenance of larger institutions such as
the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich and the NRW-Forum Kultur und
Wirtschaft in Düsseldorf, where the Länder, the municipalities and private
firms / patrons are permanent sponsors. Some Länder, like Lower Saxony,
have abandoned the approach to finance institutions via civil society
organisations and have regained direct control.
Germany/ 8. Support to creativity
and participation
8.1 Direct and indirect support to
artists
Artistic production and its
reception by the public are furthered, on the one hand, through the funding of
arts institutions (see chapter
6) and, on the other hand, through the creation of general conditions
conducive to the flourishing of the arts (see chapter
5.2). This also includes the opportunities for basic and further training
in artistic professions provided above all by the 22 colleges of art and 23
colleges of music, drama and dance operated by the Länder as well as the four
federal academies jointly funded by the Federal Government and the Länder.
Support for individual art forms and individual artists in the various fields
of artistic endeavour are likewise very important.
Germany/ 8.1 Direct and indirect
support to artists
8.1.1 Special artists funds
At the federal level, support to
artists is provided through artists' organisations and bodies such as the Visual
Arts Foundation, the German Literature Fund, the Sociocultural
Fund and the Federal Foundation for the Performing Arts as well as
projects implemented by the German Music Council. This support
encompasses nationally prominent exhibitions of contemporary art, competitions,
scholarships and prizes, for example, as well as other appropriate forms of
support. Resources are also provided by the Federal Government via the Cultural
Foundation of the Länder. Since the 1970s, there has been a
federal programme for art purchases and a federal collection of contemporary
art. Federal funding is also available for German artists' residencies abroad
at facilities such as the German Academy at the Villa Massimo in
Rome.
Support for artists is provided
mainly by the municipalities and the Länder through a wide variety of
instruments. In addition to the support programmes for the various fields of
artistic endeavour existing at Land level, the individual Land foundations for
the arts and culture play a particularly important role in this context.
Widespread forms of support at Land and municipal level include financial
assistance for art projects, the purchase of works of art, the commissioning of
artwork, the awarding of scholarships, the provision of facilities for
exhibitions and performances as well as studios and workshops, the awarding of
monetary prizes and the granting of publication subsidies. Support is also
provided through municipal art lending libraries and programmes such as
"Art on Buildings" and "Art in Public Spaces" as well as through
business management advisory services for artists and financial help with
business start-ups.
Germany/ 8.1 Direct and indirect
support to artists
8.1.2 Grants, awards, scholarships
Grants and prizes are instruments of
"individual artist support", adopted both by public bodies at a
municipal, Land and Federal level and also by private and civil society
organisations. A wide range of public and private foundations are important in
this context (e.g. the art and culture foundations of the individual Länder),
but also, for example, the autonomously administered Federal Cultural Funds
(Deutscher Literaturfonds, Stiftung Kunstfonds, Fonds Soziokultur, Fonds
Darstellenden Künste), which distribute, subject to application, funding of the
Kulturstiftung des Bundes (Federal Culture Foundation). The Deutsche
Informationszentrum Kulturförderung (http://www.kulturfoerderung.org) provides information on
the range of support funding available.
Cultural awards and art prizes are a
particularly noteworthy support instrument and have increased both in number
and importance in recent years. In 1978 the Handbuch der Kulturpreise (Handbook
of Cultural Awards) listed 776 prizes and scholarships; by 1985 the number had
already risen to 1 329 and by 1994 to just under 2 000. The latest
edition of the handbook (for the year 2000) lists no fewer than 2 400
prizes with 3 100 individual awards. General cultural awards account for
23 % of these, followed by the visual arts and music with 15 % each,
literature with 13 % and film with 9 %. Recent years have also seen
an increase in scholarships and prizes endowed by private individuals and
firms. Nevertheless, the share of spending on individual artist support, as
part of the total expenditure on culture in Germany, may be described as rather
small.
Germany/ 8.1 Direct and indirect
support to artists
8.1.3 Support to professional
artists associations or unions
In addition to the support provided
via artists associations (see chapter
8.1.1), funds are made available to bodies such as the German Arts Council,
the German Music Council and two Federal associations of visual artists. A
portion of these funds are earmarked to assist these associations as well as to
support individual projects.
Germany/ 8.2 Cultural consumption
and participation
8.2.1 Trends and figures
Despite the continuously increasing
number and variety of cultural and leisure-time activities since the 1970s -
especially those made available by the culture and media industries -
attendance and participation figures for public cultural institutions have
continued to rise over the long term, though they have fluctuated widely and
declined in some areas.
Table 4:
Visitors / users (in thousands), 1992, 1995, 1999, 2002 and 2006
|
Field |
1992 |
1995 |
1999 |
2002 |
2006 |
|
Museums |
93 020 |
91 062 |
96 190 |
101 218 |
101 407** |
|
Theatres |
22 123 |
23 002 |
22 716 |
21 7636 |
19 018** |
|
Public libraries |
8 939 |
9 387 |
9 170 |
8 303 |
7 454 |
|
Music schools |
792 |
854* |
867 |
890 |
903 |
|
Cinemas |
105 900 |
124 500 |
149 000 |
177 900 |
136 700 |
Source:
Theatre attendance: Theaterstatistik des Deutschen Bühnenvereins (Theatre
Statistics of the German Theatre Association), Cologne; Museums: Museumsbericht
2006, Statistische Ämter des Bundes und der Länder, Berlin 2007; all others:
Statistisches Jahrbuch für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Statistical Yearbook
for the Federal Republic of Germany), Federal Statistical Office, Wiesbaden,
edition for the given year.
*
1996.
**
2005.
In 2000, the market share of the
eleven public television broadcasting corporations (14 programmes) was
43.2 % and the market share for private (commercial) broadcasters was
56.8 %. The average viewer spent 190 minutes per day actually watching
television and had the television set switched on for a total of 251 minutes. A
breakdown of viewing habits by category yielded the following percentages for
public versus private broadcasters respectively: information 84: 16;
sports 23: 77; entertainment 58: 42; feature films (fiction)
32: 68, and advertising 2: 98.
There are no surveys monitoring the
participation of national minority or immigration groups in general cultural
life, but there are some specialised surveys, in particular on the use of
media, such as newspapers, magazines, television use, broadcasting and
videotapes. In general, normally, most migrants and Germans with a migrant
background use media in both languages, in German and their native language -
see for example the Jahrbuch für Kulturpolitik 2002/2003.
Germany/ 8.2 Cultural consumption
and participation
8.2.2 Policies and programmes
The basic principle governing
cultural policy in Germany - a principle that has been enshrined in some of the
Land Constitutions - is to enable the greatest possible number of citizens to
participate in the country's cultural life. All public cultural policy
endeavours and expenditures serve the aim of creating the conditions for free
and unfettered participation in cultural life. As in the past, however, some
segments of the population are still afraid of trying something new and
unfamiliar. Appropriate cultural support measures - in the fields of museum,
theatre and arts education - are therefore being undertaken at all policy
levels to reduce obstacles to access posed by educational deficiencies (see
also chapter
8.3.1).
In the cultural policy debate, a
direct link has, for some time, been established between the subject of
cultural participation and issues of citizen involvement, of social cohesion
etc. These are becoming increasingly important in relation to discussions on
demographic developments and the growing significance of intercultural,
inclusive and dialogue-oriented initiatives (see chapter
4.2.4 and chapter
8.3.2).
Germany/ 8.3 Arts and cultural
education
8.3.1 Arts education
Responsibility for art, literature
and music education lies with the Länder. Each Land is creates its own
education structure and therefore classroom instruction also varies in scope
and quality. There is currently a shortfall in music and fine arts instruction
which is considered a widespread problem.
Cultural education opportunities are
available outside the school programmes and are offered by independent
institutions engaged in cultural (youth) work such as music schools, art
schools for young people, interdisciplinary cultural workshops and media
centres. Some of these initiatives rely on private or mixed funding. These
out-of-school opportunities for cultural and arts education are taking on ever
greater importance, exhibiting higher quality and a broader scope than
available in-schools. New concepts and institutions that increasingly combine
classical arts education with the use of new media have been developed and
established by non-governmental sponsors with the aid of public funds. A key
impetus to increase efforts furthering arts education for children and young
people came in 1991 through Section 11 of the Child and Youth Services Act.
The results of recent cultural
policy discussions revealed that arts education for children and young people
in schools and in non-school education has to be strengthened. The
"Enquete-Kommission" on Culture in Germany has placed this topic on
the top of its agenda. Other initiatives worth mentioning are:
- in spring 2007, a programme entitled "Each Child
Starts an Instrument" was initiated in the Ruhr district. Under the
programme, around 200000 primary school children are to be trained in
schools by music teachers in an instrument of their choice for four years.
Thus, in approximately 1000 primary schools, a children's orchestra will
develop. The cost, of approximately 35 million euro, will be met by the
Kulturstiftung des Bundes, the land North Rhine-Westphalia and private
promoters, as well as by a small contribution from parents;
- the arts education programme for children and young
people, called "Kinder zum Olymp!" supported by the
Cultural Foundation of the Länder in co-operation with private
sponsors. A school competition was sponsored by the Federal President
Horst Köhler; see http://www.kinderzumolymp.de);
- an initiative to support children and youth culture
sponsored by the cities of Munich and Hamburg; and
- the 5-year development programme "Cultural
Education in the Media Age" under the umbrella of the BLK, a joint
body for educational planning and research funded by the Länder and the
Federal Government (see http://www.kubim.de);
or
- new plans for strengthening arts education proposed by
the Länder governments of North-Rhine Westphalia and Baden-Wuerttemberg;
- in North Rhine-Westphalia since 2006/2007, under the
national programme "Culture and School", a network of
co-operation of extra-curricular cultural education operates, with the
inclusion of artists. The programme started with 700 projects in its first
year, which will almost double in 2007/08.
Germany/ 8.3 Arts and cultural
education
8.3.2 Intercultural education
Intercultural education is not an
official component of general school education. Nevertheless, as a principle
that transcends discipline boundaries, it does play a part in teaching practice.
There is furthermore an increasing sensitivity in schools to this issue and, in
addition to some provisions for bilingual teaching there are also many projects
which make use of the medium of art to address intercultural questions arising
in schools.
Intercultural education, in breadth,
is carried on primarily by educational institutions (kindergartens, schools,
further education establishments). The topic is, however, also gaining
importance for cultural policy. Indeed, it is the cultural institutions
themselves which are taking the initiative on this issue and are seeking
co-operation with schools.
In practice, intercultural
programmes are mostly established at the municipal level, mainly in the larger
cities. At the Land level, systematic initiatives so far exist only in
Northrhine-Westphalia and to some extent in the city states of Hamburg, Berlin
and Bremen. At the Federal level, besides provision of funding by the Federal
Cultural Foundation (Kulturstiftung des Bundes), programmes to counter xenophobia
and Right-wing extremism should be mentioned.
The normative framework is provided
by the human rights articles established in the Basic Law
(Constitution). In the foreground, are aims such as the acknowledgment of
difference, development of tolerance, capacity for intercultural dialogue,
information about the cultural traditions and values of people of other
religions, and the rejection of racism and violence. In the educational
institutions' understanding of their role, the command of the German language
as "lingua franca" is of crucial importance, in this respect.
Many art and music schools
incorporate other cultural traditions and contexts in their work. Art schools
for young people take, for example, the immigrant background of their audience
as a theme and address it through artistic means. Music schools have courses
which promote the teaching of instruments originating in other cultures (e.g.
the Turkish long-necked lute). Conceptually, however, inter-culturalism as a
part of the general school curricula has only just begun.
All the intercultural programmes and
activities mentioned are concerned to develop, through education and meetings,
an understanding of other cultural traditions and ways of life, to extend
knowledge of fundamental human and civil rights and to make the addressees
capable of developing humanitarian and democratic values. Intercultural and
democratic skills are mutually dependent in this respect.
Special attention is given to
intercultural education, in the context of intensified political efforts to
promote practical measures for cultural integration (see chapter
4.1 and chapter
4.2.1). Concrete stipulations are suggested in several education plans for
the pre-school range and the primary schools of the individual Länder. The
German Kulturrat has also elaborated a cultural policy paper named
"Interkulturelle Erziehung - eine Chande für unsere Gesellschaft"
(Intercultural Education - A Chance for our Society).
For more information, see our Intercultural Dialogue section.
Germany/ 8.4 Amateur arts, cultural
associations and community centres
8.4.1 Amateur arts
The importance of cultural associations
in Germany is just as great as their diversity. They range from small local or
neighbourhood sponsors of cultural activities to museum associations that run
their own institutions. Cultural institutions in smaller municipalities are
frequently organised as associations and depend on the voluntary engagement of
their members. This refers to the activities of libraries, monument protection,
local culture and the running of local museums, historical museums, culture
clubs and arts galleries.
Despite this tremendous diversity
they all have one thing in common: they are the ideal breeding ground for civic
commitment and involvement. The larger ones are prime examples of how
volunteers and professionals can work hand in hand. Cultural associations thus
form an indispensable structural framework for the sponsorship of cultural
activities in the Federal Republic of Germany.
Germany/ 8.4 Amateur arts, cultural
associations and community centres
8.4.2 Cultural houses and community
cultural clubs
According to the "Volunteers'
Survey", about 2.1 million persons volunteer in associations and cultural
institutions, thus contributing towards the supply of affordable cultural
programmes and broadening the opportunities to participate in various cultural
activities. Cultural associations are the main providers of amateur arts. In
the area of amateur music alone, 4.6 million persons are active.
Germany/ 9. Sources and Links
9.1 Key documents on cultural policy
Deutscher Kulturrat: Der deutsche
Kulturrat in guter Begleitung. Zwei Jahrzehnte DKR. Bonn / Berlin, 2001,
176 p., ISBN 3-934868-08-8.
Deutscher Musikrat: Musikalmanach
2007/2008. Daten und Fakten zum Musikleben in Deutschland. Regensburg:
Conbrio Verlag, 2006, 1528 p., ISBN 978-3-932581-77-9.
Endreß, Alexander: Die
Kulturpolitik des Bundes. Strukturelle und inhaltliche Neuorientierung zur
Jahrtausendwende?. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot (Soziologische Schriften,
Bd. 78), 2005, 268 p., ISBN 3-428-11493-0.
Fuchs, Max: Kulturpolitik,
Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2007, 133 p. ISBN
978-3-531-15448-0
Glaser, Hermann: Kleine deutsche
Kulturgeschichte von 1945 bis heute. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, 2004.
Hoffmann, Hilmar: Kultur und
Wirtschaft. Knappe Kassen - Neue Allianzen. Cologne: Dumont Verlag, 2001,
278 p., ISBN 3-7701-5876-8.
Institut für Kulturpolitik: Bibliographie
Kulturpolitik. 1970-1997. Bonn / Essen: Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft /
Klartext Verlag (Edition Umbruch, 12), 1998, 328 p., ISBN 3-88474-672-3.
Institut für Kulturpolitik der
Kulturpolitischen Gesellschaft (editor): Jahrbuch für Kulturpolitik,
Kulturstatistik, Chronik, Literatur, Adressen. Essen: Klartext Verlag,
2001 ff.
- 2000, Thema: Bürgerschaftliches Engagement, 446 p., ISBN 3-88474-958-7.
- 2001, Thema: Kulturföderalismus, 469 p., ISBN 3-89861-096-9.
- 2002/2003, Thema: Interkulturelle Kulturarbeit, 460 p., ISBN
3-89861-184-1.
- 2004, Thema: Theaterdebatte, 444 p., ISBN 3-89861-297-X.
- 2005, Thema: Kulturpublikum, 538 p., ISBN 3-89861-449-2.
- 2006, Thema: Diskurs Kulturpolitik, 478 p., ISBN 3-89861-570-9.
- 2006, Thema: Europäische Kulturpolitik, 483 p., ISBN
978-3-89861-853-3.
Klein, Armin (editor): Kompendium
Kulturmanagement. Handbuch für Studium und Praxis. München: Verlag Franz
Vahlen, 2004, 472 p., ISBN 3-8006-3106-7.
Klein, Armin: Kulturpolitik. Eine
Einführung. Opladen: Leske + Budrick, 2005, 220 p., ISBN 3-8100-3750-8.
Köstlin, Thomas: Die Kulturhoheit
des Bundes. Eine Untersuchung zum Kompetenz- und Organisationsrecht des
Grundgesetzes unter Berücksichtigung der Staatspraxis in der Bundesrepublik
Deutschland. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot (Tübinger Schriften zum Staats-
und Verwaltungsrecht, 3), 1989, 292 p., ISBN 3-428-016710-X.
Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft /
Deutscher Kulturrat (editor): Europa fördert Kultur. Ein Handbuch zur
Kulturförderung der Europäischen Union. Essen: Klartext Verlag, 2002, 446
p., ISBN 3-89861-129-9.
Loock, Friedrich / Scheytt, Oliver
(editor): Kulturmanagement & Kulturpolitik. Die Kunst, Kultur zu
ermöglichen. Berlin : Raabe Verlag (Loseblatt-Ausgabe), ISBN 1863-379X.
Maaß, Kurt-Jürgen (editor): Kultur
und Außenpolitik. Handbuch für Studium und Praxis. Baden-Baden: Nomos
Verlagsgesellschaft, 2005, 375 S., ISBN 3-8329-1404-8.
Palm, Wolfgang: Öffentliche
Kunstförderung zwischen Kunstfreiheitsgarantie und Kulturstaat. Berlin:
Duncker & Humblot (Schriften zum öffentlichen Recht, 748), 1998, 304 p.,
ISBN 3-428-09292-9.
Presse- und Informationsamt der
Bundesregierung (editor): Im Bund mit der Kultur. Neue Aufgaben der
Kulturpolitik (as of March 2002). Bonn: Beauftragter der Bundesregierung
für Angelegenheiten der Kultur und der Medien (cultural policy - background
information), 2002, 153 p.
Scheytt, Oliver: Kommunales
Kulturrecht. Kultureinrichtungen, Kulturförderung und Kulturveranstaltungen.
München: C. H. Beck Verlag, 2005, 300 p., ISBN 3-406-52550-4.
Schwencke, Olaf: Das Europa der
Kulturen - Kulturpolitik in Europa. Dokumente, Analysen und Perspektiven - von
den Anfängen bis zur Grundrechtcharta. Bonn / Essen: Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft
/ Klartext Verlag (Edition Umbruch, 14), 2006, 443 p., ISBN 3-88474-957-9.
Sekretariat der Ständigen Konferenz
der Kultusminister der Länder in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (editor): Einheit
in der Vielfalt. 50 Jahre Kultusministerkonferenz 1948-1998. Neuwied:
Luchterhand, 1998, 264 p., ISBN 3-472-02952-8.
Wiesand, Andreas Johannes: Handbuch
der Kulturpreise. Preise, Ehrungen, Stipendien und individuelle
Projektförderungen für Künstler, Publizisten und Kulturvermittler in
Deutschland und Europa. 4. Neuausgabe 1995-2000. Bonn: ARCult Media, 2001,
1606 p., ISBN 3-930395-24-X.
Germany/ 9. Sources and Links
9.2 Key organisations and portals
Cultural policy making bodies
Federal Commissioner for Cultural
and Media Affairs
http://www.kulturstaatsminister.de
Standing Conference of the Ministers
of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of
Germany (KMK)
http://www.kultusministerkonferenz.de
German Association of Cities, German
Association of Towns and Municipalities, Association of German Counties
http://www.kommunale-spitzenverbaende.de
Goethe-Institut Inter Nationes
http://www.goethe.de
Professional associations
Bundesvereinigung Kulturelle
Jugendbildung e. V. [BKJ] (Federal Government of Youth Cultural
Associations)
http://www.bkj.de
Deutscher Bibliotheksverband
e. V. [dbv] (German Library Association)
http://www.bibliotheksverband.de
Deutscher Bühnenverein -
Bundesverband deutscher Theater
http://www.buehnenverein.de
Deutscher Kulturrat (German Arts
Council)
http://www.kulturrat.de
Deutscher Volkshochschulverband
(German Adult Education Association)
http://www.dvv-vhs.de
Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft
e. V.
http://www.kupoge.de
Verwertungsgesellschaft Bild-Kunst
(Copyright Society)
http://www.bildkunst.de
Grant-giving bodies
Cultural Foundation of the Länder
http://www.kulturstiftung.de
Federal Cultural Foundation
http://www.kulturstiftung-bund.de
Cultural research, advices and statistics
Cultural Contact Point Germany
http://www.ccp-deutschland.de
Institut für Kulturpolitik der
Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft e. V.
http://www.kupoge.de
Zentrum für Kulturforschung
http://www.kulturforschung.de
Culture / arts portals
Kulturportal of the Federal
Government and the Länder
http://www.kulturportal-deutschland.de
Portal of the culture servers of the
Länder
http://www.kulturserver.de
Das KulturinformationsZentrum
http://www.nmz.de/kiz/
Deutscher Bildungsserver [DBS]
(German education server)
http://www.bildungsserver.de
Deutscher Museumsbund e. V.
(Federal Government of German Museums)
http://www.museumsbund.de
WebMuseen
http://www.museen.de
The
Council of Europe/ERICarts "Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in
Europe, 9th edition", 2008