December 2002 - Nr. 13
Rau Advocates
German Theatre Reform
TWIG - Germany’s performing arts industry is due for significant structural changes, according to President Johannes Rau. If this historic cultural tradition is to continue, reform is needed in the way theatres are funded as well as in the legal framework that supports the industry, said Rau on receiving a report on the future of Germany’s theatres and opera houses Wednesday (December 11). The value of the arts must be recognized more fully, he argued, and theatres must also learn to adapt to the times.
Germany’s theatres are funded almost exclusively by municipal and state governments, in a system designed to ensure artistic freedom and sustain a vital public forum for ideas. But recent budget shortages have caused many theatres, especially those in eastern Germany, to fall on hard times. The crisis facing the performing arts is first and foremost a financial crisis of the cities that fund them, said Rau. More than 5,500 jobs at German theatres and opera houses have disappeared over the past 10 years, he noted, out of a total of 45,000.
One theatre that has been especially hard hit is the Weimar National Theater, whose director caused a furor last spring by suggesting employees place their Christmas bonuses in an account from which pay raises would be drawn through 2008. While such solutions are clearly untenable, said Rau, so are outdated conceptions of the theatrical profession "that make operating theatres more difficult or expensive." Wages and working conditions for theatre employees are union-negotiated with support from the Association of German Theaters (Deutscher Bühnenverein).
Wednesday’s report, prepared by a commission of theatre producers, cultural policy leaders and labour union representatives, focused on wage structures as well as strategies for increasing theatre attendance. The commission also laid the groundwork for an initiative bringing federal, state and local governments together to ensure the arts receive the public financing they need. The report will be distributed to public arts officials in preparation for a further round of talks this summer.
