Berlin culture under pressure: savings plans threaten to suffocate creative niches!

Berlin culture under pressure: savings plans threaten to suffocate creative niches!

The situation in the Berlin State Office for Refugee Matters (LAF) is dramatic. The employees are overloaded and endangered: repeatedly they were exposed to "verbal and physical attacks", which results in a massive increase in security costs. According to the Senate Department for Social Affairs, Berlin spends 27.5 million euros on security measures this year - this is an increase of 34.8 percent compared to the previous year. John Auricht from the AfD describes this as a "alarm signal" and calls for a radical change in migration policy. The security services that supervise the LAF locations were advertised across Europe and are awarded the contract for one and the same company, while the costs for the private guard companies that guard the accommodations have also exploded, such as the Berliner Zeitung reported.

cultural threat from drastic cuts

At the same time, the Berlin cultural scene is under pressure. The Senate plans massive cuts in the cultural budget, which could make up to 251,000 euros, i.e. 20 percent of the funding for cultural institutions. These cuts not only endanger jobs, but also the diversity of cultural offers, which depends primarily on public funds. The Tagesschau emphasizes how the recent savings measures threaten the existence of many art projects, including the "Werkbund Archive-Museum of Things", which has not even been correct after it was forced to have its previous space abandoned.

The artist scene, which works with a narrow budget anyway, is now even more facing challenges. In particular, the free scene, which is crucial for Berlin's reputation as a "cultural capital of Europe", is on the abyss. If the funding continues, this could seriously endanger the creativity and innovation for which the city is known. Dirk Förster from Kulturraum GmbH warns that the loss of rooms could massively restrict the artistic expression of the Berlin scene, while the government calls for greater personal responsibility on the part of the artists. This development raises the question of how Berlin can preserve its cultural identity and economic benefits as a cultural attraction.