Financing : Germany

Germany’s federal structure delegates responsibility for cultural affairs to the federal states. Theater financing is thus largely borne by the states and municipalities, whereby the latter bear about 63 percent of public expenditure for theaters and orchestras.

All in all, Germany’s theaters and orchestras receive public funds totaling DM4.3 billion every year. This amount represents more than 0.2 percent of all federal, state and municipal expenditure. Germany’s theaters employ approximately 60,000 people and indirectly safeguard jobs in many businesses which work under contract with the theaters.

Today more and more people are demanding that the theater and the theatrical arts be subjected to the standard rules of business administration. Those who do so, however, fail to realize that in the case of the theater, only public financing safeguards the freedom of the arts. The theaters in the Federal Republic of Germany have adjusted to the changing times and have modernized their operations with the aid of professional management. Private patrons bear only five percent of the expenditure for cultural affairs; their support is earmarked almost exclusively for prestigious projects.