Cultural sovereignty of the federal states

Germany considers itself one of the great cultural nations of Europe. One particular characteristic of the cultural landscape is the notable federal influence, which has led to the extraordinary diversity of cultural offerings and the people behind them. Emphasis on the country’s federal tradition was important to the fathers and mothers of the Constitution, too. The Federal Republic of Germany, founded in 1949, and likewise the reunited Germany from 1990 onwards have both deliberately built on federal traditions and assigned cultural sovereignty Cultural sovereignty In Germany culture is the core area of the 16 states’ sovereignty. The Basic Law accords the Federal Government few powers on cultural questions, and thus most cultural institutions are maintained by the states and municipalities. This independent cultural life in the states has led to cultural… Read more › – and thus a large portion of cultural funding – to the federal states Federal states Germany is a federal state. Both the central federal government and the 16 federal states have independent areas of jurisdiction. The government in Berlin is responsible for foreign policy, European policy, defense, justice, employment, social affairs, tax and health. The federal states are… Read more › .

As a result of Germany’s structure born of many former small and medium-sized states and free states, there are now around 142 city and regional theatres, as well as 130 professional orchestras Orchestras There are around 130 German professional orchestras, first and foremost among them the Berlin- Philharmonic, the Berlin Staatskapelle,  the Gewandhausorchester, the Bamberg Symphonic and the Munich Philharmonic Read more › , some of which are linked with publicly governed radio broadcasters. Around a quarter of all the world’s professional symphony and opera orchestras come from Germany. More than 7,200 museums and exhibition venues also provide for an unparalleled museum landscape.

Theatres and concert venues also receive a large portion of the funding made available for culture. Overall, the cultural sphere received around 10.4 billion euros’ worth of public funding in Germany in 2018. Of this, local authorities contributed around 45 percent, the federal states Federal states Germany is a federal state. Both the central federal government and the 16 federal states have independent areas of jurisdiction. The government in Berlin is responsible for foreign policy, European policy, defense, justice, employment, social affairs, tax and health. The federal states are… Read more › 40 percent, and the Federal Government Federal Government The Federal Government and cabinet is made up of the Federal Chancellor and the Federal Ministers. While the Chancellor holds the power to issue directives, the ministers have departmental powers, meaning that they independently run their respective ministries in the framework of those directives… Read more › 15 percent. The Federal Government focuses on promoting culture abroad and on projects of national importance. This includes around 70 institutions like the Bayreuth Festival, the Bauhaus Bauhaus Bauhaus (1919–1933) is considered to be the most famous art, design and architecture college of Classic Modernism. Founded by Walter Gropius it was located in Weimar and later in Dessau. Bauhaus artists and architects created a new, clear, contemporary formal language, much of which still exerts an… Read more › Dessau Foundation and the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, as well as commemorative sites from the Third Reich and when Germany was a divided nation, including the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the house that was the venue of the Wannsee Conference, and the Berlin Berlin Once a year, during the Berlinale film festival, the world of the silver screen focuses its attention on Berlin. And the city’s inhabitants are used to global interest. After all, the people of Berlin have lived in a capital city since 1458. However, there is also a shady side to the city’s history… Read more › Wall Foundation.

Responsibility for the Federal Government’s cultural funding lies with the Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Monika Grütters. The Federal Government frequently collaborates with the federal states and local authorities. With the aim of further strengthening this “cultural federalism”, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs was set up in 2019, whereby the culture ministers and/or senators of all the federal states are represented. They hold regular discussions with the Federal Government Commissioner on cultural projects of trans-regional importance.