Europe’s largest cultural center has to be renovated – and until the work begins, creative people can use the many rooms. Those responsible speak of an “interim use that Munich may not have seen before”.
The cat had to wriggle for a long time, now it’s out of the bag: The non-profit Fat Cat GmbH is allowed to use the Gasteig cultural center temporarily until the start of the renovation, initially until the end of 2023. The partners Till Hofmann (Lustspielhaus, Milla), Barbara Bergau (Bellevue di Monaco), Nepomuk Schessl (Münchenmusik) and Michi Kern (Utopia, Freiheitshalle) signed with Gasteig Managing Director Max Wagner on Friday.
“It took a while to reconcile all interests,” said Wagner, who has been negotiating for the city since November, “but now we have the basis for an interim use that Munich may not have seen before. “
“It would have been unforgivable to leave the building empty, after all there is a great need for space for creative and social use,” said Katrin habenschaden (Greens), second mayor and Gasteig supervisory board chairwoman, “Subculture meets the Gasteig – that promises to be exciting.”
Exciting is the right word – because the new tenants don’t yet know what exactly will happen, whether “Europe’s largest subcultural center” will really be built temporarily in Haidhausen. First of all, there will be a “Call For Ideas” in which everyone can participate, explains Hofmann.
The Fat Cat gGmbH does not want to organize anything itself in the many rooms and halls – the Philharmonie is also available. As the main intermediate user, the aim is to offer creative people a platform for realizing ideas: preference would be given to the independent scene, diversity, cultural education, social initiatives and free or inexpensive cultural uses.
There will soon be an open day where interested parties from all sectors can look around and attach yellow post-it notes to the rooms with their wishes: “What’s missing in Munich?” From this, the operators want to “tinker as colorful a structure as possible” so that the fat cat can soon start purring.