In the second comparison of cities “Culture and Creativity” by the European Commission, Munich takes second place behind Paris in the category of cities with over a million inhabitants. For example, the “Creative Hub”, which has existed since 2021, will enter the second round in 2023 so that the city’s creative industries can continue to work despite high rents.
Designers, architects, photographers, illustrators, music producers, filmmakers and many more – in January, 23 freelancers and companies from the cultural and creative sectors moved into the offices on the first floor of the Ruffinihaus on Rindermarkt. For 20 euros a month rent per square meter, they can develop ideas there for two years, define their path as a company and position themselves in the creative industries market.
The young entrepreneurs are supported in an advisory capacity and networked by the cultural and creative industries competence team. According to Susanne Mitterer, deputy head of the creative team, the aim is to promote innovative and novel ideas, to allow them to be developed further and to create a business community. In the Ruffinihaus, not only individual offices of different sizes but also common rooms are made available.
The new “Ruffinis”, who were selected in a two-stage application process, include the screenwriter Daphne Ferraro, the three architects of the “studio coda” and the filmmakers Mila Zhluktenko and Daniel Asadi Faezi, whose documentary “Waking Up in Silence” contributed to at this year’s Berlinale.
Economics officer Clemens Baumgärtner (CSU), culture officer Anton Biebl (non-party) and municipal officer Kristina Frank (CSU) (front right seated, from left) during their visit to the Ruffinihaus.
(Photo: Michael Nagy)
The project is funded by the municipal, cultural, labor and economic departments of the state capital. “The Ruffinihaus is a space of possibilities. We absolutely need places like this so that something new can develop,” says cultural advisor Anton Biebl. Economics officer Clemens Baumgärtner (CSU) adds that the project “gives the industry more visibility, individual development opportunities and thus more growth opportunities”. However, Baumgärtner also emphasized that the young entrepreneurs should not lose sight of the economy. “We don’t want to create an ecosystem that is only based on support, we also want to demand.”
The first generation, which moved into the Ruffinihaus in 2021, has already proven itself in part: the women-run publishing house “&Töchter” was honored by the federal government on Monday in Berlin as “Cultural and Creative Pilots Germany”, a tribute to the most innovative entrepreneurs in culture – and creative industries.