pandemic
Cultural industry divided after Corona resolutions
Concert with a reduced audience due to corona in Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie. Photo: Markus Scholz / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The cultural industry was spared comparatively by the new corona resolutions of the Bund-Länder-Round. Visits to the theater or concerts are still possible, but not on a large scale.
According to the resolutions of the Bund-Länder-Round, there is some relief in parts of the cultural sector that many events are still possible. However, some cultural workers report great difficulties. Visits to the theater or concerts are still allowed – but not on a large scale. This causes consternation at the Federal Association of the Concert and Event Industry.
There is no lockdown
“It is good that there has not been a blanket restriction on cultural life, but that it is targeted where the infection process can be effectively contained,” said Carsten Brosda, President of the German Stage Association and Hamburg Senator for Culture. The managing director of the Deutsche Orchestervereinigung, Gerald Mertens, spoke on Friday of “relief that basically you can continue to play.”
Mertens went on to say: “In view of the usual hall sizes in Germany, which generally do not exceed a maximum of 2500 seats, concert halls and theater halls can still be fully occupied.” Brosda announced: “The specific nationwide agreed capacity restrictions relate to major supra-regional events and should therefore not affect regular theater operations any further.”
It looks different at major events. “Clear announcement: With a capacity of only 30 to 50 percent, no concert can take place,” said the President of the Federal Association of the Concert and Event Industry, Jens Michow, on Friday. That just doesn’t work financially. “That’s why this will have to lead to massive rejections. Inevitably.” However, the association wants to wait and see how the countries actually interpret what they have decided.
In some cases, concerts have now been postponed for the fourth time due to the new rules. “We will feel the consequences of the disappointment triggered by another rejection for a long time as a reluctance to buy.” Ticket sales have so far not nearly returned to normal until 2019. The industry has already experienced this painfully in the past few months. “The companies are more and more desperate. For the last 20 months, one unsolvable problem has lined up for her. “
Further criticism came from individual federal states – although this often referred to state-specific regulations. For example from Baden-Württemberg, where the 2G-plus rule will apply to many areas from Saturday. The head of the Landestheater Tübingen, Thorsten Weckherlin, called for exceptions to this rule for those vaccinated with boosters. In many federal states there is no such thing in the theaters, he said on Friday. And that’s right. «I can’t ask our audience, which has been boosted, more than is necessary. This plus is a satisfaction for those who oppose the vaccination and a harassment of those who have already been vaccinated. “
Due to the rules of the Hessian state government, the Schauspiel Frankfurt is forced to close from December 5th to 9th inclusive. And a cinema operator from Nuremberg is suing the 2G-plus regulation in Bavaria, as it became known on Friday.
The cinema association HDF Kino had recently announced that without additional support, numerous theaters would be on the verge of extinction. The survival of the cinemas must be ensured, which “have faced a massive decline in visitors since the introduction of 2G,” said the association’s head, Christine Berg.