The winter will be hard and no one will be able to say they didn’t know. For weeks, politicians and the energy industry have been preparing the population for exorbitant gas and electricity bills. There’s not much you can do about it, other than heating less. But, experts warn, you could pay for that with moldy walls and a cold. It has been a long time since there was so much official pessimism.
First of all, it is very gratifying to hear that the German Federal Cultural Foundation is now supporting 26 climate-neutral art and culture projects with more than three million euros. “Scope for air conditioning and heating”, “alternative forms of energy production”, “environmentally friendly mobility concepts for artistic teams and organic building materials for stage sets and exhibition architecture” are to be tested. The money goes to institutions of all kinds, including the German National Theater and the Staatskapelle Weimar, the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, the Berliner Schaubühne, the Tanztheater Wuppertal and the Museum Ludwig in Cologne.
The word “try out”, which is popular in the application and funding prose of the cultural sector, is used again in the press release. The three million euros are also intended to “test” the “aesthetics of ecological sustainability”. And this is where you start to get suspicious. With the emergency approaching, isn’t it a little late for “rehearsals”? And shouldn’t the money be spent on keeping the houses open?
Cultural property in the museum depots could be damaged by climate fluctuations
After all, only two weeks ago the German culture ministers passed a startling paper warning of the coming gas emergency. As in the Corona period, museums and other cultural institutions could be forced to close in winter because their budgets do not leave any leeway for rising heating costs. It would look even more dramatic if the worst case came to pass and gas was rationed in Germany. Then cultural institutions could be among the first to stop receiving gas. They warn that the resulting climate fluctuations could damage sensitive cultural assets in the museum depots.
Most German museums are hardly prepared for this eventuality. Perhaps the funding from the Federal Cultural Foundation would be better invested here. At least until spring.