Berlin, December 18, 2025 With today's adoption of the 2026/27 double budget in the Berlin House of Representatives, one thing is certain: our ongoing protests, expert discussions, and interventions from the urban community have had an effect. The drastic cuts in the cultural sector envisaged in the original Senate draft have been mitigated in part. Nevertheless, the budget that has now been adopted continues to hit the arts, culture, cultural education, and educational and social sectors hard.
We welcome the fact that the cuts have not been implemented to the extent planned. At the same time, we must clearly state that even the adopted budget ignores real cost increases, wage developments, and the actual needs of a growing city. Many institutions, projects, and actors therefore remain under enormous pressure.
Quote from #BerlinIstKultur:
“Our protests prevented worse from happening – but they did not stop the cuts. For many cultural actors and institutions, the approved budget means continued uncertainty, cutbacks, and precarious working conditions.”
The consequences are already visible today or are clearly emerging: fewer productions in theaters and opera houses, limited programs in museums and project spaces, rising admission prices, the elimination or reduction of funding instruments for freelance artists, and the increasing precariousness of cultural work. This development was already initiated by the cuts in 2025 and is now continuing.
Almost all areas of cultural infrastructure are affected:
Funding for artistic research has been reduced so drastically that freelance artists are now receiving virtually no money. The Urban Practice Project Fund remains well below its previous volume. Cultural education programs and funding for children's and youth theater in the districts have been severely cut. Institutions have to make savings in their programs and guest engagements, and the independent scene remains precarious. In music schools, the additional permanent positions that have been fought for represent an important step, but they are far from sufficient to provide a lasting solution to the precarious situation of the more than 2,000 people employed there. The free admission to museums on Sundays, which was already abolished this year, will not be reintroduced. Libraries also remain underfunded: Cuts at the district level, the lack of provisions for a library law, and the still uncertain future of the Berlin Central and Regional Library are exacerbating the situation. Studios, art in urban spaces, and other funding instruments are losing a significant portion of their funding. Funds for digitization have been cut by two-thirds, and the workspace program has been nearly terminated.
These cuts affect not only us as cultural actors, but also access to art and culture for large sections of Berlin's population. Culture is increasingly threatening to become a luxury, rather than being understood as an indispensable part of education, democracy, and social cohesion.
With an eye on the 2026 election year, we will continue to increase political pressure. Our goal is to establish culture as a clear and binding campaign issue in the long term. We will work to ensure that parties and candidates make a clear commitment to fair, sustainable, and future-proof cultural funding. Because Berlin thrives on its culture—and must not continue to run it into the ground.
Press contact:
Ruth Hundsdoerfer
pressenoSpam@berlinistkultur.de
0171 / 2670848