The Stiftung Kunstfonds was also requested by the Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) to submit the names of the current jury members of all its funding programs. [1]
We, current and former jury members of the Stiftung Kunstfonds, wish to express our dismay at the political interference by the Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
In light of the recent developments surrounding the Berlinale, the German Bookshop Award, and the allocation of the Capital Cultural Fund, we no longer have confidence in the intention behind or the handling of the lists of current jury members requested by the BKM. [2] The application of the Haber procedure in the cultural sector has shaken our fundamental understanding of democratic cultural funding.
We explicitly reject any form of influence and the resulting damage to our work and our reputation as an independent jury. According to Article 5, paragraph 3 of the German Basic Law, art and science, research and teaching are free. However, we observe with great concern an increasing number of political attacks and attempts at intimidation directed at freedom of expression and artistic freedom.
As jury members, we work tirelessly to meet the considerable challenge of fairly representing a broad spectrum of artistic positions. Due to the threat of constitutional review, cultural actors are increasingly intimidated, censor themselves, or refrain from applying altogether—not because their artistic practice violates the democratic constitutional order, but because the boundaries of acceptable discourse have already shifted under political pressure.
The control and instrumentalization of art is a mark of societal failure. A democracy that cannot tolerate the full spectrum of free artistic expression is not a free democracy.
Funding decisions at the Stiftung Kunstfonds are made by artists, directors of art associations, and gallerists. They are elected as jury members by the foundation’s board of trustees and act as autonomous, expert representatives from the field of contemporary art. The BKM has no authority over the allocation of grants. Fellows and funded projects are selected solely by the juries and subsequently announced.
The fact that the Commissioner for Culture and the Media is collecting the names of jury members in “transferable, detailed lists” [2] is understood by us as an attack on the independence of this process and as an erosion of its foundations.
We demand:
- An immediate halt to the application of the Haber procedure across all areas of cultural funding.
- A clear commitment by the BKM to Article 5, paragraph 3 of the German Basic Law, and a clear institutional separation as a sign of zero political interference in the work of independent juries.
- Full transparency regarding the scope, use, and dissemination of the collected name lists, as well as their deletion.
- Disclosure of all constitutional protection checks conducted within the framework of cultural funding.
We stand in solidarity with the jury of the Capital Cultural Fund, the affected bookshops, the Berlinale team, Berlinale director Tricia Tuttle, and all artists who feel unsettled. We align ourselves with the statements issued by the board of trustees of the Performing Arts Fund, the Federal Association of Stage Directors [3], and all affected juries.
We stand in solidarity because we know:
The breaches that politicians are creating in democratic structures today will be exploited by anti-democratic forces tomorrow.
What affects one of us today will affect us all tomorrow.
Signed by:
Ergül Cengiz
Natalie Czech
Judith Egger
Kerstin Honeit
Frank Motz
Ulrike Mundt
Rupert Pfab
Minh Duc Pham
Anike Joyce Sadiq
Jens Brand
Ina Bierstedt
Angelika Stepken
Manuel Franke
Christoph Girardet
Petra Spielhagen
Andreas Schmid
Ursula Schöndeling
Karin Hochstatter
Markus Mußinghoff
Thomas Locher
Moira Zoitl
Eva-Maria Schön
Else Gabriel
Birgit Jensen
Mathias Lindner
Rüdiger Stanko
Doris Weinberger
Frank Bölter
Barbara Wille
Sandro Parrotta
Gisela Kleinlein
Cecilia Szabó
Daniel Burkhardt
Oliver Ross
Erika Ehlerding
Martin Schwenk
[1] https://www.kunstfonds.de/aktuelles/details/stellungnahme-des-vorstands-und-des-stiftungsrates-der-stiftung-
kunstfonds-zur-abfrage-von-jurylisten-durch-den-bundeskulturbeauftragten-fuer-kultur-und-medien
[2] https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/wolfram-weimer-laesst-jurymitglieder-in-listen-erfassen-a-d25bff33-1b5a-4670-
8a2c-6ee3405dca1c (Paywall)
[3] https://www.regieverband.de/aktuelles/2026-03_zur-causa-weimer-und-dem-haber-verfahren
April 13, 2026
*Translated by AI*