The city council group comprising the Free Voters and the “FÜR Karlsruhe” voters’ group has reacted with regret and concern to the news that the Karlsruhe Chamber Theater is to close for the time being. During the budget negotiations, the city council group had called for a reform of cultural funding in order to distribute subsidies as fairly as possible.
Due to the city’s austerity measures, which have cut the subsidies for the Kammertheater, the renowned theater is forced to close its doors temporarily. A narrow majority of the city council had approved the bill, which was already controversial at the time – the city council group interviewed Bernd Gnann, managing director of the Kammertheater, about this in the podcast “The situation in Karlsruhe” – the group’s information format from its work in the city council.
The Kammertheater, a theater with over 70 years of history, is a cultural institution and significantly enriches Karlsruhe’s diverse cultural cityscape. The city council group expressly regrets the development and emphasizes the dimension of this decision for Karlsruhe’s cultural diversity.
The fact that the Kammertheater, which has always run a solid business and exerts a significant cultural influence on the city, has been hit particularly hard by the city’s cost-cutting measures is particularly serious. While other cultural organizations are receiving increased subsidies, the Chamber Theatre will have to accept a total cut of 175,000 euros this year and next year. This unequal treatment calls into question the city’s cultural appreciation of the Kammertheater.
“We are appalled and disappointed that such an important and well-managed cultural institution as the Kammertheater is being disadvantaged in this way,” says Petra Lorenz, city councillor (Freie Wähler) of the city council group. “The Kammertheater is an indispensable part of our city’s cultural identity and does not deserve to suffer from the austerity measures in this way. ”
“It is economically understandable that the Chamber Theater has to draw the consequences of such a cut in subsidies. We can now see just how drastic this decision by the municipal council was: It is causing an entire business to totter,” said parliamentary group leader Friedemann Kalmbach (FÜR Karlsruhe).
The city council group “Freie Wähler” and “FÜR Karlsruhe” calls on the city council to reconsider this decision and find fair and sustainable solutions to ensure the continued existence of the Chamber Theater. It is important to preserve and promote cultural diversity in Karlsruhe instead of jeopardizing it through unjust cost-cutting measures. That is why the city should now seek talks with the Kammertheater and find a new and better solution.
