Düsseldorf (dpa/lnw) – Despite the financial difficulties caused by the energy crisis, the cities in North Rhine-Westphalia should not save on cultural funding, according to Culture Minister Ina Brandes (CDU). “CDU and Greens have clearly committed to increasing the culture budget by 50 percent in this legislative period,” said the minister to the “Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung” (WAZ/Friday). According to the newspaper, around 315 million euros are currently in the NRW culture budget. It is important that municipal funding is not reduced as the state increases its efforts, Brandes said.
Many arcades are complaining about lower occupancy than before the pandemic and are also having to deal with the consequences of high inflation. “The cultural scene has not yet recovered from the corona pandemic and is fighting for its audience,” Brandes told the newspaper.
