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Regulations REF (Application Deadline: 02.03.2026)

Residency Funding

Please Note! This is a translation of the valid regulations and is meant only to help in the orientation and understanding of those, for whom German is not a first language. Only the regulations in the original German version apply. There is no guarantee for the correctness and completeness of any translated information.

Basic Information on the Application Process

01. The residency funding is aimed at professionally self-employed performing artists/groups and project-based artistic associations from all genres and disciplines of the independent performing arts who can demonstrate that they have a production house or festival based in Germany that is a member of one of the following interdisciplinary nationwide networks and that will enable them to take up residence at the venue/ festival.

  • Bündnis Internationaler Produktionshäuser
  • FestivalFriends
  • flukks+
  • FREISCHWIMMEN
  • Netzwerk Freier Theater (NFT)

02. Funding is available for open-ended projects such as research, artistic/experimental laboratories and concept development for future productions taking place in a residency, at/or in connection with a residency location listed under item 07. The individual implementation period within the approval period can be arranged flexibly.

03. Funding for the entire project amounts to between €5,000 and €10,000. At least 80% of the funding is earmarked exclusively for fees for artists and other persons actively involved in the artist residency. A maximum of 20% of the approved funding may be used for material costs incurred by the residency, such as (rehearsal/stage) room rentals at the production houses/festivals facilitating the residency or travel expenses.

04. Applicants must be able to demonstrate that they have already received public funding for a production project in the independent performing arts at least once in the past three years (2023/2024/2025) and that they are based or reside in the Federal Republic of Germany and focus their work there.

05. Projects in the context of residency grants must be realized in Germany. Any exceptions to this regulation must be explained in the application.

06. Applicants must be in a position to guarantee proper business management as well as deliver proof of correct use of grant funds.

07. Venues whose residence certificates entitle them to apply are listed below. A maximum of two residence certificates can be issued per venue.

  • Ein Ding der Möglichkeit (Waddeweitz)
  • E-WERK (Freiburg im Breisgau)
  • FAVORITEN Festival (Dortmund)
  • FFT Forum Freies Theater (Düsseldorf)
  • FITZ! Zentrum für Figurentheater (Stuttgart)
  • Freies Werkstatt Theater (Köln)
  • FREISTIL_FESTIVAL (Völklingen)
  • Fringify - Independent Arts Festival (Hamburg)
  • Hamburger Sprechwerk (Hamburg)
  • HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin)
  • HELLERAU Europäisches Zentrum der Künste (Dresden)
  • HochX (München)
  • Implantieren Festival (Frankfurt am Main)
  • Impulse Theater Festival (Bochum/Mülheim a. d. R./Köln)
  • Jahrmarkttheater (Bostelwiebeck)
  • Kampnagel (Hamburg)
  • Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm (Frankfurt am Main)
  • Libken - Denk- und Produktionsort (Gerswalde)
  • LICHTHOF Theater (Hamburg)
  • LOFFT - Das Theater (Leipzig)
  • Meta Theater (Moosach)
  • OFF-Bühne Komplex (Chemnitz)
  • Orangerie Theater (Köln)
  • OSTEN Festival (Bitterfeld-Wolfen)
  • PACT Zollverein (Essen)
  • PATHOS Theater (München)
  • ROXY (Ulm)
  • Schaubude Berlin (Berlin)
  • Schaubühne Lindenfels (Leipzig)
  • schloss bröllin (Fahrenwalde)
  • Schwankhalle (Bremen)
  • schwere reiter (München)
  • Sensemble Theater (Augsburg)
  • Societaetstheater (Dresden)
  • Sophiensaele (Berlin)
  • studioNaxos (Frankfurt Main)
  • tanzhaus nrw (Düsseldorf)
  • TD (Berlin)
  • Theater Combinale (Lübeck)
  • Theater im Ballsaal (Bonn)
  • Theater im Depot (Dortmund)
  • Theater in der Kurve (Neustadt a. d. Weinstraße)
  • Theater neben dem Turm (Marburg)
  • Theater Rampe (Stuttgart)
  • Theaterlabor Bielefeld (Bielefeld)
  • THEATERNATUR FESTIVAL (Benneckenstein/Harz)
  • Theaterwerkstatt Pilkentafel (Flensburg)
  • theater wrede+ (Oldenburg)
  • Unser Theater (Schwabhausen)
  • Villa Wigman (Dresden)
  • Volksbühne am Kaulenberg (Halle/Saale)
  • WUK Theater Quartier (Halle/Saale)
  • zeitraumexit (Mannheim)

Deadlines and Application

08. Applications must be submitted online by 02.03.2026 (deadline) at 11:59 pm.

09. Applications must be submitted using the appropriate online form.

A complete application shall also include: 

  1. a cost and financing plan in the excel format provided by the Fonds Darstellende Künste and in accordance with the provisions in points 14 to 19 of these regulations
  2. an up to 2-page detailed presentation of the artist group and their artistic or curatorial activities to date as a pdf
  3. an up to 2-page description that covers all the essential aspects of the residency project as a pdf
  4. proof of one production supported by public funds from the period between 2023 and 2025 (in the form of a grant confirmation, a program publication with supporter logo or the like) as a pdf
  5. internet links for a self-presentation
  6. a certificate from the respective production company or festival confirming that a residency will be made possible during the requested period, using the template provided by the Fonds Darstellende Künste
  7. a PDF of the results of the “Ecological Sustainability in Culture” 

10. An application is considered to have been submitted on time if all the documents (see point 09) are uploaded to the database of the Fonds Darstellende Künste and sent by 11:59 p.m. at the latest on the date of the application deadline. Late or incomplete applications cannot be considered.

11. There is no entitlement to funding. Payments will be made on the basis of an up-to-date cost and financing plan following the conclusion of a funding agreement. In addition, a project bank account must be used or set up to receive the funding. Otherwise, funding cannot be guaranteed. 

12. In the event of a funding approval, the appropriation period will run from (provisionally) May 15, 2026, to November 15, 2026. The proposed project or project phase must be completed in full within the approval period.

13. Complete proof of use must be submitted within one month of the end of the respective project, but no later than December 15, 2026. 

Cost and financing plan

14. The Fonds provides funding of between €5,000 and €10,000 to support projects in the field of independent performing arts.

15. A prerequisite for residency grants is the existence of a balanced cost and financing plan.

16. Personnel expenses for project participants named in the application are eligible for funding in accordance with the General Auxiliary Provisions for Project Funding (ANBest-P). A maximum of 20% of the approved funding amount may be used for material costs incurred by the residency, such as (rehearsal/stage) room rentals at the production houses/festivals facilitating the residency or travel expenses. Any travel expenses incurred are reimbursable in accordance with the Federal Travel Expenses Act (BRKG).

17. VAT deductible in accordance with Paragraph 15 of Germany’s Value Added Tax Act (UStG) is not eligible for funding. Ongoing non-project-related personnel expenses are also excluded.

18. Co-financing with additional funds is excluded.

19. The lower fee limits recommended for the independent performing arts are binding for the fees provided.* 
 

Exclusion criteria/conditions

20. Funding is excluded if the proposed project has already begun before the funding commitment has been made, i.e., if expenses have already been incurred or contracts have already been concluded.

21. A project may only be submitted once to one of the funding programs of the Fonds Darstellende Künste; parallel applications are not permitted. An application that has already been rejected may not be resubmitted.

22. Applicants may only submit one project per funding year in the residency funding program. Artists may only participate in one funded residency project per funding year.

These regulations apply from 15.01.2026 and are subject to change.

Berlin, January 15, 2026

Fonds Darstellende Künste e.V.

Board of Directors and Management 
 

*Recommendation of the Bundesverband Freie Darstellende Künste e.V. for a lower fee limit for the independent performing arts in Germany for 1) professional groups with compulsory insurance in the Künstlersozialkasse (KSK): 3,600 euros per month / 830 euros per week / 165 euros per day / 360 euros per performance. For 2nd) professional groups for whom social security via the KSK is not possible: 4,220 euros per month / 970 euros per week / 190 euros per day / 422 euros per performance. The Fonds Darstellende Künste also recommends an in-depth examination of the ver.di initiative on basic fees for self-employed creative professionals.