Systematic funding
A look at the 2026 budget
The independent performing arts are indispensable for a diverse and innovative cultural landscape. The 2025 budget negotiations resulted in a slight increase in funding. The 2026 federal budget will now be decisive: Will it be possible to further develop funding for the independent scene in a sustainable manner and ensure the minimum level of working capacity for all central and continuously active players beyond 2025?
The Fonds Darstellende Künste is ready to do so – as a reliable partner with nationwide funding practices, systematized programs, and close ties to artists and production venues. It offers the infrastructure that free, creative work needs. Now it is important to send a clear cultural policy signal: for reliability, effectiveness, and the future of the independent performing arts.
“Art needs reliability – the time to act is now”
“Stabilizing funding is a necessary prerequisite for artistic freedom. It's about securing a sustainable level of support. ”
Holger Bergmann, managing director of the Fonds Darstellende Künste, analyzes the current needs of the independent performing arts and classifies them politically – his article “Art needs reliability – the time to act is now” is now available in our magazine.
Systematic funding. Strengthening the Fonds.
A dynamic arts scene needs stable funding conditions – the Fonds Darstellende Künste team summarizes its demands:
Systematic funding – and prospects
The Fonds Darstellende Künste's three-year concept funding program is currently on hold due to a lack of planning security. Artists and others working in the independent performing arts are calling for it to be reanimated – watch their statements in the video (in German):
-
Prof. Wolfgang Schneider | Chair of the Fonds
Skadi Konietzka | Merseburg University of Applied Sciences
Janis El-Bira | Cultural journalist
-
Anne-Cathrin Lessel | LOFFT – THE THEATER, Chair of the Fonds
Beate Baron | HfM Saar, Director
Mirjam Hesse | Puppeteer/Puppet Designer
-
Amelie Deuflhard | Kampnagel, Chair of the Fonds
Thomas Frank | Residenz Schauspiel Leipzig
Ute Gröbel | HochX Theater and Live Art, Rodeo Festival
-
Holger Bergmann | Fonds Darstellende Künste
Kerstin Evert | K3 Zentrum für Choreografie, Tanzplan Hamburg
Julia Huda-Nahas | Regisseurin, Autorin, Kulturpädagogin
Barbara Kastner | Heinz-Hilpert-Theater und Kulturbüro Lünen
-
Dan Thy Nguyen | Theaterschaffender, fluctoplasma Festival, Studio Marshmallow
Andrea Maria Erl | Theater Mummpitz, Festival panoptikum
Melanie Zimmermann | Real Dance Festival
Anna Wagner | Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm
Expanding Cooperative Funding
-
Winfried Wrede (artistic director of flausen+), Jürgen Eick (political spokesperson for the Federal Network), Jana Bäskau (Director of the Residency Program at Schloss Bröllin in Fahrenwalde), Anja Imig (Co-Director of Jahrmarkttheater in Altenmedingen), and Felix Worpenberg (Project Manager of “Models for Artists” at flausen+) look back on the achievements of the flausen+ network and speak out in favor of cooperative funding together with the Fonds Darstellende Künste.
-
Carena Schlewitt (HELLERAU - European Center for the Arts) and Stefan Hilterhaus (PACT Zollverein) discuss the new cooperative funding line being developed by the alliance of international production houses in collaboration with the Fonds Darstellende Künste. They provide insights into their long-standing collaboration, the challenges of federal funding, and the concrete prospects for production houses such as PACT Zollverein in Essen and HELLERAU in Dresden.
Contact & engagement
Would you like to get in touch, get involved or help shape the future? We look forward to hearing from you: info @ fonds-daku.de