Berlin has it all? – Cultural assets as an economic factor

Culture and cultural assets are important factors for the attractiveness of cities, and hence for their economic prosperity. This was the conclusion made by seven local politicians from South Korea, who dealt with cultural policy issues during their visit to Germany in October. Cities on their tight itinerary were Frankfurt, Berlin and Wittenberg, where they met with German politicians and organizers of cultural projects.

Frankfurt is not only the financial centre of Germany but also rich in cultural heritage. Councillor Volker Stein (Free Democratic Party) raved about the new buildings around the medieval city hall “Römer”, and about the multitude of theatres and operas. Inside the Goethe House and the Historical Museum the visitors experienced the city’s cultural diversity themselves.  The Goethe House shows, how the legacy of an important personality is being perpetuated in Germany these days. The Historical Museum is currently under construction and will be greatly enlarged. Consequently, new learning programs will be given more space.

Berlin, Germany’s capital and biggest city, is of course in a league of its own. The renowned Museum Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that constantly draws many visitors to Berlin and offers them a variety of temporary exhibitions in addition to the permanent ones. Every year, numerous large and small events take place in Berlin. One of them is the Festival of Lights, which attracts locals and tourists alike – according to its organizer Birgit Zander in total it receives 2 million visitors every year. Every one of them contributes to the rising purchasing power. The Festival of Lights provides a vivid example of how an event can be financed through sponsoring and simultaneously benefit a great number of people at the same time. Wolf Kühnelt, who is responsible for cultural projects in Berlin, then presented the success story of the Long Night of Museums. The concept has been copied by more than 100 cities in Germany and another 100 cities all over Europe.

Last not least, the participants visited a tradition-steeped German provincial town: Wittenberg, which is already preparing for the 500thanniversary of Luther’s posting of his Ninety-Five Theses. During the decade culminating in 2017, every year is featuring a different theme (e. g. currently “Reformation and Tolerance”). Wittenberg is thereby demonstrating how to keep a town the subject of interest and conversation for 10 years. After an intensive week, the participants took many new ideas back home to South Korea, in order to help their cities to prosper through well-directed cultural promotion.