By Sebastian Bauer
No area of culture receives more support from Berlin than the Opera Foundation. But mainly older people with high school or university degrees attend the operas. Another cultural sector is more diverse and younger.
In 2023, the Opera Foundation will receive state funding of 160,606,000 euros and thus 22 percent of Berlin’s cultural funds for that year.
This emerges from a response from the Senate to a question from Green MP Turgut Altug (57).
The foundation, which houses Berlin’s three opera houses and the State Ballet, receives more than 40 percent of the funding for stages and orchestras (EUR 381,094,795).
For comparison: Berlin’s museums will receive almost 78 million euros, the libraries 34.8 million and the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation 34,448,000 euros.
The numbers are remarkable, since according to the latest cultural monitoring, the average age of the opera-goers is 52.56 years. 81.5 percent of them have at least a high school diploma or even a university degree.
So is funding too elitist in Berlin?
In cinemas, for example, the average visitor is around ten years younger and has a broader educational level. Nevertheless, the Babylon is the only film theater to be funded by the Berlin Senate with 512,390 euros.
But an opera house with star singers, orchestras, choirs and lavish productions also has to cope with large expenses. The houses of the Opera Foundation enjoy world fame and are therefore tourist magnets.
They also do important mediation work with children and in non-cultural circles. The Komische Oper, for example, brings music theater to all districts with “Selam Opera!”. The State Opera offers “Opus Klassik” for children.
There are partnerships with schools, children’s choirs, workshops and the chance to get discounted or free tickets.