Schoolchildren in Berlin are thrilled when the culture bus goes on tour with them Photo: Rene Loeffler
By Claudia von Duehren
They bring culture to children and young people free of charge. Since August 2021, the “Offensive Kulturbus” has been taking pupils from all types of schools and kindergarten children to the theater or museum free of charge. Due to the current budget cuts for culture, the organizers fear for the future of the initiative.
“Our financing is only available until the end of 2023. How things will continue after that is still open,” says Lars Hecker (28). The culture manager is one of the initiators of the project. “In the initial phase of Corona, we thought about how we could still bring children and young people to cultural sites. Today, the main concern is to enable children to participate in culture. Due to staff shortages, teachers and educators are often unable to use public transport to get there,” explains Lars Hecker.
Please board for culture: the bus will pick up the students Photo: Rene Loeffler
Since the start of the project, the model initiative has transported over 33,000 children and young people in around 900 tours. The buses for this are rented. The trips and three employees for the organization were financed with 350,000 euros annually by the culture senate.
Children from outlying areas could also go to the theater. By the end of the current funding, the initiative is expected to have promoted up to 50,000 young people to the more than 70 participating cultural institutions. A survey of 400 teachers and educators showed that more than 67 percent would not have been able to take the children to the theater without the culture bus.
For Lars Hecker, this is another signal that funding for the initiative must not be cut: “We are well aware of the economic situation in Berlin. But you shouldn’t save on children in particular.” He also sees an advantage in the program for the stages. “We bring the audience of tomorrow.”
Bus stop at the Grips Theater. The youth stage is one of more than 70 offers Photo: Rene Loeffler
So far, the new culture senate has only offered an offer to talk and referred to the difficult economic situation in Berlin.