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Actress Iris Berben
Photo: Jens Kalaene / dpa
Actress Iris Berben worries about the fate of culture in times of Corona.
"The pandemic will not be gone by the end of the year, so we have to find ways to keep the culture alive," said the 70-year-old of the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung".
"We know how quickly culture is saved and, for many political decision-makers, falls into the luxury segment. Culture is as important as the air we breathe," said Berben.
Above all, she sees the cinema landscape in danger: "Even before the crisis, cinema was something that you had to fight for over and over again."
Now Corona gets in the way, "and it looks so terribly sad. It feels like a stab in the back to me."
With the shutdown decided by the federal and state governments in November, all theaters, cinemas, concert halls and museums have to close again.
"We are where we are at the moment because we behaved so disciplined"
Iris Berben
You suffer from what the virus "does with our society and our coexistence," said Berben.
But she has little understanding for people who think the protective measures are excessive.
"We're where we are at the moment because we behaved so disciplined."
She trusts politics, virologists and doctors.
The pandemic is new territory for everyone, including politics and doctors, Berben warned.
"That's why I think it's important to support them, even though I know how extremely difficult it must be for those who fail in this situation."
It is extremely dangerous "when people catchers now see their great opportunity to use uncertainty, fear and ignorance for themselves".
The actress suffers from the tense corona situation.
"It is extremely stressful for me to see in the daily news how the leaderships of some countries deal with this virus, what it does to our society and our coexistence and what divides the world," she said.
"There are many reasons to be concerned right now."
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kfr / dpa / AFP