Broad support is emerging for the Füssen Festival Hall

Füssen / Augsburg - Support for the festival theater “Neuschwanstein” with public money is becoming more and more likely: After the district's cultural committee recently decided to support the festival theater “Neuschwanstein” in the amount of 100,000 euros, the district of Swabia should now also make its contribution. This is what the district parliamentary groups of the CSU and Free Voters (FW) are calling for. Accordingly, the district should contribute 150,000 euros annually. The Füssen city council has already decided against it: it wants to contribute up to 50,000 euros annually in the future. 

The financial support from the district and city is part of an overall package that the city of Füssen, the district and the district of Swabia want to put together with the Free State of Bavaria. The aim is for the Free State to provide 600,000 euros, the district 150,000 euros and the municipality 50,000 euros annually - a total of 900,000 euros.

According to the principle of subsidiarity, the Free State only wants to make its contribution if the municipal level is also on board (the Kreisbote reported). In recent years, both the district and the city had refused to subsidize the event house. Its operation has also been in deficit since it was taken over by the Marktoberdorf entrepreneur Manfred Rietzler in 2016. Although the minus has been steadily reduced in recent years, it was still almost a million euros last year. The deficit has so far been made up by Rietzler.

But not only in the district council, but also in the Füssen town councilors, a change of heart has apparently occurred: As Mayor Maximilian Eichstetter (CSU) announced at the request of the district messenger, the town council decided in a closed session in September with a vote against, the music theater with up to to promote 50,000 euros a year.

The decision is justified with the promotion of culture by the house and its supraregional importance.

However, the decision is subject to the fact that the named partners also participate.

CSU and FW apply pressure

If the parliamentary groups of CSU and FW have their way, the Swabian district should now follow suit and make its agreed contribution. In its most recent meeting in Kempten, the Free Voters parliamentary group approved funding for the Festspielhaus - initially limited to three years, according to a press release by the FW. "The Free State has been prepared to provide funding for a long time, but the district and the city have refused to do so in recent years," the former Ostallgäu district administrator Johann Fleschhut is quoted as saying.

From the point of view of the FW parliamentary group, the use of taxpayers' money for the privately operated event house on the Forggensee is justified simply because, unlike other musical locations, there is no big city nearby.

"And anyone who does not want to discriminate against rural areas and wants such an outstanding facility must also get involved," continues Fleschhut.

The festival hall has become an indispensable part of the region and gives the region a locational advantage far beyond the Ostallgäu.

District councilor Johanna Hofbauer also campaigned for funding: "There is nothing comparable far and wide, which is why the funding is absolutely justified."

No subsidies

The district councils of the CSU are one step further.

As early as June, the parliamentary group applied for a EUR 150,000 grant for the Festspielhaus - also initially limited to three to five years - to be examined.

The promotion of musical theater with public funds should not be about economic aid or subsidies, for example for the in-house catering business, emphasize the district and the city in unison.

The money may only be used to promote cultural purposes.

The operators have to prove this annually.

Should the Festspielhaus make profits in individual years, the funding would have to be paid back, according to the resolution of the Ostallgäu culture committee.

And in the resolution proposal of the Füssen City Council it says: "Evidence that the donations are or have been used exclusively for cultural purposes (and not for the other business areas of the Neuschwanstein Festival House) must also be provided annually to the city by means of a proof of use . "