Claudia Roth (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Minister of State for Culture and the Media, sits in her office in the Federal Chancellery during an interview with the German press agency dpa. © Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa/Archivbild
After Corona, many young people first have to discover cultural life for themselves. The federal government is now providing financial support to cinemas or bookstores. The range continues to grow.
Berlin - With the Kulturpass for 18-year-olds, which will be valid from mid-June, Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth expects significant impetus for the cultural scene. More than 14 cultural offerers have registered for the offer, which the Green politician wants to launch together with Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) on June 700, since the platform was launched in mid-May. According to government figures, almost 1.6 million cultural products are currently on offer. "And there are more every hour and every day," it said. "This is a very promising start, which shows that the Kulturpass can start on June 14 with a wide range of services for 18-year-olds in terms of content and region," Roth told dpa in Berlin. "The Kulturpass is a great opportunity for the rich and diverse cultural life in our country to reach the 18-year-olds of today and thus also to win them over in the longer term." Cultural offerers who are not yet involved should take the opportunity to take part in the Kulturpass and register before the start.
Roth sees the Kulturpass this year as one of the central projects of her institution, with which cultural policy is breaking new ground. For them, it is also a signal to the young generation after the Corona pandemic, when many had withdrawn due to the restrictions.
With the nationwide planned Kulturpass, young people in Germany who are or will be 18 years old this year can buy tickets worth 200 euros for cultural events such as cinema, concerts and theatre via an app or website. Books, sound carriers or musical instruments are also possible.
Large online retailers such as Amazon, streaming services such as Netflix or music platforms such as Spotify are excluded. In order to be able to use the app, interested parties must identify themselves via the online function of the identity card.
The €100 million funding will initially apply to around 750,000 young people. Roth and Lindner had already announced that they would extend the Kulturpass to younger people if it proved its worth. The model for the offer is, among other things, France, where there has been a culture pass for some time. There, the supply of cinemas, for example, had led to significantly stronger demand. Dpa
