Nobody would have expected that we would all be staying home for the majority of the spring and summer season watching livestream DJ sets and events due to a worldwide pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused non-essential businesses like clubs and restaurants to close, borders to shut and festivals to be canceled or rescheduled to next year. The German federal government has now announced a €1bn recovery fund titled ‘NEUSTART KULTUR’ – meaning ‘restart culture’ in English – which is meant for the so-called cultural sector that has suffered under the consequences of the nationwide lockdown.
The music industry, which suffered immense losses as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, is also part of the cultural sector in Germany and has been awarded a total of €150m for live music venues, organizers and promoters to help out with any costs incurred and missing revenue.
“We want to save our unique cultural sector and give perspective to artists. With NEUSTART KULTUR and in combination with other multi-billion-euro recovery funds of the federal government, we’re making a contribution that is internationally unparalleled” (freely translated) says Monika Grütters, the federal culture minister of Germany.
