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First the critical question: What is NOT culture? In the German language, there is a great increase in expressions that include culture: Spare Time Culture, Corporate Culture, Eating Culture, Capital Culture, Everyday Culture, Pop Culture etc. Even the toothbrush has something to do with German culture, as Germans call their toiletry bags "Culture Bags."
Let's take a short, cultural trip through time. A slogan of the 1970's was "Culture for Everyone." This concerned among others, the works of Friedrich Schiller and Richard Wagner. In the 1990's, the slogan was changed from "Culture for Everyone" to "Everything is Culture" as a parallel to the postmodern mentality of 'anything goes'.
Bruises on green hills
"The economy does what works, culture on the other hand, does what is important," was the belief of the German theatre and opera director, August Everding. Is Germany really a great nation of culture? One thing is for sure, the multitude of cultural events in Germany can hardly be beaten. This has one main reason: Federalism. In Germany, the Federal States are in charge of the cultural institutions. This has created an impressive result: There are 240 subsidised theatres, hundreds of symphonic orchestras, thousands of museums and over 25,000 libraries. These cultural opportunities are well appreciated as there are over 91 million people who visit German museums every year. Annually, 20 million go to theatres and operas. Another 3.6 million listen to the great symphonic orchestras.
There is a lot of discussion during cultural events like the Berlinale, the Documenta in Kassel, the many various theatre gatherings or the Wagner Festival in Bayreuther. This is the time when people fight over what culture is, or is not, in front of the media and get bruises on the green hills.
