The German theatre system and the limited impact of cultural policy on the governance and management of public theatres

Abstract

The chapter outlines the limited impact of German cultural policy and its marginal influence on the governance and management of cultural enterprises using the example of German theatre. The theatre system is the largest cultural segment in Germany and one of the densest theatre systems in the world, with 140 public theatres and about 50,000 artists and employees producing shows for 20 million people per annum. Unlike traditional textbooks, the possibilities of influencing even public-funded theatres are low because of structural, legal and political reasons. Yet, there are many potentials and spheres of influence that are not used in the cultural policy field. On the other hand, cultural enterprises are beginning to influence the political stakeholders for their own interests, thereby changing cultural policy itself. Using a wide range of research techniques, the chapter is focusing on German public theatre between 2000 and 2018. Empirical data were collected during a Long-Term Participant Observation between 2003 and 2013, combined with surveys in 20 of 140 public theatres between 2012 and 2018. The conclusion is that a successful cultural policy requires a new long-term approach and an innovative cultural policy model. The relationship between governance and management will shift into a model, in which the management receives more scope to participate with new concepts in a competition of ideas.