German government and the governors of 16 federal states unanimously decided on a 2nd lockdown of public life as of November 2. Especially orchestras, theatres, concert and opera houses will have to close their doors for another 4 weeks. This lockdown is part of a national strategy to stop the 2nd wave of the COVID19 pandemic.

German venues: empty seats for another four weeks

Artists, managers and staffs are strongly disappointed about these topic public orders, because they’ve worked very flexible in new concert and theatre formats and they’ve worked hard for the safety of audiences during the last few weeks, too. Hygiene and safety concept did work: Zero infections had been reported from a single performance. It’s an artistic and economic nightmare to shut down performances for a second time in 2020.

While public funding for many companies is safe for 2020, there is a big fear about funding cuts in the future. Therefore new motions must be brought up by orchestra boards, by arts, theatre and orchestra associations to safeguard public arts funding in 2021/22 within the state budgets now. An additional national support program for private arts enterprises and self employed artists is on the way.