Young people and culture in Europe: from the standing opera for 13 euros in Vienna to the German cultural voucher of 200 euros

2023-12-19 23:51:54

Due to lack of possibilities to develop a love of music, there will be no left: in Germany there are 934 public music schools, attended by about 1.5 million children under 16 years of age. The number of private ones stands at 4,500. In primary school, the use of an instrument is learned on a basic level and one in five children will consolidate this learning beyond secondary school. But just a 17% of visitors to the opera or theater fall into the category of the U30 -or ”unter 30”, a name that covers those who are under 30 years. The bulk of the public is made up of retirees, with 28%.

The main obstacle to breaking that glass ceiling is, obviously, ticket prices. But it must also be said that the demography It doesn’t help move the percentage. 23% of the German population – with around 83 million inhabitants – is between 40 and 59 years old, while the percentage of those over 60 exceeds 25%.

“The German government is determined to promote access to culture for young people, because the future of the country’s cultural life will depend on them,” said the Minister of Culture, the green Claudia Rothwhen presenting last summer his “Culture Pass” or “Cultural passport”. A kind of gift voucher for 200 euros received by anyone who turned or will turn 18 in 2023 and that the beneficiary – some 200,000 people this year – can use it to buy books, visit theaters, operas or any other cultural activity. It is a pilot experience, which Roth intends to perpetuate year after year. Like almost everything, it was presented in app format, since that is the essential instrument in any current activity.

Federalism applied to Culture

In Germany everything works according to its federal model and that directly affects Culture, the direct responsibility of the “Länder” -federated states-. The Minister of Culture has, strictly speaking, the rank of Secretary of State. National initiatives such as its cultural passport are isolated examples, since it is up to each of the 16 Land to manage its cultural offer. But there are common features or even a certain competition to highlight between, for example, the city-state of Berlin and Munichcapital of the “Land” most identified with prosperity and economic power.

Berlin fights against its condition as a deficit city and tries to ensure that this does not invade its cultural fabric, the foundation of its attractiveness. As far as offers to the U30s are concerned, it has the so-called “ClassicCard”. It is an application that allows the user to locate and access the cheapest tickets to any public opera or theater, at prices that are between 15 and 13 euros. You have to pay an annual fee, which for 18-year-old users means 18 euros, while it increases by one euro for each year that passes, until you reach 30. That is, the younger you are, the cheaper.

All major public institutions in Berlin – including the three national opera houses that coexist in the German capital, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, the Deutsche Oper and the Komische Oper – offer tickets with discounts of up to 50% -although not always for all its functions- for the U30. And the possibility of buying the so-called “last minute” tickets for 10 or 15 euros, which generally go on sale between one hour and two hours before the performance. The “ClassicCard” application is also of great help there, since it helps locate those locations.

The youth card formula is extended to the rest of the country and obviously also in Munich, a city that competes with Berlin and also Dresden in terms of operas and public theaters of the first rank. In any case, including where the authorities have not promoted these cards or applications that facilitate the access of the U30 to the cheapest tickets, the formula of discounted seats for students, minors, as well as the unemployed, refugees or other citizens with low levels income works almost universally throughout the country, although with variable percentages.

just standing

In the end, however, the formula that ends up breaking the glass ceiling of prices is the technologically simplest and even legendary: tickets to attend concerts standing or with reduced visibility. They exist not only in Germany, but also in neighboring Austria and allow at least listening to operas at prices ranging from 13 to 18 euros, included in the Vienna Staatsoper. The U formula has also been implemented in Austria, although in this case for those under 27 -that is, U27-.

Others, like the Pierre Boulez Saal founded by Daniel Barenboim in the heart of Berlin, they instead extended the concept of discounted tickets to U35s. This auditorium, next to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, is part of the academy promoted by the Argentine-Israeli Barenboim and his bosom friend, the late Palestinian intellectual Edward Said, in support of the training of young Arab and Israeli musicians from the Middle East .