Although it always sells out, the capital’s historic scene announced on Wednesday November 20 that it could go bankrupt at the end of 2025 due to severe budget cuts desired by the Senate.
It is a legendary theater in Berlin, whose creations are today presented at all international festivals. However, he may have to lower the curtain forever. In a press release published on its website on Wednesday November 20, the Schaubühne announced that it was “threatened with bankruptcy by the end of 2025”. This message follows statements from the Berlin Senate (the regional administration) on November 19, which plans a 12% reduction in the culture budget in the capital, or 130 million euros less. This decision would hit hard the theater led by director Thomas Ostermeier. Besides the potential “reduction of 1.8 million euros” state subsidies, the theater also says it faces “charge increases amounting to 700,000 euros” which will not be compensated.
The Schaubühne stage welcomes “500 performances” per year, a vast program that it will not be able to continue after 2025 if budgetary restrictions are adopted by Parliament. The theater evokes “a risk of insolvency” which would inevitably lead to bankruptcy. In addition, the place evokes the urgency of financing a “massive renovation program” necessary has safeguarding the place.
Emergency measures
If the theater has to cut its budget, it first plans to “close the experimental location of the Studio”. This central space of the Schaubühne is a laboratory for artists and companies who can bring their projects to life there. Closing it would risk reducing the production of future original pieces. The Studio has also recently become a “laboratory for climate-neutral theater practice” and its disappearance could, according to Schaubühne, slow down the steps it has taken towards a more sustainable model.
The cultural venue is not the only one affected by the budget reductions desired by the local Senate. Other stages such as the Deutsches Theater, the legendary Volksbühne theater or the Berliner Ensemble founded by the playwright Bertolt Brecht are also deprived of several million euros in subsidies, details the German media Rbb24.
An emblematic monument
The Schaubühne press release had the effect of a thunderclap, relayed by numerous German media and sparking reactions on social networks. On X, a user deplores the situation, describing the place as “what still works in Berlin… the lively cultural scene”. To say that the theater «marche» is an understatement since it recorded an occupancy rate of 99.9% this season, and 97% over the entire year.
Built in 1928 in the style of the New Objectivity dear to the interwar period, the original building with its sober and stripped-down appearance initially served as a cinema. It was only in 1962 that it transformed into a theater, under the leadership of a troupe of student actors from the Kreutzberg district. The place, partially destroyed during the war, was then completely renovated and became one of the most technically advanced theaters for the time in Germany. Since then, the reputation of the Schaubühne has spread far beyond Berlin.
