Transformation East Fuels Transformation West: Tendencies in Cultural Politics and Its Transformations in the Process of German Unification

Abstract

The unification of the two German states in 1990 presented great challenges to cultural pro- fessionals in the former GDR. In order to maintain and modernize the existing theatres their organizational forms had to be adjusted and new economic models had to be implemented. Since the Länder were not willing to or able to meet the new challenges with their own resources, the Federal Government generated investments on its own according to article 35 of the Einigungsvertrag, thus shaping a new system of cultural politics.
Theatres were a field of experimentation to seek new and more autonomous models of admin- istration. This was especially proposed by the advocates of New Public Management that had not been applied to the cultural sector until the early 1990s. Mergers and regional cooperation created new formations of stakeholders. In this process, each of the Länder in East Germany followed its own path, especially focusing on the distribution of funding between the local authorities and the Länder. Finally, the transformations in East Germany cannot be seen as a singular process but as a blueprint to foster neo-liberal reformations of structures throughout the 1990s in West Germany as well.