Celler Rat shares the alarm: Theater financing urgently challenged!

Celler Rat shares the alarm: Theater financing urgently challenged!

In Celle, a unanimously decided application by the city council ensures excitement: The state government in Hanover is intended to persuade a "resolution for theater financing" to meet its responsibility for the municipal theater. The focus is on the castle theater, which is considered an important cultural center of the city. Director Andreas Döring was grateful for the initiative of the city council and the support that the theater needs to continue to exist and to continue his programs. The Celle Zeitung reports that Mayor Jörg Nigg (CDU) already has been talking to various ministers since 2020 to obtain more financial support for the theater.

The Celler Schlosstheater currently receives a funding of 2.07 million euros from the state of Lower Saxony and 1.87 million euros from the city and the district. But this sum is not enough in the back and front: the municipal theater in the state demand a total of six million euros to cover their urgent financial needs.

The ongoing difficulties

The situation is additionally tightened by tariff increases that are not compensated for by the country. District Administrator Axel Flader reported in the most recent meeting of the city council that the municipal stages such as the Schlosstheater in Celle, but also the theater in Hildesheim, Osnabrück, Wilhelmshaven, Lüneburg and Göttingen suffer from this financial burden. Göttingen has already made an application for compensation for the financing that Celle joined. The [Celler Presse] (https://cere-presse.de/2025/06/20/das-ist-nicht-fair-stadt-and-land-fragungs- zu- Reichender-heaterfinanzierung-auf/) emphasizes that the council of Celle puts pressure on the state government and criticizes that the country evades its responsibility.

A look at the current allocation of state financing shows that Lower Saxony provides almost 29 million euros annually for the entire municipal theater landscape. Nevertheless, this sum is considered inadequate because the tariff increases and steadily growing costs are not covered. In the past, the talks with the country have remained unsuccessful, while co -financing of tariff increases has also been suspended since 2020.

The way to the future

The Schlosstheater Celle, which currently has almost 130 employees, including around 100 permanent employees, is an essential part of the cultural landscape in Lower Saxony. Director Döring reported special funding of 250,000 euros for the children's and youth theater, which should continue to contribute to ensuring work in the field of theater pedagogy. But the structural deficit of the theater is currently around 100,000 euros and could increase to 500,000 euros after the next tariff increase. This situation hits the theater, which plays an important role in the community

The Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK) has provided increased amounts of funding in the past, but the long -term preservation of municipal theater must be guaranteed. As part of a target agreement, ambitious cultural -political goals were determined in order to expand the audience and address new target groups. But whether the country can be realized without adequate financial support is more than questionable. The website of the MWK Niedersachsen shows not only as Places of art, but also have to be understood as important educational institutions. The City Council of Celle unmistakably refers to this aspect.

The pressure on the state government grows - it remains to be hoped that they will hear the calls after a fair and fair theater financing. Because without a sustainable solution, the Celler theater landscape remains more than unsure in its future.