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The recommendation for the European Capital of Culture 2025 will be announced today in Berlin. Of the eight German cities that participated in the race, five are still there: Hannover, Hildesheim, Nuremberg, Chemnitz and Magdeburg.
By Matthias Reiche, ARD-Studio Brussels
At precisely 1:27 pm, the 12-member jury wants to announce its vote. The decision-making body is appointed by the highest EU institutions, says Ulrich Fuchs. From 2014 to 2018 he headed the selection committee that decides which city can carry the title.
“There are four parts of the exam: First, there is the application file that all cities submit. In my experience, that represents between 40 and maybe 50 percent of the decision-making process.”
For this, the delegates of the applicant cities must make a presentation in a kind of oral exam and then answer the questions of the jury for 45 minutes. She visits the cities in the last round, which of course could only take place digitally this time.
I rarely agree
The decision is rarely unanimous, as Ulrich Fuchs knows from his experience as a former jury chief.
“Of course there are also differences and discrepancies in the jury. It never becomes tangible, but the arguments come and go. And in the end the process is actually such that first an agreement is sought: is there a city that is not in? The question arises? And if there is an agreement, then maybe there are only four. Then there will be a further reduction to possibly only three. And the last two will be voted on in secret. “
One of the many evaluation criteria is that applicants with the degree not only want to boost their marketing, but also pursue a strategy to develop the city creatively and sustainably beyond the year as a cultural capital.
Is there a bonus this?
It is difficult to predict what chances Chemnitz and Magdeburg will have here. Not only is Saxon MEP Constanze Krehl quite skeptical about a possible East bonus.
“That sounds good, but I think in the end the concept has to be decisive, and I think Chemnitz has good cards for that, and that 30 years after reunification we don’t always have to ask for a bond from East Germany.”
Capital of Culture expert Ulrich Fuchs sees it in a similar light. But at the end of the day there could be a bonus this, and rightly so.
“But only if the Chemnitz or Magdeburg app is as good as one of the three West Germans. Then it could also count if you say: Well the last cultural capital was in West Germany with Essen and the Ruhr area, maybe next time but in East Germany. “
The European Capital of Culture will be officially appointed by the Conference of Ministers of Culture on the basis of today’s recommendation at the end of the year. A 2013 EU study shows that the title, in addition to the € 1.5 million prize money, attracted mostly more attention and additional visitors to most cities, sometimes also causing a permanent makeover.
