The German government has announced it will follow in France’s footsteps by introducing a 200-euro culture pass for 18-year-olds to use at cinemas, museums and concert halls across the country.
The German Culture Minister Claudia Roth has announced that all teens in Germany who are set to turn 18 during 2023 will receive a Kulturpass (culture pass) funded by the government. The pass will be a voucher worth 200 euros. Recipients will be able to access the pass via an app on their mobile and use it to book tickets for museum, cinema and concert visits, or even to buy books or records, all without breaking the bank.
According to data from the Federal Statistical Office, around 750.000 18-year-olds across all federal states will get to enjoy the culture pass in 2023. The scheme is set to cost 100 million euros and the voucher money will be issued when a definitive plan has been laid out.
Minister Roth said that the government scheme was taking inspiration from France’s pass Culture. While French President Emmanuel Macron first mentioned the country's 300-euro culture pass in his bid to be re-elected in 2017, the voucher became available to 18-year-olds in France in 2021. Macron took to TikTok to announce the policy to French teens last year: "Whether you are into movie-going, museums, novels, manga, video games, theatre, rap, metal, all of this together, we created the pass Culture for you", he said.
Speaking in the Bundestag, Roth pointed out that young people in Germany were culturally isolated during the coronavirus pandemic. With the culture pass Roth plans to remedy this, introducing teens to the wealth of German culture while offering more footfall to an industry beaten down by years of lockdowns.
FDP leader Christian Lindner, who presented the pass with Roth in a Bundestag sitting, has suggested that if the pilot project is a success it will likely to be extended to 15, 16 and 17-year-olds and perhaps even continue for years to come.