Ministry of Culture is reducing literary scholarship: authors defend themselves!

Ministry of Culture is reducing literary scholarship: authors defend themselves!

The Austrian Ministry of Culture has shortened the term of the literary grant for 2025 from 12 to 10 months. This decision concerns the 50 authors who recently received a promise for the scholarship, which is endowed with 1,500 euros per month. In an accompanying letter, those affected were informed about the change, which led to violent criticism from the IG authors authors. Gerhard Ruiss, a representative of the IG, vehemently protested against dealing with the creative and expressed his incomprehension on the decision that is not perceived as transparent.

The Ministry of Culture justified the shortening with an "enormous budget" that had arisen by the previous government. According to the ministry, the measure was decided in consultation with the IG to ensure the full number of 50 scholarships. However, Ruiss pointed out that there were only discussions about future savings opportunities. Specific information about the current award has never been communicated.

criticism and confusion

The ongoing tender for the scholarships, which took place on November 5, 2024, provided for a term of 12 months. This term is still stated on the website of the ministry, which further increases the confusion. In addition, there was an incident in which the names and email addresses were accidentally visible when sending cancellation emails to 300 applicants. The ministry described this incident as a human mistake and apologized to those affected.

In a larger context, these cuts are related to more comprehensive austerity measures in the cultural sector. An overview of the cultural financing shows that the budget of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Media (BKM) in 2025 will increase from EUR 2.15 billion to 2.2 billion euros, but numerous Federal Cultural Fund, including the German literary fund, are affected by cuts. The funds are irritated in a joint statement about the cuts because new funding lines and programs have been developed.

consequences for culture and freedom of art

In particular, international production houses, which are considered the central players of the German theater landscape, must adjust to the funding stop that will be carried out next year. The artistic freedom suffers from this, and various pioneers in the cultural scene fear that this could endanger the quality and diversity of cultural offers. In Saxony there are already concerns about freedom of art, which is particularly highly emphasized in terms of the upcoming state elections and the performance of the AfD.

The current developments show how fragile the financial basis for culture and media is. Those affected therefore hope for rethinking during the upcoming budget consultations in September in order to maintain cultural support in their full extent.