Each week we talk about arts and culture but today were going to talk about facts and figures and about the question where the germany has the best of all cultural landscapes first lets fly it from south to north. Germany has more than five thousand museums one of them is the pina could take demo down in munich. Germany is the land of opera with six thousand eight hundred performances every year. And dressed and is its most famous opera house. The country smallest theater is in the town of now on board with just eighty seats there are one hundred forty two public theaters all together in germany. One of the worlds most important art exhibitions is held in castle every five years documentary. About ten new art shows open to the public every day in germany berlin has more artists than anywhere else in germany one in every hundred people is an artist here. The new cultural highlight is the ebb philharmonia in hamburg with record numbers of visitors and sold out concerts germany fund one hundred thirty one orchestras. From munich to hamburg welcome to our culture check of germany theres a lot of debate in the parliamentary elections here but almost everyone can agree on one issue culture is applied democracy and a big deal arts funding is it so sacred that the German Government wants to earmark even more money culture next year three hundred Million Euros a whopping twenty three percent of the budget thats the plan to anyway. But what is reality and what is simply pretension are we an opera paradise does no one produce as much theatres we do our museums more popular than soccer lets see off to survey the cultural nation examine the facts and tell the real stories behind the myths and since were in germany lets get started with the subject of money im willing to bet thats one area where we really are european champions. Each year germany spends more than ten billion euros for culture for public funded theatres orchestras exhibitions Heritage Conservation thats one hundred twenty three euros per capita ok. If you were to simply distribute that money then everyone could buy themselves a basic lawnmower or a midsized flat pack bookshelves or eight standing tickets for a buy on home game but thats out of the question culture is at least as sacred to germans a soccer but we arent european champions in this discipline either were well ahead of spain or britain but one country spends even more money in the cultural sector with a clear lead of five billion euros france is the clear winner well the even lucky if you. Ok the french pariss after all the most popular travel destination in europe after london will give them that but berlin is rapidly catching up and is certainly determine is Cultural Capital who would contradict that to be a major study has come to a different conclusion. Nestled in a hollow in southern germany is the country secret Cultural Capital according to a recent survey by bet and bad bank its not believe it stood guard most people associate it with time large portions presell thats it but its the third time the city has come out tops with culture so we decided to ask the locals of course i know the stats khalili the wonderful Ballet Company weve just come out of the museum over there months sometimes i get the impression theres too much opera opera great talk or a the opera. And stuttgart opera house does indeed have a great reputation its already been named germanys opera of the year seven times by the magazine open unveiled. The study shows the church card has more theatre and opera seats per capita than any other place in germany so why is that just insider knowledge. Stock up on the good with the stick. It has a certain modesty but when someone from outside factors for its excellence things come out in the open more accidents and. Thats whats happened now. Is just as much a part of the citys d. N. A. Is business in the porsche or bosch and just as internationally important in the market approach to god but it is part and parcel of that. Gods world class ballet is housed under the same roof as its opera and theater making the complex the biggest Cultural Institution of its kind in the world and the locals just lap it up. Our audiences dont run out slamming doors behind them if they dont understand or like something they come back and give another chance even if they say they only understood the performance after seeing it for the third target with. That kind of loyalty is very inspiring canadian eric goatee was one of the publics favorite soloists at the stuttgart ballet before going on to set up his own company ten years on hes gained cult status internationally youre welcome its a pleasure to meet you. There was a plan to start easy and then these days were doing more of our works like what you were just seeing the rare earth thats a little bit more out there and my public after ten years i think they can try pretty much anything now. And of course the lavish funding instructor that helps it makes sharing easier. The money is divided in a way that people respect that he might have gotten more or less than me but i respect the work that he does i mean its very collegial its not a war. Thats come about not by chance but by design stuttgart attaches high value to culture the art museum in the center of the city is further proof of that it has a number of important collections and a budget that allows it to organize unusual projects. It would have cut the guns cause of the citys economic might plays a big role there are very Many Companies here that sponsor culture of course you have to convince people the locals want to know whether theyre going to get Something Back from whatever they give it culture in stuttgart has become lucrative with an annual turnover of six thousand five hundred euros per capita is it too good to be true. As is good music art among of course or short falls here too and they mainly affect young people for example there are hardly any affordable studios. High culture dominates in stuttgart theres little room for small scale experiments. We visit a place thats become a base for around a hundred artists the site used to belong to the railways and the buildings were due to be torn down to make way for a new Housing Estate artists for the space now the buildings are being renovated and will remain affordable studio space. Struck gart employs more. People in the cultural sector than anywhere else in germany its setting a real example for the rest of the country. And. One of the claims that cultural policymakers and Museum Directors love to make is that more people visit museums each year in germany than attend bundesliga matches now is that possible lets check if. Its true six times as many people go to museums each year then two first and Second Division bundesliga matches one hundred fourteen Million Museum visitors as opposed to some nineteen million going to soccer stadiums impressive but is that really a fair comparison ok lets do the math all those Museum Visitors are spread out among five thousand museums but germany has only thirty six stadiums in both bundesliga divisions take but also dot com the home stadium for the club is the most visited of the world some one point five million visitors go there each season and that many people visit munich starches museum each year one of the top three museums of the country top three football versus museums sports versus culture the game and in the draw. Lets talk about another myth the one that germany is a giant in contemporary art greatly in demand by museums and private collectors around the world theres just one little problem with that. Its a fact most money being made from german artists is going elsewhere german artists are well placed in the global top one hundred. Names like. Somali talker. And sam kiefer and first and foremost. This abstract work sold for forty one Million Euros in london. Does works are among the most expensive by any living artist fetching almost forty one Million Euros this allegorical work birds held by deceased german artist max beckmann was also sold in london. And beckman are indicative of a wider trend. German art is big business in places like the us britain and china compared to these giants the german art market is only a small player. In art is created in germany but its sold in london and new york why is that lets find some answers from stuff im trying to from greece one of germanys most prestigious auction houses. I think this is an lobby theres no one lobbying for it its not like the twentys when you had patrons and collectors and benefactors for the museums. Today art is often bound up with an educational mandate funded by the public with big museums with events. Events on a middle class collector peers at a disadvantage. There is another new phenomenon of contemporary art is often incredibly expensive while paintings from the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries dont sell at all why is that. Moment and i think also theres a lot of hype at the moment around easy to distressed contemporary work of the old masters to put to appreciate the notion that you have to be aware of arts mythology and like no graffiti is out of fashion in our time but were working on that side because intelligence is sexy but. Sexy. Is on the topic of collectors is art just a hobby for millionaires or do ordinary people stand a chance that he doesnt mention collectors or people like you and me they differ some are quick to lock themselves away with their art in a tiny room and others show it off as a status symbol. And you get a full spectrum from students to millionaire. The main credentials are a good eye and a passion for art because were standing in front of a painting by the german artist. How much would that set you back that. Price is forty thousand euros then you have to see how many interested buyers there are naturally an auction is exciting its a battle a fight for the. Agrees about we consider ourselves a temporary museum with all of them can take home with you housing income. Stephan turner thank you. If there is any sector where women enjoy a quality that its surely in the arts isnt it but the number of women working in culture in the Creative Business is significantly less than in the German Economy overall surprising and time for a closer look. Less than a quarter of films in germany are directed written or produced by women. Has managed to make her way in a mans world shes been involved in some very successful films. Like a fantastic woman a quirky film about a transgender singer in chile because silverback the best screenplay at this years berlin film festival. Weston a film about masculinity directed by women which premiered a can i mention angel house his biggest success as a producer tony man to rescue. The heart of team drama comedy one six lolas at the german film awards direct tomorrow and you founded the company complex and felt. That success is unusual even though just as many women study films many. Of baghlan man and i study together it was fifty fifty male and female students it just wasnt an issue for us when we were studying or and it was only a few years later when we began to look around and see what our former fellow students were up to now look to see who was left it was almost only men to our dismay by the fast money men are. Currently drumming up interest western at festivals such as here in toronto a success is a door opener for two men generally have an easier job so i never i think there are a lot of old boys. Obs and in the film business contacts are very important a lot of things depend on who you know and a lot of those connections go back to film school. A change of place and industry old boys clubs also exist in other cultural sectors the museum world is very male dominated absolutely but there are very few of us in the very top jobs if you look at it in International Terms in our Museum Network b. s all which includes about forty five Museum Directors worldwide there are only about four or five women. Marian ackerman has been general director dressed in state talk collections since november twenty sixth seen it is one of the most Important Museum shops in the whole of germany she manages four hundred fifty staff and fifty museums thanks to the green vault the citys internationally renowned royal treasure room and the sphinx. I think a lot of women just dont have the confidence to take certain steps maybe because they have all wanted children because they really felt mentally from the get go. I always just went ahead with a certain dreamy intuition or confidence. I feel like a mother and that was despite having two children for seven years she managed the consumption and of a collection at the age of thirty eight she became germanys youngest Museum Director and struck got. He was also never afraid of jumping in the deep end but she believes gender quotas would have. Kempley avail i very much support the target that in ten years time fifty percent of funding should be going to women whether that be directors screenplay writers or producers a lot of women already work in one of these branches. Of the y. So i think it would be a very important sign for the Younger Generation of i think with high. Sure you were going through all. These women have managed to combine managerial positions with family Life Children and Creative Work in germany thats still not very common. Good idea if all the women who mentioned the fact that they had children would immediately offered a laptop and flextime then it would become so natural that many would be able to take this final step. That shut it down. So weve met two trailblazers and role models now its up to germanys Younger Generation to demand and create better working conditions for women. How to take germany in arts twenty one a prophet from around the world rave that you can go to the opera in germany every day but is that fact or fiction. Well nowhere else in the world can boast more a proper form and says six thousand seven hundred ninety five year thats as many as those of russia Austria Italy france and the u. S. Put together and if you count more than eighty opera houses with the year round schedule and a permanent and somber then germany has around as many opera houses as the entire rest of the world. As a matter of fact you have the choice of no less than eighteen are proper pharmacist each day in germany youre most likely to end up at verdis la traviata its clearly the countrys most performed operad just ahead of modes are its magic flute and that by the way were no different from the rest of the world verdi is the most popular composer of. So no one can be when it comes to our from theres just one little flaw but then maybe germanys undisputed opera capital but globally the city is only in third place behind moscow and vienna. But i guess we can live with that. What is the most successful german cultural export of the past one hundred years expressionism techno the correct answer is by our house nearly a century ago the brightest Creative Minds time reinvented design and architecture and what about today are we still at the vanguard well the facts dont support that among the one hundred biggest Architects Offices in the world twenty two are in the United States seventeen a british and only three are german so were not among the biggest but at least among the best. The value of architecture is practically impossible to assess. However one online publication barnett does publish ratings for german and foreign architectural offices based on the amount of trade press theyve received from its listings its clear that while the bauhaus may be history its principle still have considerable influence. To command the for many years now germany has been best known for engineering load bearing construction and Solar Technology for the down to earth side of architecture rather than signature design. That germany has a reputation for reliability and that draws in a lot of business internationally it. Was not exposed on. The top germans in the International Rankings are gathered come out against partners the bureau is very big in german terms with over five hundred star g. M. P. Operates worldwide designing and building museums stadiums and entire cities like linger on in china the architects pride themselves on having a very distinctive thetic up good water. They took your basic philosophy is reducing function down to what is absolutely necessary in all of our buildings we always pad things down to the absolute essentials and this is true. But bonuses nationwide rankings the top by billin baseball career architects and again alive and funk barco are very imaginative and interdisciplinary in their approach very much in keeping with the bauhaus tradition and then no exception there he believes german architecture has many strength. They are i think if you can get german architecture offices are very detail oriented and very advanced in their use of Engineering Technology they were closely with engineers for example our office always works very closely with innovative engineers developing innovative concepts that happens on a regular basis here in germany but architects here dont necessarily stand out in terms of bold design partly because there arent enough clients in the world who want that but germans are more open in this respect than in other countries this tower block is a stroke of luck for berlin which is otherwise rather reversed a high rise architecture its a Company Headquarters built by barcode in the capital of new europa City Development number two in germany the stub Architects Office the company has gained a reputation for building museums often in historical surroundings like the minster london. Stop structures fit in that conspicuously in conspicuous. Take for example the restoration workshops of the prussians palaces and Gardens Foundation in potsdam in the historical heart of the city. Were interested in buildings that have their own contemporary a static. But that also create a link to the place or the history of the place but. In that way theyre more reserved than a striking brand new construction would be which some people might like to see in such places. Like. For the arms hope to museum on the baltic coast stop has achieved a synthesis of distinctive design and understatement the Art Galleries elegance metal cladding will change its color over time just like the fattest roofs of the northern german farmhouses around it is evolved in close cooperation with specialists. Our strengths lie in the precision of the finish or in the Detailed Solutions we find including Technical Solutions its a cliche but we germans are definitely out front in that respect. There by phone however there are very few young architects represented in the boneheads rankings in germany many clients are loath to take risks the mood noir not courageous enough to try out new things to explore new avenues to experiment young architects are probably more suited to that kind of process because theyre still hungry few boy. I think its a hard profession. Its quite exploitative. Nevertheless i would advise all young architects and i tell my students that too to become self employed if they have the courage the strength and the enthusiasm to do that than what theyll make it. The myths facts and the stories behind the figures will wrap up with the question whether germany is the cultural champion ana. Here in germany the culture is a matter of National Interest even if the big money from german artists is made elsewhere and more needs to be done to promote women in the arts. Germany is still a world leader when it comes to opera. And here are a few more things to check off the list poetry film theater all of these have a prime place here in germany he was a creative wonderland. That was a. Check from berlin theres more on facebook on the d w culture and on the w. Dot com slash college it seems so. The be. The be. Close. To the. Music. Is time. You know and im on the soft side germany fresh the british told the players play and the singing fish clan sing. Us. Dollar. Beat the germans move and so close to specs of place and culture to. Us american keep music takes a look at germany the synchronicities two traditions every day lives and language the business of the butcher the big guy. D. W. Dot com the germans. Losing your homeland because of persecution the city. Starting from scratch in an unfamiliar country five people who found a new home in a foreign land. With their stories books and music theyve built bridges to the past and the future. After the escape starting december seventeenth on t. W. Belonging to one official estimates more than one point two million venezuelans live in colombia legally and illegally. Already at all ive returned to. Visit friends is that i dont think id ever go back there to live you know what i live there again i dont know so im not sure. Bearing witness global news that matters. Made for mines. Either. Here man writes. D. W