Numerous German cities are applying for the title of European Capital of Culture 2025, which will set in motion a process that will change structures, ways of thinking and actions. All of this should bring new impulses to the city, uncover potential and inspire new initiatives.>

<Recently, cultural experts from various European countries met in Chemnitz for the conference "STAT(D)T Kultur: Chemnitz 2025". They discussed the chances and perspectives of such an application. Among the participants was Oliver Scheytt. From 2006 to 2012 he was managing director of Ruhr.2010 and then founded KULTUREXPERTEN GmbH. A discussion about the challenges of municipal cultural strategies in the course of the application

1988 West Berlin. 1999 Weimar. 2010 Essen. And 2025?

Thirty years ago Europe was still divided. West Berlin was in an island position. Weimar and the Weimar Classicism brought European intellectual history to life. RUHR.2010 stands for the transformation from an industrial to a cultural society, at a time when Europe felt quite strong and secure with the expansion of the EU. But the European situation is more burning than ever: where and how do we draw borders? What makes us what we are? How do we solve the conflicts between nationality and languages? How do we deal with migratory flows? What role do the superpowers play? How is our society developing in the face of digitalization and the spread of mental capitalism? It will not be possible to answer these questions by 2025, but we will have to look for answers under very different conditions than in the last three decades.

<They were in Chemnitz in early November. What was your impression?

I have been to Chemnitz very often since 1990, and the city has developed rapidly. But many people outside have not yet noticed it that way. There is a sense of new beginnings, but also a certain peace and serenity. I like that.

<The German candidate cities are very different. They are very different in size. Some are world-famous and have an unmistakable cityscape, while others are unimpressive. What makes the German Capital of Culture in the year 2025?

Every city can tell European history with and without a distinctive skyline. Each of the candidate cities deals with the (cultural) buildings, the lived culture and the narrated city history. This is the exciting part of the application process: to reflect the four dimensions of the built, organised, lived and communicated city. All applicant cities have great differences here. The interplay between image and identity plays a very decisive role, especially in the Capital of Culture process. I am very curious to see how the questions will be formulated in the further application process, which got off to a very good start in Chemnitz. It can’t be a question of having answers to everything already. The catalogue of questions presented to the jury is designed in such a way that a major project for “self-reflection” by the respective city can be planned during the application process and in cooperation with the Capital of Culture. The jury will ultimately select the best candidate for this major project.

They made Essen a success. Are there similarities between Essen and Chemnitz? Or does each city have to develop its own unique approach?

Essen and Chemnitz had or have an image that does not correspond to their identity. I am curious how Chemnitz deals with this field of tension. The application process for this challenge can also have positive effects independent of winning the title.

<Chemnitz is by nature rather reserved and is not immediately enthusiastic about new things. How do you manage to take the citizens of a city with you on your way to the Capital of Culture?

In my opinion, the process has got off to a very good start, also with the participation of the citizens. The events are attracting a great deal of attention, as I was able to experience directly in November. It is important that the city’s leaders are behind the application, that the cultural actors contribute their potential and that the citizens gradually become aware of the project. The more the competition intensifies in Germany, the more exciting it becomes for the public in the participating cities.

<During your lecture at the opening of the Capital of Culture Conference in Chemnitz you spoke about the fact that you need fewer lighthouses, but more campfires. What can you imagine me to be?

I juxtaposed these two terms to make it clear that a city does not win because it builds spectacular new cultural buildings. Rather, the exchange among each other is very important, especially with regard to the European question and identity. Who can't remember wonderful journeys in their youth to other European cities and regions, where different languages and cultures met around the campfire, perhaps common songs were sung and one was emotionally taken away by the community that developed there. Creating such moments is a beautiful task for every Capital of Culture team.

Europe must be brought back into the awareness of the citizens: Can a Capital of Culture really sharpen the perception of the European idea?

We are often unaware of the connection between Chemnitz and other cities in Europe: Just think of trips by the people of Chemnitz, economic relations, cultural exchange between institutions such as the Chemnitz Art Collection, the theatre etc. We have succeeded in Europe in bringing peace for more than seven decades, organising linguistic and cultural diversity and living together peacefully. Today, more than ten or twenty years ago, we are seeing how much this achievement is under threat. It is therefore all the more important to create awareness of this great cultural achievement.

<Do the Capitals of Culture of the 2020s or new cultural >infrastructure projects work, especially when you see the impulses that an Elbe Philharmonic Hall, for example, will bring to Hamburg?

The jury does not decide who will build the most beautiful cultural property. The decisive factor is whether the cultural strategy to be submitted by each Capital of Culture applicant includes intelligent solutions for the cultural infrastructure that will respond to the future challenges of globalisation, medialisation and digitalisation.

A final question: Who does Chemnitz have to convince? The 10-member jury or the citizens ?

Both groups, whereby the order is clear: It must be possible to credibly demonstrate to the jury that citizens in Chemnitz are behind the application and how they are to be addressed and involved in the programme in the future. Ultimately, the jury will not only ask whether the respective city needs the title because it will also achieve lasting effects.
The jury also asks whether a city deserves the title, i.e. whether there is a certain level of support and enthusiasm among the cultural workers, politicians, business people and citizens. If this does not “come across” at the presentation in 2020, the city of Chemnitz will hardly be able to convince the jury.