German culture head Roth sees changes two years after taking office
German Culture Commissioner Claudia Roth believes she has made an impact on federal culture and media policy since taking office in December 2021 in the three-party coalition led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
"What was important for me – which is recognizable – is to have reset the course," Roth, a member of the Green party, told dpa in Berlin.
Roth, 68, who has in the past served in the German parliament, the European Parliament and as co-head of her party, believes the notion of "culture" has been expanded under her leadership.
"It was urgently necessary to end this separation of elite and ostensibly entertainment culture," she said. New groups now felt themselves included, from pop music to comics to music shops, she said. "Cultural commonality is on the rise," Roth said.
The culture of sustainability was now a prominent theme, she said, pointing to Green culture conferences, such as a recent one in the Leipzig opera house.
"The next one in Sanssouci [Palace in Potsdam] will discuss how to maintain parks and gardens during times of climate crisis," she said.
"At a European level, we were able to embed the theme of sustainability and adaptation to the climate, resilience and also the aesthetics of sustainability in the commission's cultural programme," Roth said.
