3 ms·

Nice how you make an article about printing books of photographs and the person who does this into class and culture warfare to top it off with the SA - Grass o

Nice how you make an article about printing books of photographs and the person who does this into class and culture warfare to top it off with the SA - Grass obviously was the easy bridge to go over - as he always is - how else could you have written a comment about Steidl and the SA only separated by one paragraph. Bravo! Plan b would have been to go the Lagerfeld, Chanel, Nazi route - but then this is French territory and surely not as satisfying as only using German bricks to build this up. I like that one though, "but really only the small portion of the city's educated and well-off will tend to visit the museum and the exibitions." one of the dirty little secrets in Germany, how the majority of people pay for the subsidies of museums, exhibitions and opera houses and a small portion of the public profits (artists) or enjoys them (upper class and rich people). Just like with our subsidized universities - but I'd rather not go over that bridge.

ouid 9y ago
Museum subsidies exist primarily to attract tourism, which brings more money into the full economy than museums can recoup directly. This makes them unsustainable as private enterprises, but still good investments, as the amount you can collect in taxes goes up by more than the cost of the subsidy. Since the government determines the tax rate based on what it still needs to be able to fund (things like healthcare and roads). The museum subsidy probably lowers your individual tax bill.
captainmuon 9y ago
Haha, I knew someone would comment on the Grass part. Nazi allegations are the comment equivalent of clickbait, sorry. In all seriousness, Grass' history was a hotly debated topic in Germany. I didn't want to sound overly dismissive or hateful of Steidl and his projects, it just irks me that local residents rarely have a say in such matters. I'm all for publicly subsidized museums (n.b. I have no idea if and how much subsidies the Grass museum gets), but given the choice I prefer a museum that is interesting to people of all ages, all classes, families with kids... as opposed to a very special interest, upper class thing. That should have a place, too, but I would have wished more debate beforehand.

ouid 9y ago

Museum subsidies exist primarily to attract tourism, which brings more money into the full economy than museums can recoup directly. This makes them unsustainable as private enterprises, but still good investments, as the amount you can collect in taxes goes up by more than the cost of the subsidy. Since the government determines the tax rate based on what it still needs to be able to fund (things like healthcare and roads). The museum subsidy probably lowers your individual tax bill.

captainmuon 9y ago

Haha, I knew someone would comment on the Grass part. Nazi allegations are the comment equivalent of clickbait, sorry. In all seriousness, Grass' history was a hotly debated topic in Germany. I didn't want to sound overly dismissive or hateful of Steidl and his projects, it just irks me that local residents rarely have a say in such matters. I'm all for publicly subsidized museums (n.b. I have no idea if and how much subsidies the Grass museum gets), but given the choice I prefer a museum that is interesting to people of all ages, all classes, families with kids... as opposed to a very special interest, upper class thing. That should have a place, too, but I would have wished more debate beforehand.