Remembrance culture is relevant to democracy
Against cuts and austerity measures in remembrance culture work
March 2025: Under the hashtag relevant to democracy, the Saxon State Working Group on Dealing with National Socialism draws attention to the effects of insecure funding and funding cuts in its field of activity and its network.
Financial cuts jeopardise the work of memorial sites and civil society initiatives
from the press release of sLAG:
While Saxony's minority government of CDU and SPD is negotiating a new double budget with the democratic opposition, there is already a lack of important funding for memorials and cultural remembrance initiatives.
"We are currently experiencing a reduction in educational programmes and opening hours at memorial sites, projects are on the brink of collapse and well-trained specialists are losing their jobs. These are the effects that are already being felt in Saxony's remembrance work. With the campaign #demokratierelevant, we are drawing attention to the precarious situation and would like to sensitise the public and politicians to the fact that it will not work without sufficient funding.
We call on the Saxon state government to pursue a policy with a sense of proportion! A critical culture of remembrance is an important pillar of democratic culture in Saxony. It must not be jeopardised by a short-sighted austerity policy. After all, this would destroy the progress made in recent years in one fell swoop and permanently destroy the structures that have been built up." Anna Schüller, spokesperson for the sLAG
Statements from the network
The state of Saxony has not yet drawn up a budget for 2025. This means that memorials and associations will initially only receive 30% of the previous funding from 2024. Only living expenses for personnel and operating costs may be incurred. There is no project funding; neither for institutionally funded facilities nor for voluntary initiatives.
The 2025/26 double budget will not be adopted until June at the earliest. Massive cuts in the areas of culture, democracy and social affairs have already been announced.
With the #demokratierelevant campaign, the sLAG and its network are showing the consequences for remembrance work in Saxony and protesting against the planned cuts!