Lübeck and me. We are connected by a rather late, but all the more intense love! I was born and raised in Lübeck. As wonderful as my childhood and youth were here, it was always clear that I would leave after finishing school. And quickly!
Would you ever move back to Lübeck? Without me! But after almost two decades in a faraway place, a change of heart gradually set in: Why not? Sure, the city is manageable, but do you really need a big city to experience art and culture at a high level? Definitely not!
There is so much going on culturally in Lübeck that it can sometimes be hard to decide what to do: go to the theatre or a concert at the weekend, visit the street festival or go to the museum night? You can’t do everything at once. Lübeck’s cultural offer is diverse and colourful, exciting and courageous, innovative and surprising. I make intensive use of it, for example I always like to go to the Combinale Theatre. It’s a small private theatre on the island in the old town that is run with a lot of passion and heart and soul.
If I want something bigger, I end up at the Lübeck Theatre, our beautiful municipal theatre. When I’m in the mood for music (and it happens to be summer), I attend the concerts of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. And my need for jazz music is also satisfied here: JazzBaltica, the maritime jazz festival on the Baltic Sea, takes place in June. And the other eleven months of the year I get my musical money’s worth at the top-class jazz concerts at the YMCA. And what about museums? Sure, there are plenty of them!
The Günter Grass-House, for example, is always worth a visit. I even take my kids there. They love it because there’s a big wooden ship for the little ones, and with a bit of imagination they can set sail.
So much, so good! But what about people who lack the financial means to take part in Lübeck’s diverse cultural life?
The Kulturtafel in Lübeck enables cultural access
Recipients of welfare or basic income cannot spend more than 30 euros on a theatre or concert ticket. It was precisely for these people that I founded the “KulturTafel Lübeck” a few years ago: Tickets that are not sold are passed on to people on a tight budget who cannot afford to attend cultural events. This enables them to participate in culture and society. What does this achieve? An incredible amount!
More than 2,000 people in Lübeck take advantage of the offer and regularly report enthusiastically about their visits to cultural events:
„The play was a unique experience! It still resonates in my soul days later. Simply balm for the soul!”
“I really enjoyed the concert.It’s so different to experience something like that live than just listening to it on the radio. I’m so happy to be able to experience cultural things, because I always thought it was a shame when others reported on something I couldn’t afford. I feel like I can finally take part in life again and belong!”
The offer of the KulturTafel Lübeck is therefore much more than just the procurement of donated tickets: it is an invitation into the social life of our city, so that participation is not a theoretical right, but a lived normality in Lübeck.
“I am so happy to live here in Lübeck: a city where solidarity is very important and where even those of us with a small budget can participate. It makes me feel so good!”
That’s how one user summed it up.
And I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
