Currently, both the general and, in particular, the cultural financial situation in Wiesbaden is under discussion. This is due, on the one hand, to the city's ongoing budgetary constraints and the resulting annual budget deliberations. On the other hand, there has been scientific and expert input in the committees, which is being discussed publicly. The Cultural Advisory Board would like to publish the most important facts and its already communicated position at a glance.

Since 2024, immediately after the coronavirus and energy crises, the city's cultural budget has been on a downward trend due to cuts and stagnation, accompanied by sharp increases in consumer prices. This recent but clear development is particularly important for assessing the current situation. The situation can be expressed in the following contexts, the figures for which are taken from the municipal authority's report on submission 24-K-37-0003 "Data collection for cultural reporting" dated June 13, 2025 (survey by the Cultural Office) and the study "Comparison of Cultural Expenditures in Hessian Cities," presented by Sebastian Schäfer on October 28, 2025, at a cultural advisory board meeting.

1. The volume of the culture budget grew from around €43.6 million in 2019 to around €52.3 million in 2023 (+19.88%). During this period, the consumer price index rose by a similar amount (+17.2 percentage points). In 2024, however, the culture budget will only grow to around €52.8 million (+0.94%). In 2025, the culture budget will fall to around €52.1 million (-1.31%). These figures and the change in development can be found in the data reported by the Cultural Office in its "Data Collection on Cultural Reporting." If we take the figures from the Hessian State Statistical Office for the entire period from 2019 to 2025, the consumer price index increases by 21.3 percentage points. The city's real cultural expenditure is declining.
2. The "Data Collection on Cultural Reporting" also shows that the share of the cultural budget in the state capital's total budget grew from 3.47% in 2019 to 3.6% in 2023, but then declined significantly in 2024 (3.19%) and 2025 (2.99%). No data is yet available for 2026, but the trend of declining relative cultural expenditure is continuing.
3. As part of the cultural development plan, a system for awarding institutional grants in the field of culture was developed. In addition to standardized applications for determining needs, this includes convening a jury to evaluate the needs of the applications submitted. The objective picture of the needs of the independent scene thus determined was available for the last budget discussions. There were no increases in 2024, 80% of the recommendations were implemented in 2025, and 30% are planned for 2026 (even though the budget for 2026 has not yet been approved). Since the introduction of the jury, this corresponds to only a portion of the actual needs determined by the systematic, objective procedure.
4. In the study "Kulturausgaben hessischer Großstädte im Vergleich" (A Comparison of Cultural Expenditure in Hessian Cities), Sebastian Schäfer had already determined for 2016 that Wiesbaden ranked second to last in per capita spending on culture – ahead of Offenbach and behind Kassel, Darmstadt, and Frankfurt. This fact was a decisive factor in the political discussion that ultimately led to an increase in the culture budget for the years 2019 to 2023. In his now updated survey for the year 2023, it was found that Wiesbaden had caught up the most in comparison. However, the fact that Wiesbaden still ranks second to last, which cannot be the aspiration of the state capital, remains unchanged. 

For culture, and especially the independent cultural scene in Wiesbaden, the negotiation of a cultural development plan for 2019–2023 led to prosperous times in which urgently needed increases in cultural funding were granted. The trialogue-negotiated cultural development plan has, however, raised legitimate expectations of cultural policy.

The drastic developments that followed in recent years prompted the Cultural Advisory Board to publish appeals and letters to city councilors for the budget deliberations. The aim is not to downplay the positive developments of the years 2019 to 2023, but to point out dangerous developments from 2023 onwards. The pressure on the culture budget and, in particular, on funding for the independent scene is enormous.