The city council met: Will planning for the ‘Youth Cinema’ finally get underway now? + Video

Will the “Kino der Jugend” on Eisenbahnstraße now falter at the final hurdle due to German bureaucracy and a Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) who insists on sticking to deadlines, after a solution to the Gordian knot had seemed to be in sight this spring? For it was then that the Cinemathèque Leipzig, after all other plans for its own cinema building within the city limits had fallen through, decided to collaborate with IG Fortuna. The latter at least has the prospect of the old cinema building on Eisenbahnstraße. And the Cinemathèque brought with it a generous grant commitment.

On 2 July, a rather urgent motion from the Green Party group was on the city council’s agenda regarding this matter. For the funding for the cinema’s refurbishment to be released, the city would now effectively have to perform a miracle.

“Despite the great commitment shown by IG Fortuna and numerous council initiatives, the administration has still failed to take decisive steps towards the development of the Kino der Jugend. The finalisation of the design contract and the leasehold agreement is still pending. Funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) are available for the restoration in line with heritage conservation standards, and these must be spent by the end of the year.

A further prospect has opened up through the collaboration between the Kino der Jugend and the Cinemathèque to realise the Filmkunsthaus on the site. Here, too, federal funding amounting to millions is available, but applications must be submitted by the end of the year. According to information from the administration, the application must be accompanied by plans up to service phase 3, as well as a viable utilisation and operational concept. “Despite the long duration of the Filmkunsthaus project, the administration has so far been unable to organise funding for these planning services,” the Greens noted in their enquiry.

No funding without finalised plans

And during Question Time on 2 July, all the fears that had been expressed were confirmed. Even Skadi Jennicke, the councillor responsible for culture, was unable to allay the Greens’ fears.

The funding from the BKM heritage programme, amounting to around €400,000, is not the problem, according to Clemens Schülke, the Councillor for Economic Affairs. This is because all that is required is to secure the necessary building contractors in the autumn; then the roof can be secured, as well as the Fortuna figure on the façade.

The problem lies with the funding for the “Investment Project: International Festival Landscape – Leipzig’s Independent Arts Scene” from the Federal Government (BKM) and the Free State of Saxony (SMWKT), each providing 10.5 million euros in funding. The City of Leipzig’s own contribution was estimated at 2.1 million euros in accordance with a policy decision.

However, these are sums of such magnitude that planning services cannot be awarded by direct negotiation. Even the planning services must be put out to tender across Europe. The clock is ticking.

As the Cultural Affairs Office stated in its reply to the Green Party parliamentary group: “The basis for applying for federal and state funding under the IFL is the submission of a complete and verifiable application in accordance with RZBau by 31 December 2026 at the latest, with Service Phase 3 completed in accordance with the service components of the HOAI. “The application has not yet been submitted,” stated the Department of Culture. This is because these planning stages have not even taken place yet.

“As the newly identified site is a municipal property, a building resolution for the project must therefore also be drawn up. The total costs of the project must be included in this, which is why a resolution by the City Council is required,” explained the Cultural Affairs Office.

“Only once this resolution has been passed will the funds be available and can be allocated for the planning work. Consequently, the funds could only be made available after the planning resolution has been passed, so that the planning services can be commissioned. A draft resolution to this effect has not yet been drawn up, as the necessary documentation was only provided by the associations in June of this year and the outcome of the funding discussions with the federal and state governments on 23 June 2026 is to be taken into account.”

Couldn’t this have been better coordinated?

This then prompted the Green Party group leader, Dr Tobias Peter, to ask why everything takes so long at the city council. One of the reasons – he surmised – was the fragmentation of responsibilities for the “Kino der Jugend” across a total of four departments and six specialist offices. After all, IG Fortuna has been campaigning since 2015 to preserve and reopen the ‘Kino der Jugend’. Yet not even the leasehold agreement has been signed to date.

On the other hand, the collaboration between IG Fortuna and the Cinemathèque in the spring led to a significant change in the project. At that point, even the City of Leipzig had no idea that the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) would be so inflexible regarding the deadline for submitting the funding application. It is a predicament from which neither Clemens Schülke, the councillor for economic affairs, nor Thomas Dienberg, the councillor for building and construction, can see a way out. Time is running out, yet the crucial city council decision is not expected until after the summer recess.

The Free State has not budgeted for the funds at all

However, both the federal and state governments are operating under austerity and budget-cutting measures, which even calls into question the availability of funding over the next two years, as the Department of Culture explains: “On 23 June 2026, a project presentation took place with the two associations and the funding bodies – the federal and state governments.

With regard to federal funding opportunities, it should be noted that, taking into account the BKM funding share of 10,500.000 euros, minus the funding allocations for the ‘Schau30’ and ‘Haus der Festivals’ projects within the framework of the ‘International Festival Landscape: Independent Scene’, funding amounting to €3,050,000 is theoretically available. These funds can only be included in the budget once applications have been submitted by the deadline (by 31 December 2026). As things stand today, the BKM cannot provide a binding statement on this matter.

During the funding discussion, the state (SMWKT) announced that no funds could be allocated for the ‘Filmkunsthaus’ project in the 2027/2028 biennial budget. It could not be confirmed whether funds could be allocated in the state budget from 2029 onwards. The funding bodies made it clear that full funding must be secured for the implementation of the project. At present, based on the information provided during the funding meeting, there is a funding shortfall. Furthermore, it must now be clarified how BKM will handle the provision of its funding, in light of the aforementioned statement from the SMWKT.”

This still sounds like it will involve many gruelling discussions with the federal and state governments. Only one thing is becoming clear: the necessary funding for the cinema will not be available before 2029, because the Free State, in particular, has not included the promised funding in its 2027/2028 austerity budget.

Only the city itself can now at least press ahead with the planning, so that funding applications can then be submitted with a robust plan. The Department of Culture commented: “In order for Leipzig City Council to provide the necessary funds for implementing the plans, a draft resolution must first be drawn up. The organisers have been informed of the administrative procedure and asked to examine alternative funding options, as the provision of funds – and consequently the commissioning of planning services – will only be possible once the resolution has been passed.”