Opera Foundation in Berlin
| Opera Foundation in Berlin | |
|---|---|
| Legal form: | state foundation under public law |
| Purpose: | Promotion of art and culture, in particular music theater in the tradition of ensembles and repertoire as well as ballet. |
| Chair: | Georg Vierthaler |
| Consist: | since January 1, 2004 |
| Founder: | State of Berlin |
| Seat: | Berlin |
| Website: | www.oper-in-berlin.de |
The Foundation Opera in Berlin is a state-direct foundation under public law with its seat in Berlin . It is one of the largest cultural institutions in Germany. The head office, headed by a general manager, is located at Wriezener Bahnhof 1 in the Berlin district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg . The foundation includes five independent institutions with their own locations in Berlin.
Origin, tasks and organization
The outsourcing from the state administration
On January 1, 2004, the law on the “Foundation Opera in Berlin” came into force and was given statutes. The opera houses Deutsche Oper Berlin , Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin ( Staatsoper Unter den Linden ) and Komische Oper Berlin were thus transferred to legal independence. The main cultural and political background for this transfer was the tight budget situation in the state of Berlin, the threatened closure of an opera house since 2002, and the resulting need to gradually reduce the grant from the state of Berlin for the three opera houses. The basis for the law was the so-called opera structure concept. Among other things, it provides for the houses to continue to be run independently, both economically and artistically. The Staatsballett Berlin emerged as the fourth independent artistic company through a spin-off , and the plan was also made to gradually centralize the workshops. For this purpose, the stage service Berlin was created as the fifth company .
The Opera Foundation in Berlin
As a legal entity under public law, the foundation brings together the five independent companies Deutsche Oper Berlin, Komische Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Staatsballett Berlin and Bühnenservice Berlin . In addition, there is the foundation roof with the general management, the personnel service and the financial accounting. The foundation is the employer of all currently almost 2000 employees and the owner of the buildings. In 2005, the personnel departments were brought together from the companies in the central personnel service, followed in 2006 by the centralization of financial accounting in the so-called foundation umbrella. This also houses the general management (based at Am Wriezener Bahnhof 1, 10243 Berlin). Since autumn 2010, all cross-foundation areas have been merged in the newly designed location “Am Wriezener Bahnhof 1” - not only the stage service with the foundation's central decoration and costume workshops, but also the departments of the foundation's umbrella. This concept of central theater workshops and the concentration of essential central functions in one location is unique. In accordance with the provisions of the Foundation Act, the Board of Directors of the Opera Foundation in Berlin was approved on March 1, 2005, a statute that has been in force since February 11, 2009 in an amended version. The three operas remain autonomous houses with independent artistic directors - Matthias Schulz , Barrie Kosky , Dietmar Schwarz - and their own budgets. The same applies to the State Ballet under the direction of Johannes Öhman . And the stage service in Berlin, in which the decoration and costume workshops are amalgamated, is an independent company under the direction of Rolf D. Suhl . There is an obligation to contract between the artistic companies and the stage service . According to this, the artistic companies are obliged during the contract period to make use of the services to be offered by the stage service, which must provide for a cost-covering remuneration.
Structure of the Opera Foundation
The Berlin Opera Foundation, a legal entity under public law, combines the three Berlin opera houses, the Berlin State Ballet and the Berlin Stage Service as independent companies. The foundation is the employer of all employees and the owner of the associated buildings, such as the arcades, magazines, administrations, workshops. The Opera Foundation is subsidized by the state and the federal government in order to fulfill its tasks, while the state of Berlin bears the costs of building maintenance and any construction investments. The total grant from the State of Berlin for 2015 is 135.8 million euros (plus an annual federal grant of almost 1.8 million euros). The nine representatives - four artistic directors and four managing directors with economic responsibility as well as the managing director of the stage service - together with the general director Georg Vierthaler form the foundation's board. This board of directors monitors the economic and performance plans of the three operas and the state ballet, controls the economic management of the individual companies, prepares collective agreements and service agreements , promotes joint marketing and issues general guidelines on the work of the companies. The general director has the important role of representing the foundation internally and externally, he manages the business and has great decision-making authority, the foundation board cannot take a decision against his veto. But the board of directors with its general director is also accountable; it is supervised and advised by the foundation board.
The Board of Trustees has seven members who meet at regular intervals: as chairman, the Berlin Senator for Culture, Klaus Lederer , next to Matthias Kollatz, Berlin's Senator for Finance, as well as four experts for artistic and economic issues elected by the Berlin House of Representatives and an employee representative. The former RBB director Dagmar Reim , director of the Bregenz Festival , Elisabeth Sobotka , Heike Kramer from the Sparkassen- und Giroverband and Hans-Kornel Krings , chairman of the board of trustees of the Becker and Kries family foundation , were appointed until August 31, 2016 . The Board of Trustees appoints the artistic directors , the general music directors , the managing directors and the general director. Some of the resolutions of the foundation board must also be approved by the foundation board, including the business plans, new collective bargaining agreements, service and company agreements as well as the sale of assets and the lending of properties. The board of trustees decides with a simple majority. The chairman and the finance senator have the right to veto resolutions on approving the business plans. When appointing the General Director, the Chairman, i.e. the Senator for Culture, cannot be overruled. This form of organization with the general director at the top, the board of directors as the decision-making body and the foundation council as the advisory control body puts the Foundation Opera in Berlin on a solid, solid foundation.
General Directors
The Foundation Opera in Berlin has been or is headed by the following General Directors since it was founded:
- January 1, 2004–28. February 2005: Georg Vierthaler (Coordinator Foundation Board)
- March 1, 2005–31. March 2005: Barbara Kisseler (acting, as State Secretary for Culture)
- April 1, 2005–13. February 2007: Michael Schindhelm
- February 14, 2007–31. August 2009: Stefan Rosinski (acting)
- September 1, 2009–31. July 2013: Peter F. Raddatz
- since August 1, 2013: Georg Vierthaler