Culture tent

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Coordinates: 51 ° 18 ′ 46 ″  N , 9 ° 30 ′ 11.1 ″  E The Kulturzelt is a music festival in Kassel that has been held every summer since 1987. The series of events was at the beginning highly controversial among the people of Kassel and especially the neighbors, but has now developed into an established and well-attended event. At the beginning, the artists performed in a circus tent, which since 2010 has given way to a fixed, tent-like, temporary, self-supporting concert hall.

history

The culture tent was initially designed by the Kassel head of culture, Hans-Bernhard Nordhoff, as a supporting program for documenta 8 in 1987 and was intended to offer documenta visitors a festival for jazz, world music and, at the time, cabaret and literature. The event location was initially a circus tent on the site near the wire bridge and the Hessenkampfbahn , in 1992 a tent designed by the architect James Stirling on the Karlswiese in the Karlsaue and then the original location again in the following years.

When the first series of concerts was due to begin in 1987, the culture tent started without a tent, as the tent construction was delayed. As a result, the culture tent was repeatedly controversial because the residents felt disturbed by the festival noise. In June 1988 there was even an attack on the tent: after strangers had untied the knots, bent pegs and loosened wire ropes, the tent collapsed. In July of the same year another stop was made by loosening the tensioning cables. However, this manipulation was discovered early and therefore had no consequences. There was also an arson attack and the tent was the victim of several burglaries. Despite all the adversities, seven bands played in the culture tent in 1988.

A problem in the first few years was the sluggish ticket sales and the low number of viewers. As a result, savings had to be made in many areas and so, for example, construction trailers were used as an artist's wardrobe and a pizza service was commissioned for the catering . The artists had to bear the costs for the accommodation themselves. Over the years, however, the public's interest in the culture tent increased and the financial situation initially relaxed. Only when the head of the cultural department, Nordhoff was replaced by his successor Irmgard Schleicher, did the situation deteriorate again, as the budget for the culture tent was cut under her leadership. Angelika Umbach, Lutz Engelhardt and other interested parties then founded a non-profit association for the promotion of cultural and communication projects, which is still the organizer for the culture tent today. Since then, the costs for the series of events have been borne by the Wintershall company through ticket sales and sponsorship .

When a new, larger tent was rented in 2009, the inadequacies of the acoustics, air conditioning and weather resistance remained. Therefore, in 2010 the previous tent structure was replaced by a 500,000 euro temporary, self-supporting concert hall. Most of the costs were borne by the city of Kassel and Wintershall Holding. This 860 m 2 gray rotunda made of Plexiglas is illuminated in the dark and holds a total of 900 visitors per concert.

The culture tent in Kassel is now an established music festival throughout Germany and artists with an international reputation perform. The concerts are often sold out. Around the culture tent, the name was retained with the new construction of the concert hall.

In September 2018 it was announced that the organizers Angelika Umbach and Lutz Engelhardt want to withdraw from the culture tent concept. The reason given was the lack of support from the city of Kassel. The city has denied this in a press release. In November 2018 it was announced that there are several interested parties for the continuation of the culture tent with a slimmed-down program.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Kassel: Kulturzelt Kassel before the end: organizers criticize the city - Kassel. In: hna.de. Retrieved November 3, 2018 .
  2. ^ Kassel: Kulturzelt Kassel: Several interested parties, smaller program possible - Kulturzelt Kassel. In: hna.de. January 2, 2018, accessed November 3, 2018 .