Chabad in Berlin receives $2 million in federal funding

Jewish Museum in Berlin to get $7 million in 2017, marking an increase of $1.18 million

Berlin’s Jewish Museum and Chabad Lubavitch in the city’s capital have received major funding from the federal government.

Chabad will receive $2.15 million from a pot intended for cultural institutions and projects in Berlin, it was announced last week.

Among the numerous beneficiaries of the fund is Jewish Museum Berlin, which will receive an increase of $1.18 million, for a total of $7 million in 2017.

The increase for the museum reflects the importance of Jewish life in Berlin, Social Democratic Party of Germany politician Swen Schulz, a member of the Bundestag’s Budget Committee, told the German Press Agency (dpa).

Aeriel-view of the Libeskind-designed Jewish Museum Berlin, to the left of the old Kollegienhaus. (photo credit: CC BY/WIkiCommons/Guenter Schneider/IM Thayer)

While the Foundation for German Cinematography will receive $8.93 million for the preservation and development of its collections, the 22-year-old Jewish Film Festival Berlin & Brandenburg was not funded.

The Barenboim-Said Academy will receive up to $1.5 million. The academy was started in 2015 to train young musicians from the Middle East, invited to Berlin on scholarships.

The German Bundestag’s budget committee dedicated in all $287 million in 2017 to cultural projects in such institutions as the Berlin Cathedral, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and the German Historical Museum, according to dpa.

The 2017 national budget of the Federal Minister of Cultural Affairs, Monika Grütters, is $1.75 billion.