Joint Declaration of the Ministers of Culture of the German States on Cultural and Artistic Freedom (Resolution of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of 13 March 2019)

At their first meeting, the state ministers of culture consider it important to emphasize: artistic freedom is a measure of social and democratic freedom. The states are committed to protecting these freedoms and making them a benchmark for their cultural policy. They consider it the task of their funding, structural, and regulatory policy initiatives to secure and, where possible, expand spaces for the exercise of these freedoms.

It is the right of artistic work to reflect on sociopolitical issues and to take a stand. Therefore, the Conference of Ministers of Culture welcomes initiatives by artists, associations, and cultural institutions that aim to preserve cultural freedom and diversity. Furthermore, it guarantees them the freedom to actively support such initiatives and to make them the subject of their own work, which actively defend the free and democratic basic order.

The Conference of Ministers of Culture and Cultural Affairs unanimously agrees that there is no violation of the neutrality requirement of state-funded institutions if the defense of fundamental constitutional freedoms is the subject of their activities. Cultural institutions must be guaranteed the opportunity to comment on social or political issues and to take a critical stance.

This is covered by Article 5 of the Basic Law.

The Conference of Ministers of Culture is committed to making the cultural diversity of a free, open, and democratic society the central benchmark for its decision-making. Freedom of art and freedom of expression provide fundamental prerequisites for this, which, of course, must apply not only to artists but also to cultural institutions.

Here: https://www.kmk.org/fileadmin/Dateien/veroeffentlichungen_beschluesse/2019/2019_03_13-Erklaerung-kulturelle-und_kuenstl-Freiheit.pdf