Govt to support German theatre revamp in SW Hungary

Budapest, May 19 (MTI) – The Hungarian government will contribute 200 million forints (EUR 650,000) to the refurbishment of the German Theatre in Hungary, the human resources ministry said on Tuesday.

Otto Heinek, president of the German Minority Councils in Hungary, said some 230-250 million forints will be spent on renovating the theatre (Deutsche Bühne Ungarn – DBU) in Szekszard (SW Hungary). The refurbishment project will also include new machinery and stagecraft, he said.

Heinek noted that the German minority had said in its statement of autonomy 20 years earlier that it wanted to operate its own educational and cultural institutions, and that the DBU held an important place in education.

Imre Ritter, parliamentary delegate for the German minority, said the government’s contributions to minority local governments would amount to a total of 8 billion forints by 2016.

Miklos Soltesz, a state secretary for the ministry, told a press conference that the government would provide 440 million forints of funding for minority local governments for investments and refurbishments this year.

The German Hungarian local government has not received any significant contributions for a number of years now, hence the decision to provide funding for the theatre’s renovation, he said.

The DBU operates on an annual budget of 110 million forints, and employs three full-time actors and several guest actors. There are currently seven openings on the theatre’s roster of actors. The DBU holds 100-180 shows per year in front of 13-15,000 people.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters