Cuts affect barrier-free cultural offerings in Saxony

In Saxony, there is less money for barrier-free cultural offerings - with consequences for numerous institutions. Experts are warning of setbacks in the cultural participation of people with disabilities. The DOK Leipzig film festival, for example, will have to make significant cuts in this area: "The fact that funding has been cut means that we can only offer a very small range of accessible formats with great effort," said spokeswoman Nina Kühne.

Thanks to income from a crowdfunding campaign and with the help of festival partners, a total of six accessible film versions can be shown. The Leipzig International Festival for Documentary and Animated Film takes place this year from October 27 to November 2.

Fewer films with subtitles

In previous years, around 30 films were shown with audio description or subtitles. "That makes 6 films very few," says Kühne. In addition, it had previously been possible to offer three to five film discussions with German sign language with the help of funding. This has now been completely eliminated. In recent years, DOK Leipzig has already had to make do with less funding for barrier-free offerings: in 2023 and 2024, the funding for this from the state amounted to around 49,000 euros, compared to around 67,000 euros in previous years.

In June, the state parliament passed the double budget for 2025/2026. Although the planned cuts in the cultural sector were less drastic than planned, funding for the Inclusion in Culture funding guideline, for example, was cut. According to the Ministry of Culture, this was due to the tight situation for the entire Saxon budget and the associated need to make savings across the entire cultural sector. In 2024, just under 462,000 euros were available for the implementation of inclusion projects in cultural institutions, compared to just under 1.7 million euros in 2021. Nevertheless, it is still possible for cultural institutions to implement inclusion measures from current funding opportunities, according to a ministry spokesperson.

People with disabilities "massively" disadvantaged

"The Inclusion funding guideline has been set to zero and the cultural sector as a whole has to cope with cuts," said Johanna von der Waydbrink, Head of the Inclusion Service Center in the Cultural Sector of the Saxony Sociocultural Association. This leads to people with disabilities being massively disadvantaged - both as cultural visitors and as artists and actors. According to Waydbrink, around 20 percent of people in Saxony live with a disability. There are already numerous reports from cultural institutions that planned projects in the area of inclusion are either being canceled or only partially implemented.

People with and without disabilities dance together at Tanzlabor Leipzig. Project coordinator Franziska Oertel fears that central projects may no longer be able to be implemented due to cutbacks. "Ultimately, this means a clearly noticeable loss of quality of life."

The German Hygiene Museum in Dresden also has to make cutbacks: "We currently have noticeably less funding available for inclusion than before, especially for special exhibition projects," says a spokesperson. In 2026, the well-known museum is also facing cuts to its overall budget. "As in all departments of the museum, we will also have to make cuts in the area of inclusion." A guidance system for the blind that has been planned for some time will also not be feasible for the time being, it said.