Anke Steinert-Neuwirth – Advisor for Culture, Education, and Recreation

The variety of tasks, the breadth of topics, and the close interconnection between art, culture, education, and recreation ensure that every workday begins and ends with a different kind of excitement. It simply gives me great pleasure to engage daily with these areas that are so important to our urban community, to advocate for an attractive cultural program and educational offerings tailored to people’s needs, and to help develop them with an eye toward the future.

It is very important to me that we be a livable and attractive city of culture and education “for everyone” and that we enable the people in our city to participate in social and cultural life. This includes not only well-equipped schools, cultural, and educational institutions—such as the new community center currently in the planning stages in Büchenbach, which will feature an integrated neighborhood library, a youth art school, and an adult education center—but also “cultural education” programs, which are of central importance. I also consider it a priority to view “public space as a space for art and culture” and to make intensive use of it. Art and culture must “go out into the urban space, out onto the town square.”

The coexistence of high culture, socio-cultural life, and the tremendous volunteer efforts of our cultural associations shapes our city. As a festival city, we are known far beyond the borders of our region, particularly for the International Puppet Theater Festival. Numerous accessible and, in some cases, free offerings—such as the Schlossgarten concerts, children’s cultural programs, and the work of neighborhood centers—enable people of all ages to easily participate in cultural life. In our museums, we bring the city’s history to life and showcase regional and international artistic perspectives. With the E-Werk Cultural Center, we have a significant non-municipal cultural institution that serves as a magnet for the northern Bavarian region. The theater is a space for discourse on current sociopolitical issues. And with the “ZAM—Center for Exchange and Creation,” we recently gained a new venue in our Old Town where art, culture, digital media, science, and technology creatively intersect in dialogue with urban society.

Anyone who wants to enjoy art and nature in complete peace and quiet should definitely visit the Heinrich Kirchner Sculpture Garden on Burgberg, featuring the 17 “bronze giants.” The Baroque palace gardens in the heart of downtown, featuring the Orangery and the adjacent Botanical Garden, are another must-see. And behind the rather unassuming facade of the Markgrafentheater lies the oldest active Baroque theater in southern Germany.

I often enjoy going to the Botanical Garden during my lunch break. It's simply a wonderful oasis right in the heart of downtown, and it's only a two-minute bike ride from my office.

Classical music—especially Johann Sebastian Bach and Italian Baroque music. Otherwise, a bit of everything, depending on my mood that day and whatever the good stations are playing late at night on my way home from an event.

If I set aside the various items that I really can't do without in this digital age and in my line of work, then it's my flute, my hiking boots, and my pruning shears.

A personal conversation is very important to me. Please feel free to schedule an appointment directly by phone or email:

kulturreferat@stadt.erlangen.de

+49 (0) 9131 86 1020.