What is European Capital of Culture?
European Capital of Culture is a title with which the European Union annually awards European cities since 1985. The cities who work out the cultural similarities of the European idea with meaning beyond their own country and the year of the Capital of Culture into their program the best receive this title. Thus, the title is not necessarily awarding a city with an outstandig cultural offering, but rather those who are willing to carry out a cultural urban development process, leading up to the title year.
The last time a German city bore the title European Capital of Culture was in 2010, when Essen formed RUHR.2010 with the rest of the Ruhr area. In the coming years, Galway in Ireland and Rijeka in Croatia (2020), Eleusis in Greece (2021) or Esch-sur-Alzette in Luxembourg (2022) will bear the title among others. You can find further information on the website of the European Commission.
The goal is to present Europe’s cultural diversity and to facilitate a better understanding for each other. The program has to be developed via participation of the people in the cities and be sustainable and useful for a long time.
In 2025, a city from Germany and a city from Slovenia will be the leading contenders in this international competition. Under the lead of the Cultural Foundation of the Federal States in Berlin, Hannover has to assert itself against seven other German cities: Chemnitz, Dresden, Gera, Hildesheim, Magdeburg, Nürnberg, and Zittau.
In this competition, culture is not a luxury but a motor for unique city development.
“When applying for the title, it’s not just about the things a city already has, it’s more about in what directions the city wants to make progress. To make it more poignant, it’s not about a prize that you win for something you are already doing exceptionally, the title is more like a scholarship, to make a big leap to the future as a city.”
(Quote: Dr. Ulrich Fuchs interview HAZ from November 05, 2018. Read the whole interview in German here.)
Application criteria
On September 24, 2018 the application process for German cities for the title European Capital of Culture 2025 started. By order of the conference of education ministers, the Cultural Foundation of the Federal States published the bidding call for the national selection process. An independent jury will elect the winning city.
There are six criteria which apply for every bidding city. The cities will have to consider in them their application book, the so-called bid book:
The European dimension receives a special meaning in the application. With the following questions, Hannover is looking for answers.
- Which socially relevant topic, that moves other cities in Europe as well, can Hannover authentically work on?
- What is it that Europe can learn from Hannover, in which areas is the city a role model?
- And vice versa: What are the things Hannover can learn from the other European cities?
The application book, called the bid book, outlines the answers to these questions programmatically. It’s not just about details, it’s about visions and program lines which will be exemplarily described through flagship projects.
Long-term visions regarding the city development are important for a successful and sustainable application as European Capital of Culture. Cultural as well as social and economic aspects have to be connected, if the cities want to promote the artistic and cultural areas. For this reason, Hannover is working on a culture development plan (KEP), which will not be limited to the ECoC year 2025.
A convincing application needs a clear and coordinated overall urban concept with extraordinary artistic qualities, genre and format diversity as well as a balance between traditional, innovative and experimental ways of expression.
Actively including various groups of the city’s society with new and sustainable formats regarding planning and the correlating realization guarantees the success and sustainability of an ECoC bid.
Overall management, artistic ideas as well as financial, marketing and communication strategies, and the structures regarding personnel and implementation have to be presented.
Here it is important to show the city’s capacities as an international host: Important aspects, besides transport links and hotel accommodations, are hospitality as well as proof of cross-party support and the support of local, regional and national institutions.
The jury
On November 25, Kulturstiftung der Länder, the national organizer of the European Capital of Culture 2025 bidding, announced the twelve-member international jury, which will judge the applications of the cities.
The twelve-member jury consists of the following European experts:
Sylvia Amann, Austria
Cristina Farinha, Portugal
Paulina Florjanowicz, Poland
Dr. Beatriz Garcia, Spain
Dessislava Gavrilova, Bulgaria
Barbara Mundel, Germany
Alin Nica, Romania
Prof. Dr. Dr. Ulrich Raulff, Germany
Pierre Sauvageot, France
Jiří Suchánek, Czech Republic
Agnieska Wlazel, Poland
Prof. Dr. Suzana Žilič Fišer
The jury is made up of three members appointed by the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament for a three-year term each. One jury member each is appointed by the European Committee of the Regions, the Standing Conference and the Federal Government (the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and the German Federal Foreign Office).
Bidding schedule
The ECoC 2025 bidding process is divided into two phases and takes place in writing and orally.
Phase 1
Hannover had to submit its first bid book till September 30, 2019. After handing in the written bid, Hannover will have to present its concept orally in front of an international jury of 12 at the Cultural Foundation of Federal States in Berlin on December 10, 2019. On December 12, the jury will announce how many and which of the eight German cities made it to the second round. The announcement will be streamed live.
Phase 2
Cities on the short list (two to four) have to hand in a second bid book in summer 2020 and will be visited by the jury in the fall 2020. At the end of the year, the jury will determine which German city will be the European Capital of Culture 2025 alongside a Slovenian city.
The road to European Capital of Culture
Award of title
End of 2020
Submission
2nd Bid book & visit of the jury
Summer/Fall 2020Presentation
All contenders have to present their concepts in front of the jury. The jury will announce their shortlist for the 2nd round on December 12.
December 10, 2019Submission
By this date, the teams had to submit their 1st Bid book. Requirements for the Bid book: Answers to 38 questions on 60 pages
30 September 2019Presentation
National contenders met in Berlin
16 October 2018Call
First Call to become European Capital of Culture.
24 September 2018
Bid book
The application dossier, the so-called bid book, is a central part of the application documents.
Until after the presentation of the first bid book, the events for 2025 will not yet be planned definitely. It’s more about describing a first vision of how the city could change and what kind of development it might undertake during this unique process. The bid book tells a story of change explicitly outlined by the program lines and exemplified by the flagship projects. However, Hannover’s change does not end with the ECoC year 2025; instead it shows the long-term strategy of culture exceeding the year 2025. That is why Hannover is currently working on a culture development plan (KEP).
You can read the first excerpts of our first Bid Book here.
Culture development plan (KEP)
The culture development plan deals with the cultural goals and perspectives as well as the operational framework for the next year.
The bid on European Capital of Culture 2025 requires the cities to work out a culture development plan on which the application is based and which exceeds the year 2025 immensely. For this reason an extensive culture development plan (KEP) is under development. This plan will specify the cultural goals and perspectives as well as the operational framework for the next years, exceeding the year 2025. Hannover will keep the KEP regardless of the application’s outcome.