Federal State: Bridging Assistance III | Further Corona Assistance

Announcement of February 1, 2021

Applications for Neustarthilfe (New Start Support) within the Bridging Assistance III programme can be submitted from the end of January 2021. Neustarthilfe has been increased from €5,000 to €7,500, is possible in the event of a collapse of turnover of at least 30% within one month, and has a ceiling of 50% (up from the previous 25%) of the turnover for the comparable time period.

The financial support will be paid out from the end of February or the start of March. Additional information is available here. Meanwhile, Minister of State for Culture Monika Grütters is seeking an additional €1.5 billion of federal funding for culture. (“The second lockdown was not priced into the first billion.”). And Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz is planning two new support models for the cultural sector, which has been particularly heavily affected by the Corona pandemic: “We want to provide financial support for small cultural events that, due to hygiene regulations, have to take place with significantly smaller audiences and otherwise would not pay off. The second element is a fund as a kind of insurance for larger cultural events. The insurance should kick in, in the event that a planned and organised event then has to be cancelled unexpectedly due to Corona.” The full article can be read in the current edition of the German Culture Council journal Kultur und Politik. A look at Switzerland's neighboring country shows what could be possible: In Zurich, cultural workers receive a guaranteed replacement income of 3840 francs from December to the end of April, which corresponds to 80% of the assumed damage.