Unification Treaty (August 31, 1990)

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Chapter VIII
Culture, Education and Science, Sport

Article 35
Culture
(1) In the years of division, culture and the arts – despite different paths of development taken by the two states in Germany – formed one of the foundations for the continuing unity of the German nation. They have an indispensable contribution to make in their own right as the Germans cement their unity in a single state on the road to European unification. The position and prestige of a united Germany in the world depend not only on its political weight and its economic strength, but also on its role in the cultural domain. The overriding objective of external cultural policy shall be cultural exchange based on partnership and cooperation.
(2) The cultural substance in the territory specified in Article 3 of this Treaty shall not suffer any damage.
(3) Measures shall be taken to provide for the performance of cultural tasks, including their financing, with the protection and promotion of culture and the arts being the responsibility of the new Länder and local authorities in line with the distribution of competence under the Basic Law.
(4) The cultural institutions which have been under central management to date shall come under the responsibility of the Länder or local authorities in whose territory they are located. In exceptional cases, the possibility of the Federation making a contribution to financing shall not be ruled out, particularly in Land Berlin.
(5) The parts of the former Prussian state collections which were separated as a result of post-war events (including State Museums, State Libraries, Secret State Archives, Ibero-American Institute, State Musicology Institute) shall be joined together again in Berlin. The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation shall assume responsibility for the time being. Future arrangements shall likewise involve an agency that is responsible for the former Prussian state collections in their entirety and is based in Berlin.
(6) The Cultural Fund shall be continued up to 31 December 1994 on a transitional basis in the territory specified in Article 3 of this Treaty to promote culture, the arts and artists. The possibility of the Federation making a contribution to financing in line with the distribution of competence under the Basic Law shall not be ruled out. Discussions on a successor institution shall be held in the framework of the talks on the accession of the Länder named in Article 1 (1) of this Treaty to the Cultural Foundation of the Länder.
(7) In order to offset the effects of the division of Germany the Federation may help to finance, on a transitional basis, individual cultural programmes and institutions in the territory specified in Article 3 of this Treaty to enhance the cultural infrastructure.