Berlin’s SPD lead candidate Steffen Krach has called for a stronger federal commitment to the capital. He told the “Tagesspiegel” that Berlin’s roles in security, research and culture have grown to a point where they should receive more comprehensive federal support.
“Karl‑forter, from my perspective, the capital’s security and the Charité should be incorporated into federal funding because they perform nationwide duties. The Charité is already effectively a federal medicine institution. Likewise, the Staatsoper holds the status of a national cultural institution and should be treated as such” Krach said. “It is essential that I discuss these three matters-security, the Charité, and the Staatsoper-with Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Vice‑Chancellor Lars Klingbeil. In the medium term, these fields need to be newly anchored in the capital‑financial agreement between Berlin and the federal government”.
The most recent 2017 amendment to the agreement stipulates that the federal government co‑funds the costs incurred by Berlin for ministries, embassies, and state guests. The Bundeswehr already supports Berlin’s cultural sector. For Krach, the issue is not simply about more money but about responsibilities and national accountability: “We must ask ourselves how we define the protection of our capital. Currently Berlin has only the capacities of a single state-real capital protection is more than what one state can provide”. He added that “every attack in Berlin is an attack on the German capital. To improve collaboration among all relevant actors, we want to create a state security council-analogous to the federal National Security Council”.
Krach urged the Senate to contact Merz (CDU) and Klingbeil (SPD). “Discussing the Charité is also crucial. It ranks at the forefront of research and care worldwide and occupies a special role in the clinical landscape”. The importance of the Charité was highlighted during the COVID‑19 pandemic, when it helped establish a nationwide university medical network. Today, a new Charité heart centre is under construction in Wedding with federal assistance. “It is no coincidence that the federal government is involved in the development of Charité and Bayer’s translation centre for gene and cell therapy, and that the Berlin Institute of Health is part of the Charité” Krach noted. “It simply follows that Berlin’s outstanding university medicine should become a national university medicine”.
Krach also referenced the Staatsoper, which stands for a unique piece of German cultural history and deserves federal status: “The Charité and the Staatsoper are institutions that have shaped East Germany. Having them financed by the federal government would also signal appreciation for the eastern part of the country”.