Germany launches 'cultural buildings offensive' to restore landmarks

"The cultural infrastructure needs strengthening," new Culture Commissioner Wolfram Weimer said on Saturday during a visit to the Venice Biennale of Architecture.

"That's why we are promoting and accelerating numerous construction projects in the cultural sector," he added.

Weimer said some projects are already under way, such as the renovation of the Luther House in the eastern German city of Wittenberg and the synagogue in the southern city of Augsburg.

St Paul's Church in Frankfurt, completed in the 19th century, and more contemporary buildings such as the German Photo Institute in Dusseldorf, for example, will now qualify for renewal under a so-called "cultural buildings offensive," he said.

Others under consideration for refurbishment or new construction include Richard Wagner's festival theatre in Bayreuth, the German Port Museum in Hamburg, the Görlitz city hall and the extension of Leipzig's German National Library, according to Weimer.

Weimer, who took office in early May under the government of new conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz, also mentioned the planned German-Polish House in Berlin and the remodelling of concentration camp memorials in Dachau, Ravensbrück and Sachsenhausen.

"Due to their high visibility, cultural buildings make a direct contribution to the appeal and strength of Germany," he said.

"Cultural buildings are part of our identity as a cultural nation. They promote social cohesion, as they make stimulation and encounters possible," he added.

Investments also promote employment in construction and the skilled trades, the minister said.

With opposition support, Germany's previous government authorized new infrastructure spending of €500 billion ($567 billion).

Exactly how this money is to be spent is still under discussion.