Can Berlin Really Afford 3 ‘Magic Flutes’ in a Single Week?

Opera has always tended toward grandeur. Berlin, home to three world-class opera houses, regularly takes things to the next level.

This week, for example, each of those houses is putting on a different production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” At one, larger-than-life serpents slither across the stage, spurting real fire from their nostrils. At another, animated pink elephants flying across a giant screen deliver a character to his salvation.

But with cuts to the city arts budget looming, this looks increasingly like a last hurrah for a system of largess under threat.

Next week, Berlin’s Senate looks set to pass a 2025 budget that will slash funding to the arts scene, which relies heavily on public money. Institutions large and small have warned that these cuts put Berlin’s identity as a cultural capital on the chopping block.

According to a plan released last month, culture funding, which makes up just over 2 percent of the municipal budget, will be reduced by around 13 percent, or about 130 million euros (roughly $136 million).