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First the trainees, then the teachers, then the students, then the parents, then the police officers.
And now it was culture's turn to present its concerns to the Chancellor via conference call, for one and a half hours 14 representatives of the various arts, from dancers to actors and museum directors to gallery owners and film producers, nominated by their professional associations.
If the round had taken place in France, where President Macron put culture in the division into systemically important and non-systemically important areas with the unimportant and theaters were occupied - the tatters would have flown.
That is why such a round did not take place in France.
The anger of German cultural workers is subdued, alleviated by short-time work, November and December aid, and restart programs.
It is not so big that paint bags would have flown (which would have hit your own screens anyway), the existential need is often not primarily a material one, but a psychological one.
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We have reached a point where you can still listen to each other, but no longer convince.
The concept of "equal treatment" is claimed by government and citizens, but the same is less and less the same.
Angela Merkel speaks of legal reasons for leaving bookshops open and closing computer shops.
The bookseller talks about having to close, open and close her shop five times for various reasons since the beginning of the second wave.
The arguments have long been exchanged.
The organizer says that no cultural event has turned out to be a spreader event.
Merkel says that only 20 percent of illnesses can be assigned to a cause and that culture does not play a role, but with 80 percent you do not know the cause.
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She talks about the famous "movements" that have to be restricted.
The jazz club operator can "no longer hear the subject of movements".
Merkel appeased: "The measures have breaks that cannot be explained with the ultimate logic." Appeased again: "The emergency brake will not withstand the last logical arguments." And again: "I cannot promise you that everything will be totally logical will find. "
Fatigue is felt on both sides.
In the middle of the third wave, the pandemic is already acting like a kind of historical event, the first lockdown, aid money that has not arrived for months, opening and closing operations, the contrast between one-time aid and short-time work allowance.
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Everyone prefers to talk about the future, which they are also afraid of, the after-effects that are no longer cushioned.
Again and again, the bitterness is expressed about the degradation of culture towards "systemically relevant" professional groups.
"Every newly built roundabout in the country is an investment in the future, but culture remains a voluntary achievement," the actor puts it.
The inclusion of culture as a state goal in the Basic Law is brought into play several times.
Merkel puts the brakes on, the state goal alone would be an empty promise without the corresponding laws.
Anyway, promise. Merkel promises several times to present this or that point to her Minister of State for Culture. At one point it becomes more specific: “I will take it with me in future budget consultations.” As soon as she has spoken, the hollowness of this sentence occurs to her: “Oh, I'm not there anymore!” A slip of the tongue, so to speak.