Dear Ms. Embassador,
Dear Mr. Schulz,
Dear Mr. Görgen,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
welcome to Hamburg, welcome to the Reeperbahnfestival.
For centuries, our city was known mainly for its port and trade. But today, Hamburg has also become a city of culture, a hub of the media and the creative industry.
Thanks to our long-standing liberal tradition, we are perhaps the best place to bring these two worlds together.
A vibrant and free music scene, as we can see at this festival, is always an expression of a free and open society.
Liberal democracies need these places where artistic freedom can be expressed, so that they can live and thrive.
This too is a reason why we are looking forward to the Reeperbahnfestival 2018.
But artistic freedom can only come when artists can actually live off their work.
So in the interest of all of us, we have to defend the rights of artists and support them in getting paid fairly for their work.
A few days ago, the European Parliament indicated that they would increase their efforts to hold platforms accountable, for example in terms of licensing rights.
This is an important step on the way towards developing a modern copyright for the digital age.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Hamburg and our national government offer a strong support for this festival.
It is evolving into a key event of the creative industry such as the Frankfurt Book Fair and the Berlinale film festival.
I would like to thank
- Alexander Schulz and Detlef Schwarte,
- the federal commissioner for culture and the media,
- the Federal Foreign Office,
- Karsten Jahnke concert management,
- Warner Brothers Central Europe,
- the NDR,
- and everyone else who helped to bring the Reeperbahnfestival to life.
I would like to extend a special greeting and bienvenue to our guests from France, which is this year acting as partner country of the Reeperbahnfestival.
I wish all of you great concerts, fruitful networking, and a wonderful time at the Reeperbahnfestival 2018 in Hamburg!
Thank you very much.
Es gilt das gesprochene Wort.