No More Guaranteed High School Diploma in Art, Music and Drama in Hamburg

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The presidents of the Hamburg University of Fine Arts (HFBK) and the Hamburg University of Music and Drama (HfMT) have reacted with great concern to the planned revision of the Upper Secondary School Ordinance. Below is the official statement from the two university presidents in its entirety.

“The school authority’s claim that aesthetic education will not be weakened obscures the true essence of the reform. In fact, in the future, there will no longer be a mandatory requirement for schools to offer art, Music, or Drama throughout all four semesters of upper secondary school. As a result, students will lose the guarantee that they can even take their Abitur exams in these subjects.

The consequences extend far beyond individual classes. Where schools discontinue courses after two semesters for organizational or financial reasons, young people lose the opportunity to continue their educational path in an artistic subject. Whether a high school diploma in art, Music and Drama is possible will no longer depend on students’ talent or interest, but on the organizational capabilities of the respective school. This will have consequences for the next generation of teachers in these subjects.
For a cultural metropolis like Hamburg, this sends a disastrous signal. Art, Music and Drama are not minor subjects, nor are they mere embellishments to our educational system. They foster creativity, critical thinking, imagination, empathy, teamwork, and the ability to deal with ambivalence. It is precisely these skills that are needed more urgently than ever in an age of artificial intelligence, digitalization, and profound social change.

While politicians and business leaders constantly tout creativity, innovation, and future-oriented skills, the very school subjects that teach these abilities are being structurally weakened. This is a contradiction in education policy with far-reaching consequences.

We call on the Senate and the School Authority to amend the Upper Secondary School Ordinance so that a continuous, four-semester program in art, Music and Drama is mandatorily guaranteed at all Hamburg schools. Only in this way can access to the Abitur in these subjects be preserved.

A society that declares creativity to be a key competency of the 21st century must not, of all things, degrade these very school subjects to optional offerings. Whoever structurally weakens art, Music and Drama weakens the innovative power and democratic culture of tomorrow."

Prof. Martin Köttering, President of the HFBK Hamburg
Prof. Dr. Jan Philipp Sprick, President of the HfMT Hamburg