BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents was broadcast on Thursday, 24 July, and Monday, 28 July, 2003.

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An opera director walks out; theatres, libraries and museums are closing and arts ministers are being branded "philistine" and "populist".

No, this is not Britain but Germany, where a unique centuries-old tradition of lavish state support for the arts is under threat.

The German miracle is over and what is happening in the arts is a reflection of the broader economic crisis.

But in a town which already has 22 museums and high unemployment, what does it matter if one museum closes?

In a programme of high drama, star protagonists and exciting musical accompaniments, Rosie Goldsmith travelled east and west, from Dresden and Hamburg, two key arts capitals, to look at Germany's "Kulturkrise".

Reporter: Rosie Goldsmith
Producer: Rosie Goldsmith
Editor: Hugh Levinson

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