A Tale of Two Perspectives on an Opera House Offer: The Mayor and the Billionaire
The Mayor’s Dilemma
Imagine yourself as the mayor of a major German city. One day, the purportedly richest man in Germany, an entrepreneur worth over 30 billion dollars, gives you a call. He’s a Swiss resident but happens to have been born in your city. "Excuse me, Mr. Mayor," he says, "doesn’t your opera house embarrass you a bit? Let’s collaborate. I’ll build you a new one, perhaps down by the harbor. Money is no object."
Such a scenario may seem far-fetched, but it recently became a reality in Hamburg. The offer presents a fascinating quandary.
As mayor, you could never admit to finding your city’s opera house embarrassing. However, upon reflection, you realize that you’ve given it little thought. Your personal music preferences tend more towards Udo Lindenberg. Moreover, the billionaire’s critique remains unclear. Does he find the opera house aesthetically unpleasing or is he dissatisfied with its artistic standards? The latter could be addressed by the new artistic director recently poached from Berlin.
Your knowledge of opera informs you that a sustainable operating budget is more crucial than an impressive façade for the opera house’s prestige. Yet, the current opera house’s orchestra pit is in disrepair, and replacement parts for the stage machinery will soon only be available on the Eastern European black market – a consequence of your predecessors’ budget cuts. A general renovation would fall on your shoulders financially, while a new building would not. Your colleagues in Stuttgart and Cologne, who have recently invested billions in theater renovations, would likely be baffled by your dilemma. And isn’t Berlin’s culture minister advocating for increased private and decreased public funding for cultural institutions? Let him grapple with this issue.
Of course, you wouldn’t object if the richest man in Germany resided within Hamburg’s tax jurisdiction instead of Switzerland (even if the orchestra pit would still be broken). And yes, the fact that the funding for the opera house would come from a company that still keeps its Nazi-era documents under lock and key is far from ideal. On the other hand, the opera house deal includes unexpected construction cost overruns – an all-inclusive package that renders excessive questioning impolite. Once the contract is signed, you need not concern yourself with the donor’s true motives. As Udo Lindenberg sang, "It won’t go wrong. And if it does, it’s fate." By then, you’ll be out of office anyway.
The Billionaire’s Yearning
Now, imagine yourself as the billionaire in question. You’re 87 years old, worth over 30 billion dollars. You adore opera, you cherish Hamburg, but Hamburg does not love you. Every time the city needed a savior, you stepped in: you aided in the acquisition of a shipping company, revived a football club, and subsidized a star conductor for years. Yet, the hearts of the people remained cold. They accuse you of seeking a monument to yourself.
Not so! You don’t even wish to immortalize your name. You simply crave affection. Is that too much to ask?
In the tapestry of Hamburg’s history, you have been more of an intermezzo than a symphony. Despite your generosity, you remain an outsider. The opera house offer is your final attempt to bridge the divide, a grand gesture that you hope will resonate with your fellow citizens. Perhaps if you create something beautiful and enduring, they will finally see you as one of their own.
As you await the mayor’s decision, a sense of trepidation mingles with anticipation. Will this be the moment when Hamburg finally embraces you as its prodigal son? Or will it be another disappointment, confirming your status as a permanent outsider? Only time will tell.
