Initiatives of theHamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft
Do you have creative ideas on how our Hamburg city centre can become even more vibrant and diverse? Then you've come to the right place: we are looking for exciting pilot projects that show what the future of our city centre could look like.
Do you have creative ideas on how our Hamburg city centre can become even more vibrant and diverse? Then you've come to the right place: we are looking for exciting pilot projects that show what the future of our city centre could look like. Whether cultural highlights, social initiatives or innovative utilisation concepts - if you have an idea and want to implement it, we want to hear about it!
Each selected project receives funding of up to 50,000 euros from our programme. Our aim is to support your ideas and enable their realisation. Our initiative is part of the programme"Hidden Potentials - Community Development of Diversity of Use for a Vibrant and Resilient Hamburg City Centre" of the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing, funded by the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building.
Everyone! Whether you are a creative mind, an institution or an association - if you have a project that can enrich our city centre, we would like to see your application. Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft will organise the call for applications and selection process and help you with the funding and implementation of your project.
Our goal is to make Hamburg's city centre a place that is attractive and vibrant not only today, but also in the future. We want to promote innovative ideas and jointly develop new ways of using our city centre. The pilot projects are part of the Hamburg programme"Hidden Potentials - Community Development of Diversity of Use for a Vibrant and Resilient Hamburg City Centre". This programme is supported by the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing with funds from the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building's "Sustainable inner cities and centres" funding programme.
The aim of the programme is to develop concepts for the future of Hamburg's city centre and to implement initial pilot projects, prototypes and models. The funding period for the pilot projects ends on 30 September 2025. Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft is responsible for the call for proposals, selection and processing of the funding.
Applications for projects with a funding requirement of up to 50,000 euros can be submitted to us until 16 September. From 16 September, we will start the short procedure: Applications for projects with a maximum funding amount of 2,500 euros can then be submitted on an ongoing basis and will receive quick feedback. You can find the exact details of the call for applications in our FAQs.
Let's discover and exploit the hidden potential of Hamburg's city centre together!
We look forward to receiving your application and are eager to hear your ideas.
We are looking for creative minds and committed teams!
Applications are open to
It is important that you show that you can realise your project within the specified period and that you will use and manage the funding correctly. The projects should not be primarily commercial in nature and should not be realisable without funding.
Up to three different projects can be submitted per person or organisation. Projects or activities that support racism, sexism or other discrimination are excluded from participation.
For the purposes of this call for proposals, Hamburg's city centre refers to Altstadt, Neustadt and HafenCity (see Annex 1).
The projects submitted must relate to Hamburg's city centre and be relevant to the development of the city centre. Projects that can also be realised in other parts of the city are not primarily in demand.
Pilot projects that have a spatial localisation must take place in Altstadt, Neustadt and/or HafenCity. Projects without a spatial location (communication projects, research projects, digital projects, etc.) must primarily deal with topics that are relevant to the Altstadt, Neustadt and/or HafenCity areas, are predominantly effective there or relate to these districts.
The submitted projects can be planned for indoor and/or outdoor spaces and areas. The availability of the rooms or areas required for the submitted project must be proven in the application (e.g. by means of contracts). The Behörde für Stadtentwicklung und Wohnen and the Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft do not provide any space for the projects. Appropriate authorisation must be obtained for the use of public spaces.
We are looking for your ideas for a vibrant city centre. The projects can be realised in various formats. However, they should deal with relevant topics and fulfil certain criteria.
The following formats can be submitted to us:
Your project should be categorised under one or more of the following topics:
Your projects should support the visions from our "Target Compass for City Centre Development" (annex 2, as of June 2024). Here are the four principles you should keep in mind:
Your application should make it clear how your project will make a positive contribution to the transformation of the city centre and what developments you want to initiate. The following points are important:
Are you unsure whether your project fits into these categories or fulfils the criteria? Contact Clara Bökelheide directly.
Projects with a funding requirement of up to €2,500 can now apply continuously using the short application procedure. All applications must include a comprehensible cost and financing plan. The standard procedure for financial support of up to €50,000 per project has already expired.
Funding is provided as fixed-amount funding and can cover up to 100% of the eligible costs. Own funds, income and third-party funds are welcome and can be used to supplement the funding.
The funding is VAT-free. If the applicant is entitled to deduct input tax in accordance with Section 15 of the Value Added Tax Act, the amount of funding is based on the net amounts of the cost and financing plan. If this is not the case, gross amounts must be stated in the calculation. Investments and structural-investment measures may not exceed 10% of the funding amount. There is no lower limit for the funding amount.
Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft concludes a funding agreement with the selected applicants, which sets out the details and regulations of the funding. Funding beyond the duration of the programme is not possible.
Depending on the nature of your project, various authorisations may be required. It is important that you apply for these in good time. Allow enough time for this - depending on the event, it can take between 2 and 12 weeks, sometimes even longer. Also remember to realistically plan for the costs incurred, such as administrative fees.
You need permits for example for
The Bezirksamt Hamburg-Mitte is responsible, and for parts of HafenCity the BSW's Amt für Bauordnung und Hochbau (ABH) or Hafencity Hamburg GmbH. Further information on the subject of authorisations can be found in appendices 3, 4 and 5.
The service portal of the City of Hamburg offers a practical guide for projects with an event character.
You can start realising your projects once you have signed the funding agreement.. Your projects must be completed by 30 September 2025 and settled and documented by 31 October 2025. The projects can of course be continued, but support and funding from the Hidden Potential programme is not possible after 30 September 2025.
There are two ways to apply:
Applications for both procedures must be submitted digitally using the application form.
There are different decision procedures for the standard and the short procedure.
Standard procedure:
The jury may decide to award all funds in the first funding round, which would mean that there would be no second round. However, the short procedure remains in place.
Short procedure:
Decisions on applications in the short procedure will be made by representatives of the City Centre Coordination, the Bezirksamt Hamburg-Mitte, BSW and Kreativ Gesellschaft within 14 days of receipt of the complete application documents if possible.
Projekte sollen nachweisen, dass eine Realisierung ohne Förderung aus dem Programm Pilotprojekte nicht möglich wäre. Eigene Einnahmen können als Eigenmittel eingebracht werden.
Ja. Voraussetzung ist ein Wohn-/Geschäftssitz der Antragstellenden in Deutschland.
Ja. Nicht gefördert werden können schon laufende Projekte, da mit der Realisierung des Projekts erst nach Abschluss des Fördervertrags begonnen werden darf.
Erkunde zum Beispiel die Eigenschaften von Quartieren und Orten beim Open Source Projekt lagecheck.com.
The pilot projects are part of the Hamburg programme "Verborgene Potenziale – Gemeinschaftliche Entwicklung der Nutzungsvielfalt für eine lebendige und resiliente Hamburger Innenstadt", for which the Behörde für Stadtentwicklung und Wohnen receives funding from the "Zukunftsfähige Innenstädte und Zentren" funding programme of the Bundesministeriums für Wohnen, Stadtentwicklung und Bauwesen.
Clara Bökelheide is a project manager in the pilot projects. She previously supported the Counselling & Further Education team as a project assistant. She studied Cultural Studies (B.A.) and Cultural Studies: Culture & Organisation (M.A.) at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg. She is also involved in lunatic e.V., which organises the lunatic festival for art, music and culture in Lüneburg every year at the beginning of June. She is responsible for administration and finances in the organisation.
Julius Kenntner is project manager and contact person for the pilot projects.
He studied cultural studies and art history at the University of Regensburg. During his Masters in Cultural and Media Management at the University of Music and Theatre in Hamburg, he focused on urban development as well as art and culture in public spaces and gained professional experience in project management and foundations.
