Matthias Theodor Vogt (born 5 May 1959) is a German academic with a focus on cultural policy and an author of studies on cultural conditions that might serve to strengthen the democratic potential in diverse European countries. Between 1992 and 1995, Vogt developed the overall blueprint for the Free State of Saxony’s law on cultural areas,Gesetzestext SächsKRG; Vogt, Matthias Theodor (1. Auflage 1994, 2. Auflage 1996, 3. Auflage 1997 Hrsg.): Kulturräume in Sachsen. Eine Dokumentation. Mit einer photographischen Annäherung von Bertram Kober und dem Rechtsgutachten von Fritz Ossenbühl. (= Kulturelle Infrastruktur Band I). Universitätsverlag, Leipzig 1997, . and contributed to its acceptance and implementation. Since 1994 he has acted as the founding director of the Saxonian Institute for Cultural Infrastructure (Institut für kulturelle Infrastruktur Sachsen) and since 1997 has been Professor for Cultural Policy and Cultural History at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz). In 2012, Vogt was made honorary professor of the University of PécsMitteilung der Universität Pécs vom 14. November 2012 and in 2014 was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland for his contributions to German-Polish cooperation.Mitteilung der Polnischen Botschaft zum 12. Mai 2014; Rede des polnischen Botschafters vom 12. Mai 2014 auf Youtube Matthias Theodor Vogt is a Roman Catholic; he is married and has three children.
Biography Matthias Theodor Vogt grew up in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. He is a grandson of Theodor Spira (1881-1961),Anglia – Zeitschrift für englische Philologie. Heft 79, 1961, S. 249–252. , doi:10.1515/angl.1961.1961.79.249, November 2009. an anglicist in Königsberg, who was expelled from the university by the National Socialists on account of his political and religious beliefs and worked after the War in the Hessian government for reconciliation with Israel. Vogt is a nephew of Andreas Spira (1929-2004), a classical philologist from Mainz, a brother of Gregor Vogt-Spira (b. 1956), a Latinist in Marburg, and a brother of Markus Vogt (b. 1962), Professor of Social Ethics at LMU Munich.
Vogt studied violoncello under Nikolaus Uhlenhut at the Basel Music Academy and later under Atis Teichmanis at the Freiburg Conservatory of Music. He subsequently studied Theatrical Arts, Philosophy, German Studies and Musicology at various German and French universities (LMU Munich, the New Sorbonne University, the Aix-Marseille University and Technische Universität Berlin). During his studentship in Munich, Vogt was a private secretary to Hans Lamm, President of the Jewish community in Munich and Upper Bavaria. In 1983, he obtained the degree of Master of Arts under Klaus Lazarowicz and Susanne Vill. In 1988, he received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Dr. phil.) working under Carl Dahlhaus at Technische Universität Berlin, and in 2008 a post-doctoral qualification (Dr. habil.) at the University of Pécs. Among other functions, he has worked as an evaluator for the Volkswagen Foundation and for the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung). Since 1983, Vogt has been giving lectures in German, English, French and Italian, mainly in Europe, Japan and in the United States.
Between 1979 and 1985 Vogt wrote a number of articles on contemporary musical theatre and contemporary music for German and Austrian newspapers (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, Österreichische Musikzeitschrift, Falter Wien). He also worked as a music correspondent for German (Sender Freies Berlin, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Saarländischer Rundfunk), Austrian (Österreichischer Rundfunk) and French broadcasting companies (Radio France Musique Paris).
From 1986 to 1989, Vogt was Director of the press department at the Bayreuth Festival, with responsibility for the programme booklets.Bernard Levin: „Without question the most beautifully, lavishly and scrupously produced theatrical programmes in the world." In: The Times. London, 3. September 1988.Opera Quarterly (1995) 11 (2): 141-144 Both before and after this period, he worked at the Salzburg Festival, the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the Vienna State Opera, La Scala in Milan, the Venice Biennale, the Rousse State Opera, the , the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris and the Acquario Romano, Rome. He collaborated with Luigi Nono,Róża Różańska: Różnorodność dodaje życiu barw. Interview with M. Th. Vogt. Luciano Berio and Karlheinz Stockhausen in the world premieres of Prometeo, Un Re in Ascolto and Samstag aus Licht.
Matthias Theodor Vogt is the "father" of the Saxonian law on cultural regions (Sächsisches Kulturraumgesetz), the first German law that obligates the state to provide financial support for local authorities developing and endorsing their cultural institutions and programmes. Subsequently, this law has been proposed as a model for the other federal states by the "Culture in Germany" commission of the German Bundestag.Bundestagsdrucksache 16/7000 vom 11. Dezember 2007 Vogt developed the overall blueprint of the law, and until 1995 contributed to its promulgation and implementation as the coordinator of Saxonian cultural regions. In November 1995, he was offered a post in the State Ministry of Science and Art by the Saxon premier, Kurt Biedenkopf, but declined.Lebenslauf Vogt 2016.
In 1994, State Minister Hans Joachim Meyer and Matthias Theodor Vogt founded the Saxonian Institute of Cultural Infrastructure (Institut für kulturelle Infrastruktur Sachsen). Since then, Vogt has acted as its director.Selbstdarstellung des Institutes unter www.kultur.org In 2014 the President of the Bundesrat of Germany, Norbert Lammert, acknowledged the Institute’s work over its first twenty years.Festrede von Bundestagspräsident Norbert Lammert im Plenarsaal des Sächsischen Landtages am 12. Mai 2014 auf Youtube; Festrede von Bundestagspräsident Norbert Lammert als PDF
In 1997 Vogt was appointed Professor of cultural policy and cultural history in the Faculty of Management and Cultural Studies at Zittau/Görlitz University. In 2001-2005 he co-chaired a programme of studies at the TU Dresden. Every summer semester in the early 2000s, Vogt held diverse guest professorships, from 2002 to 2010 at the Charles University in Prague, in 2003 at the University of Wrocław, in 2006 and 2014 at the University of Kobe, in 2009 at the University of Sannio,Vogt, Matthias Theodor (2009): Rapporto relativo al periodo di docenza 05-07/2009 Università degli Studi del Sannio, Benevento, Facoltà i Scienze Economiche e Aziendali | Tätigkeitsbericht zur Kurzzeitdozentur Mai bis Juli 2009 an der Università degli Studi del Sannio, Benevent, Facoltà di Scienze Economiche e Aziendali. Görlitz 2009 . in 2012 at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, and in 2013 and 2014 at the University of Vienna. Apart from these long-term obligations, Vogt taught at some 50 universities mainly in Europe, Japan and in the USA
In 1997, Vogt founded the course of study "Culture and Management" as a cooperative venture between the Saxonian Institute of Cultural Infrastructure and Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. Its patron Federico Mayor, Director General of UNESCO, said of the specific approach: "Mobilizing support for the arts has become an art in itself. It calls for individuals combining economic flair, a grasp of social legislation, familiarity with an increasingly diverse cultural scene, and an uncompromising commitment to meticulous organization."Federico Mayor In 1998 the study programme was awarded a prize by the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft.
Research targeting the political praxis
Since 1990 Vogt has devoted himself to research into the cultural basis of transformation processes in Europe. He takes great interest in strengthening democratic potentials, not least beyond the metropolitan citiesVogt, Matthias Theodor, Sokol, Jan, Ociepka, Beate, Pollack, Detlef, Mikołajczyk, Beata (Hrsg.): Die periphere Mitte Europas. Schriften des Collegium Pontes II. Frankfurt am Main 2009. Dort u.a. Matthias Theodor Vogt: Ubi Leones / Wo nichts als Löwen hausen Zu Begriff und Problem der Peripherizität. into the German and European peripheries,Vogt, Matthias Theodor; Zimmermann, Olaf (2013 Hrsg.): Verödung? Kulturpolitische Gegenstrategien. Beiträge zur Tagung 22./23. November 2013 in Görlitz. Veranstalter: Deutscher Kulturrat und Institut für kulturelle Infrastruktur Sachsen. Edition kulturelle Infrastruktur, Görlitz und Berlin; Vogt, Matthias Theodor; Plebańczyk, Katarzyna; Squillante, Massimo; Alperyte, Irena (2012 editors): Brain Gain through Culture? Researching the Development of Middle Size Cities in Poland, Lithuania, Italy, Hungary, Germany, and France. DOI 10.1696/KOL-2012. Görlitz 2012 . and in methodological aspects of cultural policy studies.Vogt, Matthias Theodor: What is Cultural Policy? Was ist Kulturpolitik? Czym jest polityka kulturalna? In: Emil Orzechowski et al. (Hrsg.): Vol. III (3) Culture management. Kulturmanagement. Zarządzanie kulturą, Krakau 2010. S. 113–136 , 15–39 , 213–237 .
In 2016, he presented a research study on the cultural implications of migration: Ankommen in der deutschen Lebenswelt (Arrival in the German World).Vogt, Matthias Theodor; Fritzsche, Erik; Meißelbach, Christoph: Ankommen in der deutschen Lebenswelt. Migranten-Enkulturation und regionale Resilienzstärkung. Geleitwort von Rita Süssmuth und Nachwort von Olaf Zimmermann. Europäisches Journal für Minderheitenfragen Vol. 9 No. 1-2 2016. Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag 2016, ISBN Print: 978-3-8305-3716-8, E-Book: 978-3-8305-2975-0, ISSN Print: 1865-1089, Online: 1865-1097. The study is based on previous research such as Minderheiten- und Fremdenfreundlichkeit am Wiederbeginn europäischer Staatlichkeit (Welcoming attitudes towards minorities and foreigners at the re-inception of European statehood), Der Fremde als Bereicherung (The Foreigner as Enrichment) and Minderheiten als Mehrwert (Minorities as Value Added) – all of these studies having been conducted in the framework of the tri-national Görlitz-Zgorzelec-Zhořelec Institute for Advanced Study, Collegium Pontes. In 2002-2009 the latter researched into the fundamental issues of social cohesion in Europe under the common patronage of the German, Polish and Czech Foreign Ministers.
Vogt has also studied the principal-agent potentials for strengthening regional public spirit in variously-sized cities, e.g. in large-sized Erlangen,Stadt Erlangen: Innenstadtentwicklung: Öffentlich-kulturelle Gebäude in der historischen Innenstadt. Entwicklungsplan. Erlangen 2009 . in the medium-sized towns of Landsberg am LechVogt, Matthias Theodor unter Mitwirkung von Isabell Ehrlicher, Amandine Laïk, Carolin Eisner, Ulf Großmann: Kultur für Landberg. Stärkung der Innenstadt durch Aufwertung der kulturellen Infrastruktur sowie Erhalt und Entwicklung der einschlägig genutzten Baudenkmäler. Görlitz 2012. . and Pforzheim,Vogt, Matthias Theodor; Großmann, Ulf: Szenarien-Entwicklung in der Haushaltsplanung der Stadt Pforzheim für das Südwestdeutsche Kammerorchester Pforzheim. Görlitz 2012. . in small-sized AltöttingVogt, Matthias Theodor unter Mitwirkung von Isabell Ehrlicher, Amandine Laïk, Carolin Eisner, Ulf Großmann (2012): Altötting. Stärkung der kulturellen Infrastruktur als Beitrag zu einer aktiven Innenstadt. Görlitz 2012 . and in rural communities such as Gundelsheim near Bamberg.
For the Bundestag’s "Culture in Germany" commission of inquiry, Vogt analysed the contribution made by churches and religious communities to cultural life in Germany.Vogt, Matthias Theodor et al.: Der Beitrag der Kirchen und Religionsgemeinschaften zum kulturellen Leben in Deutschland. In: Deutscher Bundestag (Hrsg.): Kultur in Deutschland. Schlußbericht der Enquete-Kommission des Deutschen Bundestages. Regensburg 2008, .