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When Berlin launched its €500m bid to save small businesses and freelancers from financial free fall, including artists and small cultural businesses, the cash distribution started in four days. Kate Brown and Naomi Rea explain how.

Imagine you are a small businessperson or freelancer suffering a deep financial loss as a result of your city’s lockdown. You apply for a grant from the government on a Friday, submitting nothing more than your mailing address, a tax number, banking details, and a legal form with your company’s name. On Tuesday, you wake up to find €5,000 has been wired into your account.

This might sound as if it’s a bureaucratic fever dream—but in Berlin, it is reality. Despite technical difficulties and panic at the outset, the state of Berlin has launched an immensely successful bid to save small businesses and freelancers from financial free-fall, including artists and small cultural businesses who are suffering due to the current global health situation and economic downturn.

The local government acted rapidly to pull together an emergency relief program and, on Friday last week, it launched online grant and bridge loan applications in partnership with the local bank Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB). It is offering €5,000 to individuals freelancers and up to €15,000 to small businesses... Keep reading on artnet