One per cent for culture

The so-called Culture Percentage was incorporated into the statutes of the Migros Cooperative Association in 1957. It stipulated that one per cent of future Migros revenues would be set aside for culture and education. This has made Migros one of the most important organisations promoting culture in Switzerland.

When Gottlieb Duttweiler converted Migros AG into a cooperative in 1941, he expressed for the first time the idea that one per cent of its revenues should be used «unreservedly to promote public and cultural efforts», arguing that: «Theatre and concert halls have to be open the masses: to the youth who should be inspired, to the fathers and mothers of large families struggling under everyday pressures, to the worker with low wages, to maids and farmwomen».
Ten years later, when Migros saw its revenues multiply thanks to its policy of expansion and economic growth, he asserted: «We have to use our growing material power for ever greater social and culture achievements». But it was only in 1957 that the statutes were amended, stipulating that the Migros Cooperative Association had to make available one per cent of its revenues for cultural and social events, while each regional cooperative had to set aside 0.5 per cent. Since then, around 3.8 million francs have gone into financing the Migros Culture Percentage, as well as independent projects, the Club School, the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute GDI, the Migros Museum for Contemporary Art in Zurich and four parks.