Annette Strohm, who studied law, completed further training in cultural management after her second state examination and started working for Koblenz-Touristik in mid-February 1998. This is responsible for the organization of events at Koblenz City Council. In October 2002, she was hired as a cultural officer at the Idar-Oberstein city administration. At that time, culture was still part of the city development department, for which Strohm was also deputy head of the department. Since October 2021, there has been an independent cultural department with Annette Strohm as its head.
"We can be proud of the cultural program in Idar-Oberstein and are well positioned in comparison to other cities in Rhineland-Palatinate. Of course, this is above all thanks to our cultural officer," said Mayor Frühauf, praising Annette Strohm's achievements and thanking her for her commitment. The Lord Mayor regretted that culture is still defined as a 'voluntary' service, "it should actually be a mandatory municipal task."
Senior civil servant Wolfgang Petry described culture as the city's flagship, saying that Idar-Oberstein has earned itself a good reputation far beyond its borders. This was also confirmed by staff council representative Volker Poes, who sees cultural diversity and the shared cultural experience as an important contribution to social cohesion.
"I really enjoy my work here in Idar-Oberstein and I am happy about the opportunities I have here, as well as the trust the city leadership has in my work," emphasized the cultural officer, thanking her team in particular. "Without my dedicated colleagues, the city's ambitious cultural program would not be possible." Annette Strohm sees the challenge for culture in rural areas primarily in offering events that stand out from the performances of commercial organizers. She is pleased that a scene has now developed that is happy to take advantage of these offers.