Planning culture is more than planning in terms of the activity performed (planning practice), and it is more than the object of reflection about methods and instruments, systems and institutions of spatial planning (planning theory). Based on current discourse on planning culture(s), the following article reports on experiences with planning cultures in Switzerland and Germany, leading to a position on the additional value of planning culture knowledge for further development of the discipline. In doing so, it becomes apparent that reflecting on planning culture(s) may disrupt academic thinking, resulting in a dichotomy – that is to say, the science of spatial planning on the one hand, planning practice on the other – and open up new horizons towards a contextual understanding of the sphere of spatial planning activity and decision-making. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in disP - The Planning Review on 2017-01-09, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02513625.2016.1273674.