Culture ministers want to designate seven sites as World Heritage Sites

Unesco - Culture ministers want to designate seven sites as World Heritage Sites

The Olympic Park in Munich, the Schöningen spear site near Helmstedt and the Zehlendorf forest settlement in Berlin are to become World Heritage Sites. The culture ministers have put a total of seven sites on the corresponding Unesco list. Corresponding proposals for a decision by the United Nations cultural organization were made during a special meeting on Monday, as announced by the expert panel in Berlin.

An advisory board had previously recognized a corresponding potential in the approved sites, most of which are also on the World Heritage List for previously underrepresented categories or types. Each federal state had the opportunity to submit two applications. A total of 21 applications from 13 countries were submitted to the experts for consideration. No applications were received from Bremen, Saarland and Schleswig-Holstein.

According to the information provided, the decisive factors for a positive assessment were, in addition to the potential for exceptional worldwide significance, consideration of the "Global Strategy for a Representative, Balanced and Credible World Heritage List".

"The nomination of the archaeological site illustrates its outstanding significance for the history of mankind far beyond Germany," said Lower Saxony's Culture Minister Falko Mohrs about the site of wooden throwing spears from the Palaeolithic Age near Helmstedt near Braunschweig. "As a prehistoric site, the Schöningen spear site can close a gap in the World Heritage List."

With today's decision, the Conference of Culture Ministers is acknowledging its special responsibility for the cultural heritage of the German federal states, said acting chairman Mohrs.

According to the information provided, the World Heritage List currently includes 1157 sites in 167 countries. With 51 World Heritage Sites, Germany is currently in third place worldwide after Italy (58) and China (56). In terms of cultural heritage sites, Germany (48) is in second place after Italy (53).

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1. The proposed World Heritage Sites include the olympiapark in Munich, which is already a renowned landmark in Germany.
2. Lower Saxony's Culture Minister Falko Mohr expressed his enthusiasm about the potential designation of the Schöningen spear site near Helmstedt, as it would fill a gap in the World Heritage List.
3. The special meeting in Berlin was attended by UNESCO representatives and culture ministers from various countries, with the aim of deciding on the proposed World Heritage Sites.
4. Germany has 51 World Heritage Sites, making it the third country with the most UNESCO sites, after Italy and China.
5. The Olympic Park in Munich, along with other proposed sites, was put forward by German culture ministers for consideration as a potential World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
6. The Zehlendorf forest settlement in Berlin is one of the seven sites put forward by German culture ministers for potential inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
7. The UN's cultural organization, UNESCO, will make the final decision on whether to include the proposed German sites on the World Heritage List following the special meeting.
8. The UN's Global Strategy for a Representative, Balanced and Credible World Heritage List was among the factors considered by UNESCO experts in assessing the proposed German sites.

Source: www.stern.de