Statement by Minister of State Böhmer on UNESCO World Heritage Day

Minister of State Maria Böhmer, Special Representative of the Federal Foreign Office for UNESCO World Heritage, UNESCO Cultural Conventions and UNESCO Education and Science Programmes, issued the following statement today (4 June) on UNESCO World Heritage Day: 

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UNESCO World Heritage sites do not only attest to the unique creativity and outstanding achievements of the past – they also help to build bridges, reveal common ground, and convey identity and stability.

Germany takes on international responsibility in this field. For example, it founded the Archaeological Heritage Network to pool German expertise on cultural preservation and to deploy this expertise worldwide in cooperation with organisations such as UNESCO. In the project, Stunde Null: A Future after the Crisis, Germany is supporting the documentation of Syria’s cultural heritage and its possible reconstruction. Germany’s cultural preservation programme supports the conservation of cultural heritage in over 140 countries. In Mali, for example, Germany has helped to save centuries‑old Islamic manuscripts from Timbuktu. Germany will remain committed to preserving world heritage, as this field concerns us all.

German UNESCO World Heritage Day was launched in 2005. The aim is to pay tribute to German World Heritage sites as places where cultural heritage is carefully preserved and to boost their role in communicating the ideas behind UNESCO. On World Heritage day, the German Commission for UNESCO and the German UNESCO World Heritage Sites Association present their aims and activities to the general public with the aim of enabling people to experience world heritage for themselves.

The slogan of this year’s World Heritage Day is “UNESCO World Heritage Unites Us”. A large number of UNESCO World Heritage sites will offer a wide‑ranging cultural programme, special guided tours and activities about world heritage.

from
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Infoservice/Presse/Meldungen/2017/170604_B%C3%B6hmer_UNESCO.html?nn=479796