UNESCO list of the world natural, cultural and documentary heritage of mankind. Due to the progressive global environmental degradation, the General Conference of UNESCO (representation of the member states) passed the Convention for the Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage of Humanity in 1972. In the meantime, more than 1,000 cultural and natural monuments around the globe have been included in the list of world heritage sites and placed under protection.
the seven world wonders
The seven wonders of the world are a collection of sights of antiquity. The best-known version dates from the 2nd century BC: it can be found in a travel guide published by Antipater of Sidon and which describes the most important sights of its cultural area at that time. This list has been repeatedly adapted to the zeitgeist and the taste of the author. In the meantime there are also several versions of seven modern wonders of the world, often influenced by subjective feelings, and the "magical 7" is often joined by an "8th wonder of the world". The classic seven wonders of the world are:
- 1 Pyramids of Giza
- 2 Colossus of Rhodes
- 3 Zeus statue of Phidias in Olympia
- 4 hanging gardens of the Semiramis
- 5 Artemis Temple in Ephesus
- 6 Tomb of King Mausolus at Halicarnassus
- 7 Alexandria lighthouse
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In this list you will find unique and imposing works of mankind, generally known as worth seeing were deemed. Of this cultural heritage only the pyramids are largely preserved.
UNESCO cultural and natural heritage
In the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property from 1954 it is recognized that the cultural heritage of all humanity is worthy of protection. UNESCO is responsible for compliance with this convention. A first major rescue operation began in 1960 with the relocation of the Abu Simbel temples.
World heritage
The World Heritage Convention was passed in Paris in 1972 and 193 countries have joined. In order for a site to be granted World Heritage status, an application must first be submitted. The World Heritage Committee (English: World Heritage Committee) then decides at its annual meeting whether the site meets the criteria to be recognized as a unique masterpiece or exceptional natural beauty, and whether its protection can be guaranteed in the future. By 2019 there are 869 cultural monuments and 213 sites recognized as natural heritage, 38 of which belong to both categories. The World Heritage Committee also monitors the condition of the World Heritage sites and places endangered sites (2019: 53) on the Red List of World Heritage in Danger. So far, however, only two World Heritage Sites have been completely deleted, unfortunately the one Cultural landscape of the Dresden Elbe Valley one of those.
World document heritage
In 1992 the project was approved by UNESCO Memory of the world or. MOW(English: Memory of the World) started. One-off written works should be recorded in it, as well as image and sound documents. As of 2019, the list contains 427 documents. Six documents are not assigned to a specific country, including the Archives of the League of Nations (1919-1946) and the UNWRA photo and film archives of the Palestine refugees. In order to take modern developments into account, the Charter for the Preservation of Digital Cultural Heritage.
Oral and Intangible Heritage
In addition to tangible objects, the cultural heritage of humanity also includes abilities and skills that are not of an objective nature, such as dances, music, poems and customs. A corresponding convention on the Intangible world heritage or. I(English: intangible cultural heritage) was adopted in 2003 and recognized by 178 states by 2018. The Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity includes 549 entries from 127 countries by 2020.
Underwater cultural heritage
The Convention for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage was adopted in 2001 and came into force in 2009. It was ratified by 63 countries by 2019 (not yet by Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and regulates the protection of old shipwrecks and other cultural assets (English: underwater cultural heritage) in the oceans.
Biosphere reserves
The UNESCO program “Man and the Biosphere”, in short, has existed since 1970 MAB(English: Man and the Biosphere Program). This program is not only about nature and landscape protection, but rather an economic use should also be possible in the model regions of the biosphere reserves. In order for a region to be recognized by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve, a concept must be in place that shows the sustainability of the protection for an ecosystem or a cultural landscape. By 2019 there are already 701 biosphere reserves in 124 countries, 20 of which are cross-border.
UNESCO geoparks
The UNESCO Geoparks (UNESCO Global Geoparks) are a very young UNESCO program (since 2015). These are areas with geological sites and landscapes of international geoscientific importance. By 2019 there are 147 UNESCO geoparks in 41 countries worldwide, four of which are cross-border.
literature
Web links
- Cultural and natural heritage on the website of the German UNESCO Commission with sub-pages on the world heritage and the other conventions and programs.
- Wikipedia: World Document Heritage
- Treasures of the world heritage of humanity SWR television series
- Worldheritagesite.org private page (English) with travel reports
- Google World Wonders Project
