The address is “Untere Mühlbrücke 5,” and for the past five years, the World Heritage Visitor Center has blended harmoniously into the UNESCO World Heritage Site in the heart of Bamberg’s Old Town. Built on the foundation walls of the former Sterzer Mill, the visitor center has become a hub that conveys Bamberg’s outstanding universal value to all interested visitors. This is what drew a guest from Upper Bavaria here, where a surprise awaited him.

Ludwig Hörner was quite astonished when he entered the permanent exhibition that day: he was greeted by three ladies who immediately congratulated him. Cultural Affairs Officer Ulrike Siebenhaar, World Heritage Manager Dr. Simona von Eyb, and a photographer warmly congratulated the guest from Gaimersheim in the Eichstätt district. After all, he was the 100,000th visitor to walk through the automatic sliding door since the World Heritage Visitor Center opened in 2019. “It’s been on my museum list for quite some time, and today I set off for Bamberg with the Deutschland-Ticket,” the geographer explains. He had last been in the city during the State Garden Show in 2012; now it was time once again to “enjoy Bamberg and have a cup of coffee.” He will head home with two book gifts and a reprint of a Bamberg engraving, a small gift from the World Heritage Visitor Center.

Its director, Dr. Simona von Eyb, is delighted with this space, describing it as “a resource for learning about the World Heritage Site in Bamberg, but also as a place for intercultural encounters where people can reflect on current issues.” She notes that the existence of the visitor center is by no means a given and is consistently viewed favorably even among experts. “My colleagues are thrilled that we have something like this in Bamberg.”

Bamberg’s Cultural Affairs Officer, Ulrike Siebenhaar, also emphasizes the importance of the center. “The anniversary is also something very special to me because I closely followed the center’s development from the initial idea through to its realization. The World Heritage Visitor Center has truly become a hub, a harmonious place that has been embraced.”

That this also applies to guests from afar was demonstrated by a visit from a family from Japan: Heiko Triebener, a member of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, brought the visitors from Hiroshima along. The connection was made through the family’s daughter, Nanako Tamai, who is studying tuba in a master’s program in Nuremberg. The Bamberg tuba player had helped the talented young woman get admitted there and took the family on an excursion to the World Heritage Visitor Center that day. This made them, following the 100,000th visitor, the first group of guests from abroad that day.

Photo: Linus Lintner