Hovermenü - EN

    Place of Learning

    The transmission of the World Heritage to future generations is one of the main tasks of a World Heritage site. For this purpose, the World Heritage Office has developed several educational resources.

    Educational resource kit “bamberg.elementar”

    The “Town of Bamberg” is a unique place for learning. Its monuments, buildings and streets reveal much about how people lived and worked during the Middle Ages and the Baroque period. The educational resource kit “bamberg.elementar” developed by the Bamberg World Heritage Office offers adoptable ideas for teaching and seeks to incorporate World Heritage values into the curriculum as a way of delivering core subjects and transverse themes at secondary and higher secondary levels. It includes detailed lesson plans as well as required working materials (in German language). Each method deals with a different facet of Bamberg.

    bamberg.elementar

    The educational resource kit “bamberg.elementar” comprises twelve elaborated teaching units, including detailed lesson plans as well as copy templates for student’s working material. All modules are available for download here.

    Introduction

    Each unit has another thematic focus. This introduction provides an overview of all methods and further information on handling “bamberg.elementar”.

    Background knowledge – UNESCO World Heritage

    World Heritage is a complex issue. An initial summary of important information concerning UNESCO and the characteristics of the “Town of Bamberg” can be found here.

    Wall newspaper – World Heritage, UNESCO Memory of the World or intangible cultural heritage?

    There are various terms that describe different forms of cultural heritage. Which one is correct and what is it all about? This method deals with conventions and programmes of UNESCO.

    Activity game – Heritage terms

    What is UNESCO and what are its objectives? What’s the difference between World Cultural and Natural Heritage? Why has Bamberg been listed as a World Heritage site? This unit aims to answer these questions.

    Discovering worlds – World Heritage criteria

    World Heritage sites are not only beautiful. In order to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, the proposed sites (buildings or landscapes) have to fulfil at least two of ten criteria. This method teaches the World Heritage criteria to students.

    Expert game – Bamberg’s way of becoming a UNESCO World Heritage site

    The “Town of Bamberg” was declared a World Heritage site in 1993. The long way up there is the main topic of this unit. Students can also find out about actors which are involved in the decision.

    Picture puzzle – Medieval map of Bamberg

    The 142-hectare World Heritage site “Town of Bamberg” represents the structure of an early medieval town in an unique way. To what extent do the modern and the medieval city map resemble one another? That’s what this method is about.

    Card game – Medieval and Baroque Bamberg

    The “Town of Bamberg” has been inscribed on the World Heritage List due to its medieval layout and the well-preserved historic buildings going back to the Middle Ages and the Baroque period. This module concentrates on Bamberg’s urbanistic special features.

    Protecting monuments – St. Michael’s monastery

    The former Benedictine monastery of St. Michael is part of the World Heritage site. On the initiative of Emperor Henry II., St. Michael’s monastery was founded in 1015. In 2012, it had to be closed because of acute danger of collapse. With this method, students can find out about the comprehensive restoration work.

    Panel discussion – World Heritage tourism in Bamberg

    Since Bamberg achieved World Heritage status in 1993, the number of tourists has risen steadily. In this unit, students can emphasize with visitors, locals, World Heritage Managers or Tourism Managers to find out if increasing tourism is endangering the World Heritage site.

    Opinion game – Establishment of the Bamberg World Heritage Visitor Centre

    Located at the heart of the city, Bamberg’s new World Heritage Visitor Centre gives locals and guests alike an overview of the World Heritage site “Town of Bamberg”. Different opinions on the new building in the historic Lower Mills District are this method’s topic.

    Garden detectives – Commercial horticulture in the inner city of Bamberg

    The “Innercity Horticulture in Bamberg”, which describes Bamberg’s Market Gardeners’ District as well as various social and cultural traditions of the gardeners, was included in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2016. This module introduces different types of gardening and shows how tradition has changed over centuries.

    Book illumination – The Reichenau manuscript

    The Bamberg State Library hosts two medieval manuscripts that belong to UNESCO Memory of the World. This method deals with the value of these important documentary testimonies.

    World Heritage quiz – Town of Bamberg

    The well-preserved historic “Town of Bamberg” includes the three urban districts City on the Hills, the Island District and the Market Gardeners’ District. What else is special for Bamberg? This method urges students to collect more information regarding the Bamberg World Heritage.

    Educational resources

    The transmission of the World Heritage to future generations is one of the main tasks of a World Heritage site. For this purpose, the World Heritage Office has developed several educational resources.

    welterbe.elementar

    Seven UNESCO World Heritage sites are located in the Free State of Bavaria. Among others they include the Town of Bamberg, the Pilgrimage Church of Wies and the Margravial Opera House Bayreuth. In collaboration with the Bavarian State Office for Political Education the Bamberg World Heritage Office developed an educational resource kit entitled “welterbe.elementar” based on Bavarian World Heritage sites, intangible cultural heritage and entries from the UNESCO Memory of the World. The educational resource kit can be obtained from the Bavarian State Office for Political Education.

    World Heritage Quiz

    Bamberg as a UNESCO World Heritage site is well known. But what exactly does this status entail? With the World Heritage Quiz, locals and visitors can test their knowledge about the World Heritage site “Town of Bamberg”. The quiz is available at the Bamberg World Heritage Office.

    Children’s guide through the Market Gardeners’ District

    The Children’s guide through the Market Gardeners’ District targets children between the ages of 8 and 14. The fun-to-read guide gives an insight into the stories and background of the Market Gardeners’ District, and the Bamberg gardeners and vintners. The brochure authored by Claudia John was created in collaboration with the Bamberg World Heritage Office and the Gardeners’ and Vintners’ Museum. The guide includes puzzles, colouring pages, and research tasks. It is available at the Gardeners’ and Vintners’ Museum.

    World Heritage Day

    World Heritage Day has been introduced in Germany in 2005. It is held annually on the first Sunday in June to raise awareness of the potential of cultural and natural heritage. Mobilizing local communities, especially young people, around the safeguarding of their heritage, involving them in projects that place value on their cultural identity and natural environment, is one of the best ways of opening up prospects for the future.

    World Heritage Day 2022

    World Heritage Day 2021

    World Heritage Day 2020

    World Heritage Day 2019

    In 2019, the World Heritage Day was celebrated at Bamberg´s new World Heritage Visitor Centre for the first time. The artist Klaus Dauven presented his recently published book “Faces” and the social company Mode macht Mut organized the fashion show “Silhouettes of the city”.

    World Heritage Day 2018

    In connection with Bamberg’s World Heritage anniversary celebrations lasted an entire weekend. They took place in collaboration with the Lions Clubs Bamberg, the Welcome Hotels and AGIL Tours.

    World Heritage Day 2017

    In 2017, a pop up visitor centre was installed in a vacant shop near Altes Rathaus. The pop up visitor centre informed about the upcoming World Heritage Visitor Centre.

    World Heritage Day 2016

    In connection with the new World Heritage Management the Bamberg World Heritage Office commissioned the creation of a visual space study, which was publicly presented during World Heritage Day.

    World Heritage Day 2015

    Due to the 1000th anniversary of the former Benedictine monastery St. Michael Monastery in 2015, World Heritage Day took place on Michael’s Hill.

    Welterbetag 2014

    Following the nationwide slogan “UNESCO World Heritage without Borders”, the Bamberg World Heritage Office invited to the 10th UNESCO World Heritage Day on Sunday, June 1st 2014. Guided tours and lectures on historical borders inside the World Heritage site attracted many visitors.

    World Heritage Day 2013

    In 2013, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the World Heritage site “Town of Bamberg”, the city hosted the national celebrations under the theme of “Preserve and develop”.

    World Heritage Day 2012

    In 2012, World Heritage Day took guests on a journey back in time to a shared cultural history with free guided tours and lectures.

    FSJ Kultur

    FSJ is an abbreviation for Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr (Voluntary Social Year). Since 2017, the Bamberg World Heritage Office participates in the voluntary service and hosts volunteers for 12 months each. The volunteers become part of the World Heritage team. They familiarize themselves with the working routines of a municipal administration and contribute to work of the office. In extra courses, volunteers acquire new skills and knowledge for their work and future career.

    Historical monuments

    Bamberg features more than 1,300 protected historical monuments. To this day, many of the medieval and baroque buildings are exceptionally well preserved.

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    Denkmal mobil

    The registered association Schutzgemeinschaft Alt Bamberg is committed to maintaining and protecting the townscape of Bamberg. It developed an interactive city map that provides information on protected historical buildings. The map is available at: www.denkmal-bamberg.de.

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    Register of Bavarian historical monuments

    The Bavarian State Conservation Office maintains a GIS-based online register of all historical monuments in Bavaria. The register is available here.

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    Großinventar: Die Kunstdenkmäler von Bayern

    The comprehensive inventory “Listed monuments of Bavaria – City of Bamberg” by the Bavarian State Conservation Office is a detailed inventory of listed monuments in Bamberg. The publication consists of eight volumes and seventeen sub-volumes, includes a register of historical cellars, a special GIS application and provides digital media for publication. The volumes are published by Deutsche Kunstverlag.

    More information about the comprehensive inventory is available here.
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    Why has Bamberg been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site?

    The ”Town of Bamberg” was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993 on the basis of the following criteria:

    Criterion ii: The layout and architecture of medieval and renaissance Bamberg exerted a strong influence on urban form and evolution in the lands of central Europe from the 11th century onwards. 

    Criterion iv: Bamberg is an outstanding and representative example of an early medieval town in central Europe, both in its plan and its many surviving ecclesiastical and secular buildings. 

    The World Heritage site includes the City on the Hills, the Island District as well as the Market Gardeners’ District with its urban fields.

    UNESCO World Heritage “Town of Bamberg”

    The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. This is embodied in an international treaty called the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972. 

    In 1993, the ”Town of Bamberg” was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The excellently preserved historic town includes the three urban districts City on the Hills, the Island and the Market Gardeners’ District. All three districts belong to the 142-hectare UNESCO World Heritage site and represent in a unique way the central European town with a basically early medieval plan and many surviving ecclesiastical and secular buildings of the medieval period. 

    When Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, became King of Germany in 1007 he made Bamberg the seat of a bishopric, intended to become a 'second Rome'. Of particular interest is the way in which the present town illustrates the link between agriculture (market gardens and vineyards) and the urban distribution centre.

    From the 10th century onwards, Bamberg became an important link with the Slav peoples, especially those of Poland and Pomerania. During its period of greatest prosperity, from the 12th century onwards, the architecture of this town strongly influenced northern Germany and Hungary. In the late 18th century, Bamberg was the centre of the Enlightenment in southern Germany, with eminent philosophers and writers such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and E.T.A. Hoffmann living there.

    Bamberg's way to a World Heritage site

    A rigorous application phase for inscription into the UNESCO World Heritage List came to an end on 11 December 1993, when the UNESCO World Heritage Committee at its 17th meeting in Cartagena (Colombia) reached the decision to inscribe the Town of Bamberg into the World Heritage List. 

    Already in 1991, the Federal Republic of Germany had submitted Bamberg’s application to UNESCO. However, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) recommended excluding post-war buildings from the respective area. Accordingly, the nomination file was revised and successfully resubmitted.

    World Heritage criteria

    To be included on the World Heritage List, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria. These criteria are explained in the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention which, besides the text of the Convention, is the main working tool on World Heritage.

    The ”Town of Bamberg” was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993 on the basis of the following criteria:

    Criterion ii: The layout and architecture of medieval and renaissance Bamberg exerted a strong influence on urban form and evolution in the lands of central Europe from the 11th century onwards. 

    Criterion iv: Bamberg is an outstanding and representative example of an early medieval town in central Europe, both in its plan and its many surviving ecclesiastical and secular buildings. 

    A multimedia storyboard on the World Heritage site “Town of Bamberg” is available at http://storyboard.infranken.de/welterbe-bamberg#87022.