Mathildenhöhe is a UNESCO World: "Worldwide outstanding example of visionary design art"

Darmstadt can now advertise with a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The UN organization for education, science, culture and communication (Unesco) put the Mathildenhöhe artists' colony on the coveted list on Saturday. The responsible Unesco committee made the decisions on Saturday at its 44th meeting in the Chinese city of Fuzhou. Only cultural and natural sites of outstanding universal value are designated as world heritage. Previously, Baden-Baden, Bad Ems and Bad Kissingen had been awarded among the “Great Baths of Europe”.

The Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt from the turn of the 20th century consists of the wedding tower, a Russian chapel, buildings, park and sculptures. The artist colony is considered the intersection of modern architecture - not just an Art Nouveau ensemble, but a step towards the Bauhaus. Peter Behrens was one of the first artists to later teach the Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius. The intention to build the colony at the end of the 19th century was by no means just of a cultural, but of tangible economic nature.

Due to a lack of natural resources, the Hessian Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig saw an economic upswing only guaranteed by more quality in the factories and brought artists of all stripes to Darmstadt. The World Heritage Committee will meet online and on site until July 31st. It is made up of 21 elected signatory states to the World Heritage Convention. As a rule, it decides annually on the registration of new cultural and natural sites in the World Heritage List and deals with the condition of the registered sites. Because of the pandemic, the conference was postponed last year.

There are more than 1,100 cultural and natural sites in 167 countries on the World Heritage List. 51 of them are considered threatened. Germany now has 48 world heritage sites. On the agenda are a total of five applications with German participation: including the Danube Limes on Sunday as part of the Roman border. On Tuesday it will also be about the Jewish cultural heritage in Mainz, Speyer and Worms and the Lower Germanic Limes.