Schwerin wants to be on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The way is long. Now the next step is taken.

Schwerin (dpa/mv) – On Wednesday (10:00 a.m.) the state capital of Schwerin is taking another step towards the hoped-for inclusion of its grand-ducal residence ensemble in the UNESCO World Heritage List. At a ceremony in the castle, Mayor Rico Badenschier (SPD) wants to hand over the application documents to Minister of Culture Bettina Martin (SPD).

The dossier must be submitted to UNESCO in Paris by the beginning of February. This will be done through the Foreign Office, said a spokesman for Martin. Between March and October experts from Unesco should visit the city. The decision as to whether Schwerin should be included in the World Heritage List should be made in 2024.

The 250-page application dossier was approved by the city council in November. Schwerin is applying with its residence ensemble of the Mecklenburg Grand Dukes, which has grown over 200 years. The focus is on the castle, the gardens and parks surrounding the castle, the cathedral, the government buildings, theatre, museum, several city palaces and ducal barracks as well as the houses of purveyors to the court – a total of more than 30 objects.

To date, 51 cultural and natural heritage sites in Germany are part of the UNESCO World Heritage. In addition to monuments such as the Cologne Cathedral or contemporary monuments such as the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes, this also includes industrial complexes such as the Zollverein colliery in Essen. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the Hanseatic cities of Wismar and Stralsund are part of the World Cultural Heritage and old beech forests in the Jasmund and Müritz National Parks are part of the World Natural Heritage.

On November 16, 1972, the international community passed its Convention for the Protection of the World Natural and Cultural Heritage. 194 countries have joined the UNESCO World Heritage Site since it was founded. There are now 1154 sites in 167 countries worldwide, of which around 220 are natural heritage sites. These include the Norwegian Geriangerfjord, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and numerous national parks in Africa.

The impetus for the adoption of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention 50 years ago was the construction of the Egyptian Aswan Dam in the 1960s, which threatened to flood the temple at Abu Simbel.