UNESCO World Heritage Erfurt

UNESCO, with its headquarters in Paris and currently 1942 members, is a specialized agency of the UN. It was founded on November 16, 1945. The declared aim of UNESCO was and is to encourage the peoples of the world to live together in peace by emphasizing commonalities and building greater understanding and tolerance. UNESCO's range of tasks includes the four main programs of education, science, culture and communication. One of its main tasks is the preservation of the world's cultural and natural heritage. 

Across Germany, 52 sites are represented on this list. The five World Heritage Sites located in Thuringia are the Jewish Medieval Heritage in Erfurt, Wartburg Castle near Eisenach, the Bauhaus monuments in Weimar, Classical Weimar and the Hainich National Park near Bad Langensalza.

Although the "Erfurt Treasure" in the cellar of the Old Synagogue is not directly part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is one of the most important Jewish treasure ensembles in all of Europe, not least because of its scope and size. The "Erfurt Treasure" is a Gothic treasure find from the 13th/14th century that was recovered in 1998 in the immediate vicinity of the synagogue. It is unique in the world in terms of type and size with 3,141 silver coins, 14 silver bars, over 700 pieces of Gothic gold and silver work as well as the jewish wedding ring. In the former ballroom of the monument from the late 19th century, the Erfurt Hebrew manuscripts from the 12th - 14th centuries bear witness to the intellectual heyday of Erfurt's first Jewish community.

The application and the management plan were submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in Paris on time at the beginning of 2021. In 2021, the evaluation took place with a detailed inspection in Erfurt and expert opinions on the submitted documents.

In the second half of June 2022, a decision on the Erfurt application was to be made at the meeting of the Unesco Commission in Kazan, Russia. This meeting was to be chaired by Russia. However, due to the Ukraine war, it was initially postponed at the end of April 2022.

In January 2023, the time between September 10th and 25th of 2023, was set for the 45th session of UNESCO.

Worldwide, 1,158 sites in 167 countries are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Europe is home to 492 of these sites. With 52 sites, Germany is the country with the 3rd most World Heritage sites in its boundaries. In terms of numbers, it is on a par with France and is only surpassed by Italy (59 sites) and China (57 sites). Thuringia is currently inscribed with 5 sites.
The UNESCO World Heritage title also attracts international guests, especially from the US and Asia.

The 5 sites in Thuringia that are currently inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List are Wartburg Castle, the Bauhaus sites in Weimar, Classical Weimar, the Hainich National Park and the Jewish-medieval heritage in Erfurt.

World Heritage Sites are places of special significance to the global community. They serve the goals of the Global Sustainability Agenda and UNESCO's mandate to promote peace. World Heritage Sites require protection and care. The extraordinary value and uniqueness of Erfurts Jewish-medieval heritage must be protected, preserved over the long term and communicated with the help of all stakeholders.

With the award of the World Heritage title, states enter into an obligation to protect their World Heritage sites and preserve them for future generations. Even after the World Heritage title has been awarded, the work on and in the World Heritage site does not end: Numerous parties at the level of the states and municipalities as well as other institutions perform a wide range of tasks in order to protect, preserve and communicate the World Heritage sites in the long term and to ensure their sustainable use. The title is not associated with any concrete financial support from UNESCO. It is an honorary title associated with worldwide prestige, but above all with the obligation to preserve a site.

The Old Synagogue can be visited independently during opening hours (video guides available in eng and french). You can also book a private guided tour. The Medieval Mikveh can be viewed at any time through a window in the ceiling of the shelter. The mikveh is only accessible as part of a guided tour. The “Stone House” can currently only be viewed from the outside.

The title "UNESCO World Heritage" is only awarded to buildings. Therefore, material evidence such as the Hebrew Scriptures, the gravestones or the Erfurt Treasure are not part of the application. However, as historical sources, they round off the knowledge about Ashkenazic, i.e. Central European Judaism in the Middle Ages and thus belong to Erfurt's Jewish medieval heritage as additional material testimonies.

World Cultural Heritage Sites are architectural monuments, urban ensembles and cultural landscapes, but also industrial monuments of special value to mankind. The World Natural Heritage includes, among others, natural landscapes and protected reserves for animal and plant species threatened with extinction and geological formations. The Jewish medieval heritage is included in the World Cultural Heritage.

The World Heritage title is an honorary title. It means commitment to the preservation of a site as the heritage of all mankind. The protection and care as well as the communication of the World Heritage idea are central tasks associated with the award of the title. As the World Heritage List continues to grow in numbers, UNESCO strives to protect the title "World Heritage" from arbitrariness. Therefore, all World Heritage sites are reviewed at regular intervals. ICOMOS or, in the case of natural sites, IUCN (World Conservation Union), act on behalf of UNESCO. The monitoring group of ICOMOS Germany is responsible for the German World Heritage Sites.

There have only been three deletions from the World Heritage List: In 2007, the Arabian Oryx Antelope Wildlife Sanctuary in Oman lost its World Heritage title after the reserve was reduced in size by 90 percent in order to extract oil. In 2009, the "Dresden Elbe Valley Cultural Landscape" lost the World Heritage title due to the construction of the Waldschlösschen Bridge, which was considered a serious encroachment on the cultural landscape. In 2021, the Committee decided to remove the "Maritime Trading City of Liverpool" from the World Heritage List. It considered the site's Outstanding Universal Value to have been permanently damaged by a large number of construction projects.