Of the 1.3 million cultural monuments that experts believe exist in Germany, a third are considered to be endangered or in need of restoration. Although monument preservation and protection is the responsibility of the federal states, the federal government contributes to the preservation of cultural heritage. The budget committee of the Bundestag has now released 20 million euros for the first time for the 2016 special monument protection program. This will fund investment measures at over 138 […]
Of the 1.3 million cultural monuments that experts believe exist in Germany, a third are considered to be endangered or in need of restoration. Although monument preservation and protection is the responsibility of the federal states, the federal government contributes to the preservation of cultural heritage. The budget committee of the Bundestag has now released 20 million euros for the first time for the 2016 special monument protection program. This will enable investment measures to be carried out on over 138 architectural monuments in Germany.
The State Ministry of Culture launched the “Nationally Valuable Cultural Monuments” program back in 1950. The aim was to preserve architectural monuments as well as historical parks and gardens, which are of particular importance due to their architectural appearance and their historical and scientific value. Since then, the monument preservation program has enabled the restoration of around 640 cultural monuments at a cost of 353 million euros.
However, the largest monument preservation program in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany is the special investment program for the preservation of cultural heritage launched in 2007, which has since enabled an additional 190 million euros to be invested.
The projects funded in 2016 include the Berlin Cathedral, the Lufthansa Ju52/3m passenger plane in Hamburg, the Friedenskirche church in Krefeld, the Weser lightship in Wilhelmshaven, the town hall in Thedinghausen, the White Villa in Wittenberge and the Alexander House in Potsdam. Minister of State for Culture Monika Grütters is delighted with the grant of 20 million euros: “The federal government, together with the federal states, local authorities and private sponsors, is thus enabling a large number of immovable cultural monuments throughout Germany and across the country to be saved from decay.” Following the approval of the Budget Committee, restoration work can begin in many cases this year.
