Review 2020

In 2020, the German Foundation for Monument Protection supported more than 530 monuments nationwide with over 19 million euros

Monument protection and sustainability have always gone hand in hand. In order to preserve natural monuments, the use of new resources is avoided, natural and regional building materials are used and environmentally friendly technologies are employed. The German Foundation for Monument Protection would like to intensify and expand the topic of sustainability in monument preservation and, for this reason, already highlighted it in 2020 with the “Monuments for future” campaign. Last year, the private monument preservation foundation supported more than 530 properties across Germany with over 19 million euros. In doing so, the foundation made a beneficial contribution to planning security for building owners, their architects and the craftsmen and women working in monument conservation.

In Bavaria alone, the German Foundation for Monument Protection provided over 2.3 million euros for more than 60 monuments. The Bavarian projects included the Ainmiller House in the old town of Landshut. The three-storey building, whose façade is 27.2 meters wide and 25.2 meters high, was created by connecting three houses that probably date back to the 15th century. In 1859, the namesake Max Ainmiller acquired the building, which had always housed a restaurant since 1609. The terracotta elements and church paintings on the façade of the house have been restored: Cementitious plaster has been removed and the old plaster underneath has been consolidated. Other projects in Bavaria included Welser Castle in Neunhof, where the restoration of the Hall of the Gods was supported, and Eisenburg Castle in Memmingen, where the foundation supported the restoration of the access bridge.

In Berlin, 17 monuments were supported with over 850,000 euros. The projects supported included, for example, the Oberpfarr- und Domkirche in Berlin-Mitte. The Berlin Cathedral in the historic heart of the capital is considered one of the most magnificent religious buildings in the country. The representative central building with its mighty dome was built between 1893 and 1905 in neo-renaissance and neo-baroque styles. The German Foundation for Monument Protection funded restoration work on the sandstone façade of the south-west tower. The full extent of the damage to the façade only became apparent in 2018. Over the past decades, incrustations of soot, rubber abrasion and dust have deposited on the sandstone. Acids form from air pollutants and rainwater, which penetrate the stone and decompose it.

Each of these private and public monuments funded nationwide in the annual program of the German Foundation for Monument Protection is a unique treasure that must be preserved. To ensure this protection, the German Foundation for Monument Protection uses private donations or income from the DSD trust foundations, among other things.