Icomos

Information about the German-speaking Working Group within the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee for Shared Built Heritage (SBH)

Bauernhaus
German farmhouse in the federal state of Santa Catarina, Brazil

King Rama V's villa in Phetchaburi, Thailand, c. 1910, architect Karl Döring

Christuskirche
Lutheran Christ Church of 1910 in Qingdao, China, architect Curt Rothkegel

The ICOMOS International Scientific Committee for Shared Built Heritage has had a German working group since 2010. Its aim is to foster exchange on topics concerning the shared built heritage and to communicate findings (in workshops, conferences, publications or on the ICOMOS websites), thus helping to intensify the cooperation. In this context, it is indispensable to seek contact and cooperation with colleagues on site, through ICOMOS or other organisations, or even through personal connections. This happens within the framework of:

Study trips, incl. meetings on site;
Contacts with:
- NGOs, Foreign Office, embassies, etc;
- Research institutions, universities, archives, etc;
- Foreign cultural groups in Germany, etc;
- Missionary societies and religious communities (e.g. the Moravian Church, the Steyler Mission, etc);
Participation in other ISCs and national committees of ICOMOS. German participants took part in important international conferences on shared built heritage: 2010 in Surinam (Latin America), 2011 in Cape Town (South Africa), 2012 in Gulangyu/Xiamen, Wuhan and Beijing (China), 2013 in Havana (Cuba). Furthermore, they participated in the two ISC symposia on the occasion of the 17th General Assembly of ICOMOS in Paris and of the Advisory Committee Meeting in Beijing.

The working group also intends to set up a digital information system on the handling of German heritage abroad. For instance, there is German colonial heritage in Africa (Namibia, Togo, Cameroon, Tanzania), the Pacific (Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Eastern Caroline Islands, Marshall Islands, Tonga), China (Qingdao, Shanghai, Wuhan, Tianjin, Beidahe).

Gerichtsgebäude
Court house in Apia, Samoa, 1902, by building inspector Friedrich Strünzner

Court house in Apia, Samoa, 1902, by building inspector Friedrich Strünzner

Christuskirche
Christ Church in Windhoek, Namibia, 1907–10, architect Gottlieb Redecker

German influence on built cultural heritage in connection with migration or missionary activities: North America (Canada, United States of America), South America (Brazil, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina), Europe (due to colonisation and shift of borders; France, Czech Republic, Poland, Baltic States, Hungary, Romania).

Industriedenkmalpflege
Industrial heritage: remains of the diamond conveyor plant in the restricted area, Namibia

Elsass
Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg (Hohkönigsburg) near Orschwiller/Alsace, France, reconstructed 1901–08 by Bodo Ebhardt

Marktplatz
Market square of Sibiu (Hermannstadt) in Transylvania, Romania

An important aim is to support the protagonists on site who feel responsible for preserving the heritage originally built with German participation.

Meetings:

The German working group of SBH meets once or twice per year for an exchange and discussion of future activities.

2010 Inaugural meeting on November 27 in Baden-Baden
2011 Meeting on February 18 in Munich
2012 Meetings on August 1 and November 30 in Munich
2013 Meeting on August 9 in Munich, Deutsches Museum