World Heritage Sites in Bavaria
It is the UNESCO’s task to preserve human cultural and natural assets that "are of outstanding universal value". Currently, the UNESCO World Heritage List includes 7 Bavarian sites.
Würzburg Residence with the Court Gardens and Residence Square
The Würzburg Residence is considered to be the most consistent and extraordinary of all Baroque palaces. It exemplifies co-operation among artists from major culturally significant European countries and thus represents a "synthesis of the European Baroque ". The most prestigious architects of the time, such as Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt from Vienna as well as Robert de Cotte and Germain Boffrand from Paris, contributed their designs. The final plans, however, were drawn by Balthasar Neumann, the prince-bishop's court architect. There were also sculptors and stucco plasterers from Italy, Flanders and Munich involved in the process. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo from Venice painted the ceiling fresco above the stairwell and the frescos inside the imperial hall. As part of the interior of the Residence, plasterer Antonio Bossi and sculptor van der Auvera created the hall of mirrors, the most perfect piece of spatial Rococo artwork ever known. Severely damaged during World War Two, since 1945, the Residence has been the subject of frequent, meticulous and often exemplary restoration efforts. When inscribing the Würzburg Residence with the Court Gardens on the World Heritage List in 1981, the UNESCO determined that the following "criteria for outstanding universal value" had been met:
- it represents a masterpiece of human creative genius;
- it is an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history.
The Pilgrimage Church of Wies
Because of his own pilgrimage to a wooden image of Christ, which was believed to cause miracles, the Premonstratensian abbot of Steingaden decided to build a splendid sanctuary. Construction began in 1745 under the supervision of renowned architect Dominikus Zimmermann. At the foothills of the Alps, he created one of the most perfect pieces of Bavarian Rococo. Following the consecration of the choir in 1749, the church was completed and consecrated in 1754. The prodigious stucco representations by architect Dominikus Zimmermann and the ceiling paintings by his brother Johann Baptist Zimmermann, who was the Elector of Bavaria's court painter at the time, make the decoration unmatched in terms of its richness and refinement and make it appear vivid and spirited. When inscribing the Pilgrimage Church of Wies on the Cultural Heritage List in 1983, the UNESCO determined that the following criteria "for outstanding universal value" had been met:
- it represents a masterpiece of human creative genius;
- it bears a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared.
Town of Bamberg
Bamberg is a unique and excellently preserved example of a central European town, whose development is based on the layout of a high medieval town. It consists of the Bergstadt with its ecclesiastical and manorial buildings as well as older parts of bourgeois quarters, the Inselstadt, the medieval bourgeois extension and the Gärtnerstadt. The construction and influence of the town’s numerous monumental buildings were truly European: Imitating French cathedral design, the Romanesque-Early Gothic architecture of Bamberg’s cathedral even inspired architects in states like Saxony and Hungary to construct similar buildings. During the Late Middle Ages and the Baroque era, Bamberg's architecture had strong ties with Bohemia. Bamberg exemplifies the manifold political, religious, social and economic forces, which characterized a central European town until the 19th century. When inscribing Bamberg on the World Heritage List in 1993, the UNESCO determined that the following "criteria for outstanding universal value" had been met:
- it exhibits an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;
- to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history.
Frontiers of the Roman Empire: Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes
The former Roman Frontier in Southern and Southwestern Germany was erected in different stages of expansion between 100 and 160 AD. The continuous border stretched along 550 kilometres between the Rhine and the Danube and was equipped with 100 small and large fortresses, as well as more than 900 watch towers along the way. While in the Upper Germanic Province the Limes consisted of palisade fences, embankments and ditches, it was made out of stone walls in the Raetian province. It was here that the highly-developed ancient Roman culture met with that of "barbarian" Germania. Together with the Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall in the UK, the Limes forms the transnational World Heritage site "Frontiers of the Roman Empire". When inscribing the Upper Germanic-Raetian limes on the World Heritage List in 2005, the UNESCO determined that the following “criteria for outstanding universal value" had been met:
- it exhibits an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;
- it bears a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;
- it is an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history.
Old Town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof
Since 1945, the Old Town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof has been the only German medieval city, which has been preserved in its entirety and has been functioning continuously until today. The Old Town of Regensburg bears exceptional testimony to cultural traditions during the era of the Holy Roman Empire and is an outstanding example of a pan-European medieval commercial town. To date, Regensburg's stages of development can be traced back by looking at its cityscape. When inscribing the Old Town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof on the World Heritage List in 2006, the UNESCO determined that the following "criteria for outstanding universal value" had been met:
- it exhibits an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;
- it bears a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;
- it is an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history.
Prehistoric Pile Dwellings Around the Alps
The UNESCO has recognised 111 find spots of pile dwellings in six Alpine countries as transnational World Cultural Heritage, collectively calling them "Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps". Among these dwellings, there are three find spots in Bavaria, namely Pestenacker and Unfriedshausen (Administrative District of Landsberg am Lech) and near the Roseninsel (Isle of Roses) located in the Administrative District of Starnberg. Together with the pile dwelling finds in the German state of Baden-Württemberg as well as in France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Slovenia, they represent an archaeological heritage dating back to 5,000 BC. Among the most significant finds discovered in pile dwelling remains are the most ancient textiles as well as the most ancient European finds of wheels, dating back as far as 3,000 BC. Logboats, wheels and carriages shed light on trade and mobility, as they were common in human settlements during the Neolithic and Iron Ages. In this way, the late Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age pile dwelling finds around the Alps provide a unique insight into the world of early farmers, their daily lives, agriculture, cattle breeding and technical innovations. When inscribing the pile dwelling finds on the World Heritage List in 2011, the UNESCO determined that the following "criteria for outstanding universal value" had been met:
- they are an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;
- they are an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment, especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change.
Margravial Opera House Bayreuth
The Opera House Bayreuth is the most significant and best preserved example of Baroque theatre culture. It represents 18th century courtly opera architecture and is considered to be one of the most important architectural evidence of Absolutist society. The Opera House Bayreuth was built from 1746 to 1750 on the order of the margravial couple Frederick and Wilhelmine of Brandenburg-Kulmbach. It was constructed by Giuseppe Galli Bibiena, who was considered to be one of Europe's leading theatre architects at the time. In terms of its size and splendour, the Opera House Bayreuth could only be compared to opera houses in Vienna, Dresden, Paris, or Venice. It consists of entirely wooden loges and painted canvas. Because of its stucco, carved and painted decorations, the opera house is unique around the world. It is the only theatre that provides an opportunity to authentically experience the "Opera seria" genre as a characteristic form of representation in the political system of absolutism. Even the theatre's acoustics has not changed since the 18th century and may still be enjoyed in the very same way. When inscribing the margravial Opera House Bayreuth on the World Heritage List in 2012, the UNESCO determined that the following "criteria for outstanding universal values" had been met:
- it represents a masterpiece of human creative genius;
- it is an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history.