World Heritage in Austria

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World Heritage Sites in Austria (P = pile dwellings )

The World Heritage in Austria (as of 2019) includes ten UNESCO World Heritage sites , including nine World Cultural Heritage sites and one World Natural Heritage site. With the award - as with the other UNESCO cultural and natural heritage programs - the home state undertakes to ensure the "preservation and availability" of the respective site in the service of the global community.

Austria ratified the World Heritage Convention in 1992, and the first two World Heritage sites were added to the World Heritage List in 1996. The last World Heritage site to date was registered in 2017, and one site is on the Red List of World Heritage in Danger .

World heritage sites

The following table lists the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Austria in chronological order according to the year of their inclusion in the World Heritage List (K - cultural heritage, N - natural heritage, K / N - mixed, (R) - on the red list of endangered world heritage ).

f1Georeferencing Map with all coordinates of World Heritage Sites: OSM

image designation year Type Ref. description
Historic center of the city of Salzburg
( location ) 		1996 K 784 Salzburg is the residential city of the Prince Archbishopric of Salzburg , home of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and has a world-wide cultural life ( Salzburg Festival ) to this day . Closed ensemble from the Middle Ages to modern times, with the Hohensalzburg Fortress , and the magnificent buildings and numerous squares of the Italian Baroque as leading buildings.
Schönbrunn Palace and Park
( location ) 		1996 K 786 Summer residence of the Habsburgs since the 18th century. One of the most important late baroque complexes in Europe from a cultural, historical and artistic point of view, with the world's first zoo  (1752), a prime example of a total work of art in representative architecture. The palace complex with park in its current form was expanded under Maria Theresa from 1743 and was the summer residence of the Roman-German and later Austrian emperors until the middle of the 19th century. The palace complex is the largest in Austria. The associated park covers 160 hectares.
Hallstatt – Dachstein / Salzkammergut cultural landscape
View from the south of Hallstatt
(further pictures)
Cultural landscape Hallstatt – Dachstein / Salzkammergut
( location ) 		1997 K 806 Historical cultural landscape in the Salzkammergut since prehistory. The Hallstatt Salt Mountain is the main place of discovery for the Hallstatt culture . The Salzkammergut was a state domain as a core economic resource of the Habsburg monarchy until the 19th century . The core of the region, the Inner Salzkammergut , is characterized by picturesque mountain ranges and alpine lakes. The town of Hallstatt has a unique architecture due to the lack of space at Lake Hallstatt . The Dachstein massif , a mountain pasture region that has been cultivated since ancient times , is also one of the pioneering regions of modern alpinism .
Semmering Railway
Rumplergrabenviadukt
(further pictures)
Semmeringbahn
( location ) 		1998 K 785 High alpine, 41 km long railway line from Vienna to the Adriatic Sea , built in 1848–1854 as a pioneering technical achievement. From 1841 onwards, the summer resort of Semmering was the highest point in the world that could be reached by rail. The route with its numerous viaducts , tunnels and ancillary structures has largely been preserved to this day and is in full operation.
City of Graz - historical center and Eggenberg Palace
( location ) 		1999 K 931 Graz , the old residential city of the Dukes of Inner Austria , has a cityscape that has represented the most important architectural styles since the Middle Ages. The Graz Schloßberg and the closed roof landscape are particularly important .

In 2010 the Schloss Eggenberg ( Lage ), a princely residence at the gates of the old city, was expanded.

Wachau cultural landscape
( location ) 		2000 K 970 The Danube valley between Melk and Krems has been cultivated since the Paleolithic ( Venus von Willendorf ) and has a particularly picturesque, diverse landscape structure, characterized by viticulture, with important cultural monuments, in particular medieval ruins and the monasteries of Melk and Göttweig . The preservation of the characteristic landscape and way of life is a central concern of the 13 Wachau communities.
Fertő / Neusiedler See cultural landscape
( location ) 		2001 K 772 The cultural heritage includes Central Europe's largest steppe lake, with numerous neighboring lakes. The region has been the intersection of different cultures since prehistory and is characterized by its variety of significant natural areas, agricultural areas with viticulture, old settlements, including the small town of Rust with its closed cityscape, and country palaces from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Historic center of Vienna
( location ) 		2001 K
(R) 		1033 The old royal seat of the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy , today the capital of Austria, is a center of European intellectual and cultural life. The inner city is one of the most closed city monuments in Europe, rich in sacred, political and cultural buildings. It is shaped by the historicist Ringstrasse style of the 19th century.

Because of a high-rise project on the Heumarkt , the site was entered on the Red List in 2017.

Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps
Pile building station near See am Mondsee
(further pictures)
Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps 2011 K 1363 Numerous pile-dwelling settlements on lakes, rivers and wetlands in the Alpine region between 5000 and 500 BC form an important aspect of cultural formation and cultivation in Europe in the Neolithic and the Bronze Age .

Cross-border world heritage with a total of 111 pile construction sites, 5 of them in Austria, the leading buildings of the Mondsee culture on Mondsee and Attersee in the Salzkammergut as well as on the Keutschacher See in Carinthia

Old beech forests and primeval beech forests of the Carpathian Mountains and other regions of Europe
Kalkalpen National Park
(further pictures)
Old beech forests and primeval beech forests of the Carpathian Mountains and other regions of Europe 2017 N 1133 Remnants of the post-glacial primary forests in Europe with the common beech as the dominant plant.

In Austria: Wilderness area Dürrenstein , Austria's only Ia protected area (strictest reserve), and core areas in the Kalkalpen National Park

Tentative list

The sites that are intended for nomination for inclusion in the World Heritage List are entered in the tentative list .

Current World Heritage candidates

As of 2018, twelve sites are entered in the tentative list of Austria, the last entry was made in 2016. The following table lists the sites in chronological order according to the year they were included in the tentative list.

f1Georeferencing Map with all coordinates of current World Heritage candidates: OSM

image designation year Type Ref. description
Bregenzerwald
( location ) 		1994 K 27 Traditional alpine farming country with a settlement structure that has been preserved to this day and an independent way of life, with the Bregenzerwald house as a characteristic design.
Kremsmünster Abbey
( location ) 		1994 K 28 Characteristic example of Benedictine spirituality. Founded in the 8th century, complex from the 17th and 18th centuries in the spirit of the Enlightened Baroque , with an important art collection.
Heiligenkreuz Abbey
( location ) 		1994 K 30th The Cistercian monastery is one of the few monasteries in Europe that has had a tradition that has been closed since the 12th century and is considered a prime example of maintaining tradition. The burial place of the early margraves and dukes of Austria , the Babenbergs , today theological college . The complex combines Romanesque , Gothic and Baroque .
Hochosterwitz Castle
( location ) 		1994 K 31 Most magnificent medieval castle in Austria. In the possession of a family since 1571, and also evidence of the Reformation in Austria .
Gurk Cathedral
( Lage ) 		1994 K 32 Most important preserved Romanesque church complex in Austria. Founded in the 11th century, converted into a fortification during the Turkish wars . Rich Romanesque and Baroque jewelry.
Cultural landscape Innsbruck – Nordkette / Karwendel
Innsbruck's old town with a view of the Nordkette
Cultural landscape Innsbruck – Nordkette / Karwendel 2002 K / N 19th Innsbruck , a ducal city of the Renaissance , is one of the few large Alpine cities . A special feature is the close connection between urban culture and high alpine regions, which includes the Inntal range of the Karwendel Mountains (known as the "Nordkette" because of its location north of Innsbruck). The Karwendel Alpine Park is one of the most important large protected areas in the Alps.
The Eisenstraße with the Erzberg and the old town of Steyr
Old town of Steyr
The Eisenstraße with the Erzberg and the old town of Steyr 2002 K / N 20th The iron mining and small iron industry in the area, which had existed since the early modern period , was the "armory of the Habsburgs". It stretches from the industrial city of Leoben via the Erzberg and Hieflau to the historic industrial and trading city of Steyr , the first “capital” of Styria in the Middle Ages, with its medieval to baroque core and bridge city. Eisenstrasse is one of the most important industrial landscapes in Europe, shaped by its inner-Alpine location.
Hohe Tauern National Park 2003 N 1645 One of the most important protected areas of the Alpine Hochgebirgsraunmes , with peasant culture and Almenland to high alpine primeval landscape. An important panoramic road, the Grossglockner High Alpine Road (tentative list No.  6074 ), runs through the core zone .
Hall in Tirol - The Mint
Hasegg Castle
Hall in Tirol - The Mint 2013 K 5801 Hall in Tirol has had a mint since 1477, where the first silver coin was minted in 1486, the guldiner Sigismund the rich in coins . In 1567, the mint was relocated to Hasegg Castle , where the first machine coinage was made using roller coining. Coin minting was discontinued in 1809. In 1975 the Hall Mint was reopened as the “Alte Münze” museum.
Important health resorts in Europe
Baden near Vienna
(further pictures)
Important health resorts in Europe 2014 K 5930 Representative of the upper-class bathing and spa culture of the 19th century as the root of tourism as a global phenomenon as well as modern health care and vacation as a concept.

The transnational proposal together with Belgium (Ref. 5932 ), Germany (Ref. 5934 ), France (Ref. 5931 ), Italy (Ref. 5928 ), Czech Republic (Ref. 5929 ) and the United Kingdom (Ref. 5935 ) contains from Austria Baden near Vienna , the fashionable suburb of the capital of the Empire.

Borders of the Roman Empire (Austria)
Heidentor in Carnuntum
(further pictures)
Borders of the Roman Empire (Austria) 2015 K 6004 On February 1, 2018, a joint application by Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary was submitted to extend the world heritage borders of the Roman Empire to include the Danube Limes .
Grossglockner High Alpine Road
( location ) 		2016 K 6074 Outstanding example of a high mountain road already built with tourism in mind, completed in 1935. The central element is the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe with a view of the Großglockner , Austria's highest mountain. The combination of the gentle landscape as well as the intensive use of 1 million visitors annually with the surrounding Hohe Tauern National Park (tentative list No. 1645) is unique worldwide. The construction of the road is also considered a milestone in the young Austrian republic .

Former World Heritage candidates

These sites were previously on the tentative list, but were withdrawn or rejected by UNESCO. Sites that are included in other entries on the tentative list or that are part of world heritage sites are not taken into account here.

f1Georeferencing Map with all coordinates of former World Heritage candidates: OSM

image designation year Type Ref. description
Old town of Hall in Tirol
( location ) 		1994-2013 K 21st Hall in Tirol was elevated to a town in 1303 and owed its economic importance primarily to salt production . In 1477 the princely mint of Tyrol was relocated to Hall. The old town has been preserved as a small Gothic town.

Since 2013, only the Hall Mint has been on the tentative list (Ref. 5801 ).

Important health resorts in Europe
Kaiservilla Bad Ischl
(further pictures)
Important health resorts in Europe 2014-2016 K 5930 Since 2016 , the transnational proposal no longer includes Bad Ischl , the “imperial city” as a summer resort .

See also

literature

  • Christian Schuhböck, team of authors (ed.): Austria's World Heritage: cultural monuments and landscapes under the protection of UNESCO . Christian Brandstätter, Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-85498-178-3 .
  • Christian Schuhböck: The World Heritage . Ed. Hölzel, Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-85116-347-6 .

Web links

Commons : World Heritage Sites in Austria  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Austria. In: whc.unesco.org. UNESCO World Heritage Center, accessed July 22, 2017 .
  2. ^ Quote from the website of the Austrian Commission for UNESCO
  3. ^ Tentative list of Austria. In: whc.unesco.org. UNESCO World Heritage Center, accessed February 4, 2018 .
  4. ↑ State Secretary for Science Bernd Sibler on the submitted application for the extension of the world heritage site "Borders of the Roman Empire" to include the Danube Limes. Press release from the Bavarian Ministry of Culture . February 2, 2018, accessed February 12, 2018 .