Cultural heritage protection in Switzerland
Encyclopedia
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
in Switzerland from damage, destruction, theft and loss. This protection at the national level is for National Heritage Site
National Heritage Site
A National Heritage Site is a location/site that regards a building, monument, archeological, geographical,natural or topological feature having a large value that has been registered by a governmental agency of a particular country...
s that are designated as monumental importance
Historic monument (Switzerland)
In Switzerland, the designation as a historic monument is intended to protect a National Heritage Site such as a monument or a building notable for its history or architecture...
and is based on a set of laws that were adopted by reason of international agreements.
Background
The history of Swiss cultural property protection in its present form began after massive destruction of cultural property during World War II. The UNESCOUNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
is still considered the " parent organization" of cultural property protection, which it applies at an international level. UNESCO took this lead with the Hague Convention of 1954 for the protection of cultural property in armed conflicts (known in Switzerland as "HAK"). Switzerland joined the HAK in 1962 and as one of the first countries worldwide, it ratified the Second Protocol to the Hague Convention of 1954 (which complements the HAK since 1999) in 2004.
Cultural Heritage
The protection of cultural property as defined in the Article 1 of the HAK, 14 May 1954, is a composite task that can only be accomplished through cooperation of various partners. In Switzerland this cooperation is regulated as follows:At the federal level, the Federal Department of Cultural Heritage Protection is attached to the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports
Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports
The Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport is one of the seven departments of the Swiss federal government, headed by a member of the Swiss Federal Council.-Organisation:...
DDPS, and the Federal Office for Civil Protection (BABS). In addition the Swiss Committee for Protection of Cultural Property is an extra-parliamentary Commission of the Federal Department of Protection of Cultural Property in an advisory capacity. The committee members represent five departments of the federal (Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs is a department of the federal administration of Switzerland. It is charged with maintaining the foreign relations of Switzerland and serves as Switzerland's ministry of foreign affairs...
DFA, Federal Department of Finance
Federal Department of Finance
The Federal Department of Finance ; ; ) is one of the seven departments of the Swiss federal government. The department is headquartered in Bern and is headed by a member of the Swiss Federal Council, Switzerland's finance minister...
, EDF, Federal Department of the Interior EDI, Justice and Police FDJP, Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports DDPS), the cantonal authorities (Heritage and Archaeology) and the cultural institutions (archives, museums and libraries). They are appointed by the Bundesrat
Swiss Federal Council
The Federal Council is the seven-member executive council which constitutes the federal government of Switzerland and serves as the Swiss collective head of state....
.
In the Cantons of Switzerland
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
, points of contact are responsible for cultural heritage protection. These are usually the cantonal culture department which is mostly for historic preservation. The conservation agencies bring the know-how in dealing with the objects in cooperation with the civil defense personnel, whose resources are used at the local and regional level.
In addition to these, with the protection of cultural property authorities responsible for it are numerous other institutions and partners, which contribute to the preservation of cultural heritage: the cultural institutions (archives, museums, libraries) themselves, the partner organizations in population protection (fire, police, etc.) or private organizations such as the Swiss Society for Protection of Cultural Property.
Threats to cultural property can be divided into three categories: constant threats, events in peacetime as well as events in the event of armed conflict. Permanent hazards include, among other things, theft , vandalism , pollution , parasites or fungi, decay of old age, ignorance or indifference. An example of this category is the danger of fire to the Kapellbrücke
Kapellbrücke
The Chapel Bridge is a covered wooden footbridge spanning diagonally across the Reuss River in the city of Lucerne in central Switzerland. Named after the nearby St. Peter's Chapel, the bridge is unique since it contains a number of interior paintings dating back to the 17th century, although many...
in Lucerne since the fire in August 1993. It is believed that the fire was caused by a discarded cigarette. You can meet these threats primarily with conservation measures and by raising public awareness for the correct handling of cultural heritage. As an example of natural hazards, the flood events of summer 2005 affected the collection of objects in the Swiss Transport Museum
Swiss Transport Museum
The Swiss Transport Museum or Verkehrshaus der Schweiz, in Lucerne, is a museum, opened in July 1959 and exhibiting all forms of transport as well as communications...
in Lucerne or the Benedictine monastery "Kloster St. Andreas in Sarnen
Sarnen
Sarnen is the capital of the canton of Obwalden situated on the shores of Lake Sarnen , Switzerland. It has a population of just under 10,000 and is surrounded by countryside and mountains. Sarnen is located 20 km south of Lucerne.- History :...
. Since Switzerland has largely been spared from armed conflict, the protection of cultural property currently focuses mainly on technical measures against hazards and natural disasters.
Lists of Cultural heritage
The current "Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional SignificanceSwiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance
The Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance is a register of some 8,300 items of cultural property in Switzerland...
" was approved in 2009. The objects included were individual buildings, and archaeological collections (collections from museums, archives and libraries), which were reviewed and evaluated according to uniform criteria. The inventory can be viewed both as a printed publication as well as geographic information system (GIS) on the Internet. In addition, various inventories exist under Article 5 of the Federal Law on the Natural and Cultural Heritage (NHG), which should be listed here as cross-references to the Protection of Cultural Property: The Inventory of Heritage Sites in Switzerland (ISOS), the inventory of historic routes in Switzerland (IVS ) and the Federal Inventory of Landscapes and Natural Monuments of National Importance (BLN).
Legislation
- Federal Office for Civil Protection: KGS Forum (journal, No. 1-14). Bern 2001ff.
- Federal Office for Civil Protection: Guidelines (No. 1-3). Bern 2003ff.
- Federal Office for Civil Protection: Protection of cultural heritage concerns us all. (International Cultural *Property Protection Conference Switzerland, 23 to 25 September 2002). Bern 2003.
- Federal Office for Civil Protection: Store, Backup, Respect. The Protection of Cultural Property in Switzerland. *(Publication on the 50th anniversary of "The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict"). Bern 2004.
- Federal Office for Civil Protection: Expert Report: Earthquakes and cultural property (Swiss Working Group on *Earthquakes and cultural property de Committee for Protection of Cultural Property). Bern 2004.
- Federal Office for Civil Protection: Protection of Cultural Property in the event of flooding. Recommendations on the federal level, and Canton. Bern 2010th
- Kerstin Odendahl: Protection of Cultural Property. Development, structure and theology of a just comprehensive system of standards , Tübingen 2005th