Worldheritage Forum

The Cologne Cathedral on the red list of World Heritage in Danger

Posted on 21. May 2005 um 14:16 Uhr

At the Conference World Heritage and Contemporary Architecture - Managing the historic Urban Landscape in Vienna the topic of the Cologne Cathedral on the red list of World Heritage in Danger was in the center of the debate.

Here is a short, neutral summary of the discussion:

...
But the danger that threatens Cologne's most eye-catching symbol has less to do with natural temporal fading than with a changing of the times. City plans to build an over 100 meter-high apartment complex in a modern style within close proximity to the cathedral, which has long dominated Cologne's cityscape, is being called an attack on the building's "excellent universal value" and its role as the city's most prominent silhouette.
...
reference:http:/ /www.germany-info.org

In an article from august 2004 on the homepage of the Deutsche Welle you can learn about the arguments.

CWN (Catholic World News) did also feature this story

A report about the actual situation and a gereneral review of the Vienna UNESCO-conference from last week can be found at the homepage of art daily.

Only in german an article about the current situation was published by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Here is a translation:

After the city has already finished the 103 meters high LVR-tower the city administration continues to complete a further office building, the so-called Jahn Tower 120 meters high, further south. Only for two further multistoried buildings, which are projected north the course, the city stated its willingness to reconsider the project and announce a new competition which also permits lower solutions.
Unesco and its influential delegates, among them the director of the World Heritance Center, Francesco Bandarin, stressed that this is not enough: They complain about the existing tower but could accept it if no additional one will be built.
Their position is similar with a field of view analysis, which was carried out by the North-Rhine/Westphalia Town Construction Ministry together with the Institut for City- and Regional Planning of the RWTH Aachen.
reference:http://www.faz.net

A german newspaper, the Kölner Stadt-Anzeigers published some photos and a model of the planned buildings.

An important date will be the 29th session of the UNESCO-World Heritage Committee from 10th to 17th of July 2005 in Durban, South Africa.

Panoramic view of Cologne from the Deutzer Brücke with the high-rise building at the right (reference:Wikipedia,GNU)

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