Quedlinburg: Auswirkungen des Status als UNESCO-Weltkulturerbe auf die Stadtentwicklung

Abstract

Quedlinburg was put on UNESCO's list of World Cultural Heritage in 1994. When prep aring for being put on the list, however especially since it was put on the list, the objectives of urban developmental preservation of historical monuments and how they are implemented have gained an influence on the development of the historical Old City. In the present paper, we wish to pursue the question of which processes of urban development the title of World Cultural Heritage has specifically made itself noticeable in and whether this special status may be assessed as being positive or negative for the vitality of the city. The initial situation of the Old City of Quedlinburg was very precarious after the political changes. The large-area ensemble of half- timbered houses threatened to fall into disrepair after a deficit of upkeep lasting decades. As with other Old Cities in the new Federal states, they practised a new cautious approach to dealing with the substance of the buildings. However, this was increasingly restricted as a result of the scarcity of city's funds. Of course, this city is financially supported by the state of Saxony-Anhalt, the Federal Ministry and other institutions such as the German Foundation for the Preservation of Historical Monuments to carry out the most urgent measures for preservation. However, the reconstruction tasks exceed the available budget. Even the title of World Cultural Heritage does not directly help the city any further because no funds are linked with it. Furthermore, the fact that it has been named World Cultural Heritage strengthens them in the path they have selected of according greater weight to strict regulations of the preservation of historical monuments in urban development than quick investments. This means that the negotiating positions of the players involved in the process of urban development become polarised. Persons representing the preservation of historical monuments and urban planners reject investment projects as being "not compatible with the city" in order to maintain the regulations of the preservation of historical monuments and also to retain the title of World Cultural Heritage. The process of reconstruction and urban development is slowed down as a result of this, which is fatal for saving buildings threatening to collapse and is an obstruction to the general revitalisation of the city centre. Our article uses example cases to show which problem areas in the city centre there are in the question of the quality of living, closing gaps in buildings and urban tourism. We have selected these three points to be representative for the three most important aspects of the development of an Old City: the quality of living as a question primarily of social spaces, how to deal with closing gaps in buildings as a design-aesthetic problem, and urban tourism as an economic factor for the city centre that is under the preservation of historical monuments. We can state that the title of World Cultural Heritage in Quedlinburg leads to the objectives of the preservation of historical monuments being more strictly maintained as is the case in other cities. The fame and attractiveness of Quedlinburg that is linked with this title are a help to the city. On the other hand, they require that the masses of tourists be managed not to diminish the successes achieved in reconstruction by overtaxing it and still to maintain the city centre of Quedlinburg as a residential area.