The UNESCO, who has threatened for years to drop off the city of Dresden from its world heritage list, has made their threat reality after a hearing yesterday, making Dresden the second site to lose its world heritage status since the list was created. This is the embarrassing end of a long fight between the city of Dresden, the state of Saxony and the UNESCO. As a result Dresden will not receive any money from the 150 million UNESCO program and will likely have fewer tourists in the future.
Reason for the removal was the construction of the Waldschlösschenbrücke, a four-lane bridge across he river Elbe a mile from the city’s historic center. The dispute about the construction is almost as old as the city’s UNESCO status itself. In 2005, a year after the UNESCO awarded the city with the title for the 12 mile river stretch, the city presented the plans for the construction. The planners never consulted the UNESCO commission and were immediately put on the “red list”. The debate about the bridge - that has been called “architecturally banal” - involved several reworked plans, demonstrations, legal actions, citizens’ initiatives on both sides, and a public referendum. The majority of the people of Dresden eventually pushed the controversial construction through the public debate and outrage and though all UNESCO warnings and proved how stubborn they are when it comes to an outside interference.
Now Germany faces the embarrassment of being only the second country besides Oman to lose the UNESCO world heritage title for one of its site.
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