UNESCO World Heritage application on track

The Francke Foundations have achieved a significant success in the process of being included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. In an interim report, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) confirms that the foundations have the potential to demonstrate the required »Outstanding Universal Value« (OUV) – a key prerequisite for recognition as a World Heritage Site.

This marks the successful completion of the preliminary assessment, which took several years. The Francke Foundations are the first site in Germany to have successfully completed this new procedure.

Foundation Director Dr Marianne Schröter says: »The interim decision by ICOMOS is a great success for the Francke Foundations. It confirms the international recognition of the outstanding significance of the Francke Foundations in the history of social and educational architecture. Francke's approach of providing the best possible education for all continues to this day. We now have the opportunity to plan the next steps in the application process.« 

Special thanks go to the Federal Foreign Office and the State of Saxony-Anhalt, which have actively supported the application from the outset.

Minister of State and Minister of Culture Rainer Robra welcomes the results of the ICOMOS interim report on the »Preliminary Assessment«: »The UNESCO sites in Saxony-Anhalt are outstanding cultural testimonies – and they stand for ideas that have changed the world. The Francke Foundations are also such a place of epoch-making ideas. I am delighted that this traditional institution has been able to take important steps towards recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recent years. The state is supporting the Francke Foundations in these efforts to the best of its ability.«