German World Heritage Foundation

The German World Heritage Foundation supports World Heritage sites worldwide – on submission or on recognition. It was founded in 2001 by the two Hanseatic cities of Wismar and Stralsund, which were then themselves engaged in the UNESCO submission process. Selected projects are therefore supported annually to promote cultural and natural heritage worldwide and to help create a balanced World Heritage List. In particular, states which lack the financial preconditions and know-how for making a submission should thus gain the opportunity to preserve their heritage permanently for humanity.

In the spring of 2016 the provincial capital Schwerin joined the German World Heritage Foundation with a donation of 50,000 Euros, thus not only supporting endangered sites worldwide but also the underlying concept of the German World Heritage Foundation – namely that responsibility towards one’s own cultural and natural heritage goes hand in hand with preserving the heritage of mankind as a whole.