Archäologie und Baudenkmalpflege in Nordrhein-Westfalen 2014 – ein Jahr nach dem Ringen gegen Mittelkürzungen und für eine bessere gesetzliche Grundlage

Abstract

In 2013, archaeology and the preservation of buildings and monuments in the German federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW) found itself confronted with plans for drastic cuts in federal state funding. A petition directed against these plans and initiated by the German Society for Pre- and Protohistory (DGUF) met with broad public support and was able to noticeably reduce the planned cuts. Comparisons nevertheless show that NRW has been withdrawing from the funding of archaeology and the preservation of buildings and monuments for a long time and to a significant extent, and that the current funding is not sufficient. Other European regions employ three times as many archaeologists as NRW in the field of archaeology. In respect of the preservation of buildings and monuments, the new funding from the federal state of NRW implicitly focuses on monuments in economically attractive areas, while historic buildings and monuments in the countryside and church buildings will increasingly be lost in the future.
2013 also saw the amendment of the Heritage Protection Act (DSchG) in NRW, which particularly introduced a treasure trove regulation and the principle of developer funding. But the boost this gave to archaeology in the federal state is having only limited effect, because the implementation regulations for the DSchG issued in the middle of 2014 do not exhaust its potential. They even significantly limit the newly introduced treasure trove regulation and make it technically unworkable. Given the federal state government’s wish to save money, it is particularly surprising that considerable restriction was unnecessarily placed on the costs to be borne by the party necessitating the emergency dig, an action which also contravenes European regulations. In addition, unclear rules burden the collaboration with committed volunteers, and this will play a part in reducing the general public’s acceptance of archaeology and the preservation of buildings and monuments.