The protection of cultural heritage: The example of archaeological heritage management and conservation in Berlin

Abstract

In Germany, the protection of cultural heritage, regarding the archaeological monuments, features and finds, are subject to the 16 federal states (“Bundesländer”). Their heritage conservation acts regulate how to deal with them. The “Landesdenkmalamt”, the expert state conservation authority of the state of Berlin, is responsible for the assessment of the monuments and finds in Berlin. For the in-situfeatures (as for the transportable finds) the law provides the instruments of listed archaeological sites, which are protected, and archaeological reservation sites, where excavations are subject to a special permission. Any excavated item becomes the property of the federal state of Berlin in the moment of its discovery and assessment. (This rule is called the “großes Schatzregal”, which literally means “grand treasure royalty”). The department of archaeology of the Landesdenkmalamt Berlin develops strategies for the management of finds, sites and listed sites at risk, and implements them, with respect to their acceptance in the general, professional and political public and the given financial and temporal framework.