Hartmannswillerkopf listed on UNESCO's World Heritage List
At an exceptional meeting on 23rd January, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee created a new category of memorial sites eligible for inscription. Three dossiers, presented respectively by Argentina, Rwanda, as well as Belgium and France conjointly, were examined, discussed and validated on Wednesday 20th September 2023, at the 45th enlarged session of UNESCO in Riyadh.
This is a real achievement for the funerary and memorial sites of the First World War, for which the "Paysages et sites de mémoire de la Grande Guerre" (Landscapes and Sites of Remembrance of the Great War) association is responsible, in conjunction with the State, local authorities and the Comité du Monument National du Hartmannswillerkopf.
Nine of the sites concerned are in the Haut-Rhin department. These include the Hartmannswillerkopf site, which includes the Monument National, the crypt and the French Nécropole nationale du Silberloch, as well as the German Uhlans military cemetery. The Linge and Tête-des-Faux sites have also been included on the World Heritage List, as have the Romanian military cemetery at Soultzmatt, the French "Germania" military cemetery and the French national necropolis at Moosch.
The Comité du Monument National du Hartmannswillerkopf and its president, Jean Klinkert, are delighted with this important decision, which will enable these sites and cemeteries to continue to be honoured and protected, while perpetuating the memory of those who fought there. While this marks a genuine recognition of the sites marked by this conflict, it is above all a reminder of the importance of peace and of the Franco-German friendship that we nurture on a daily basis.