Cultural heritage – what then?

In 2013, Germany joined the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. In the last ten years, nationwide structures for concrete implementation, such as the “Federal Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage,” have been created for this purpose.

But what does the inclusion of a form of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) on the federal list mean for the funding agency communities, but also for the cultural heritage itself? What significance does the ICH take on for a region after the appointment? And: To what extent does ICH have the potential to contribute to the vitality and sustainable development of rural-peripheral areas?

The joint research project “Intangible Cultural Heritage in Rural Areas” (IKEL) deals with these and other questions. It is funded from 2023 to 2026 by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity (BMLEH) as part of the “Faktor K” funding line.

The project consists of two sub-projects, which are headed by the subject Cultural Anthropology/European Ethnology at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz (Mirko Uhlig) and the chair for Comparative Cultural Studies at the Universität Regensburg (Manuel Trummer).

The aim of the joint project is to comparatively research the potential of Intangible Cultural Heritage for the development of peripheral rural regions. The two sub-projects focus on the cultural participation of local communities in the further development and mediation of ICH.

A nationwide comparison contrasts the organizational and mediation structures of ICH, which are still inconsistently established at the state level, and examines knowledge stocks and forms of participation. Regional structures are to be analyzed on the basis of ethnographic research. Based on engaged anthropology, the findings are fed back into the local funding agency groups in the form of interpretation offers and recommendations for action. The aim is to use the “cultural factor” to explore the potential for sustainable vitality and resilience in peripheral rural communities.

The subject of the research are six “cultural forms” that have already been recognized by UNESCO and included in the “Federal Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage”.

The Mainz sub-project examines the functions and meanings of intangible cultural heritage for the rural areas of Northern and Western Germany using the following exemplary selected ICH cultural forms:

Meadow irrigation in the Queich meadows (Rhineland-Palatinate)
Rhenish Carnival (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Malchow folk festival (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania)

The Regensburg sub-project examines the functions and meanings of intangible cultural heritage for the rural areas of Southern and Eastern Germany using the following exemplary selected ICH cultural forms:

Upper Palatinate Zoigl culture (Bavaria)
Lauscha Christmas tree decorations (Thuringia)
Hessian textured plaster (Hesse)

The project is integrated into a broad network of external partner institutions that provide support for ongoing research in the exemplary project regions. External partners in the joint project include the regional open-air museums Oberpfalz (Bavaria), Kloster Veßra (Thuringia), Hessenpark (Hesse), Bad Sobernheim (Rhineland-Palatinate), Kommern (North Rhine-Westphalia) and the Museum für Alltagskultur Hagenow (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). Furthermore, the advising and research center Intangible Cultural Heritage at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, the LVR Institute for Regional Studies and Regional History and the Ministry of the Interior and Sport of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate participate in an advisory capacity and support the project.

Further information about the project can be found here.