Protection of cultural property
By holding up a mirror to our history and our identity, cultural objects form a crucial part of our self-understanding as a nation of culture, and we are all jointly responsible for protecting these objects.
Source: iStock
The phrase “protection of cultural property” refers to all of the measures aimed at protecting movable cultural property, whereas “monument conservation” refers to the protection of immovable cultural property. From a legal perspective, cultural property is protected through various agreements and legislative provisions at international, EU and national level, the aim of which is to secure and preserve vital testimonies to humanity’s past and to ensure that they remain available to future generations and publicly accessible. In Germany, this important task is the joint responsibility of the Federal Government and the Länder. Their efforts are targeted not only at cultural property that is of national importance for the Federal Republic of Germany, but also at cultural heritage that is significant for humanity as a whole. The various sections of this website explain why we need to protect cultural property and provide an overview of the relevant legal bases, in particular the provisions of the German Act on the Protection of Cultural Property (Kulturgutschutzgesetz, KGSG).
This website on the protection of cultural property has been operated by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media since the entry into force of the Act on the Protection of Cultural Property on 6 August 2016, in accordance with Section 4 of this Act regarding public information and transparency.