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InheritingCulture. UNESCO convention and cultural diversity

Intangible cultural heritage, meaning customs and festivals, arts and crafts techniques, knowledge and skills passed on from one generation to the next by communities and groups. This cultural heritage is constantly recreated by communities and groups in interaction to their environment and society, and provides them with a sense of belonging and continuity. This makes it clear: intangible cultural heritage is also about the future. Every generation is called upon to be aware of its cultural heritage, to develop it creatively and to pass it on to future generations.

In 2003, UNESCO adopted the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Complementing the UNESCO Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972 (“World Heritage Convention”), which deals with outstanding monuments, artistic achievements and landscapes, intangible cultural heritage focuses on people and their actions, the transmission of knowledge and skills. Tangible and intangible cultural heritage often go hand in hand: a cathedral is inconceivable without the craftsmanship of cathedral workshops; a cultural landscape can only be preserved if it is used and maintained; customs, plays and performing arts need their equipment, props and instruments.

The Convention and its implementation in the member states convey universal values. The designation as intangible cultural heritage is intended to make cultural diversity visible, promote appreciation by others and contribute to the preservation of a cultural form. Important UNESCO values are also sustainability and that universal human rights are respected and not violated.

In 2013, Germany acceded to the 2003 Convention and thus committing itself to documenting and researching intangible cultural heritage, contributing to its preservation and promoting awareness of the value of cultural expressions. Within this framework, the Bavarian Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage highlights the exceptional cultural diversity in Bavaria and contributes to the appreciation of living cultural heritage.

In Germany, the tradition bearers and practioners can apply in the federal state where they live in a standardised nationwide procedure every two years. The State Ministry of Finance and Home Affairs is responsible for the application in Bavaria: www.ike.bayern.de

The Convention defines several areas of intangible cultural heritage: Traditional craftsmanship – Social practices, rituals and festive events – Performing arts – Oral traditions and expressions – Knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe – Forms of social self-organisation. Often, individual cultural practices can also be assigned to several areas: for example, music and plays are often key elements of customs, or in crafts, technical languages express specific knowledge.

These categories are presented below as examples.

Traditional craftsmanship: painting, setting and gilding

Traditional craftsmanship is characterised by a strong relationship between the creators and the work piece. It usually takes a longer process of instruction, repeated practice and variation until knowledge about the materials, tools and steps is internalised as “tacit knowledge”. In this context, traditional craftsmanship is revealed to be very innovative, both in history and in the present, when traditional knowledge and skills are combined with ever new challenges and possibilities.

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Today, gilding, setting and painting are often applied to historic buildings and objects – highlighting the link between tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The special knowledge and skills of church painters, for example on colour theory or gilding, make it possible to restore buildings and objects. For this purpose, historical techniques are also reconstructed and applied.

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Customs, rituals, festive events: Georgiritt (St. George’s cavalcade) and historical sword dance in Traunstein

The area of customs, rituals and festive events is often perceived as "typical" intangible cultural heritage. Community action on recurring occasions is characterised by individual elements that are constantly adapted to new conditions. Even if some of them seem "old" and "historical", they are always social activities in the present. With its regularity, this offers orientation and structure for everyday life.

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The different temporal "layers" of practices become visible, for example, in the Georgiritt. A historical sword dance was added to the long traditional mounted pilgrimage in the spirit of historicism. A specific perception of the past is portrayed in this. Just as mounted pilgrimages are also cultivated in many other places, the sword dance is also to be seen in the context of the European tradition of the chain sword dance.

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Performing arts, dance, music, theatre: the Landshuter Hochzeit (Landshut Wedding)

Performing arts are ephemeral and transient performances for an audience. This intangible cultural heritage only becomes perceptible for a short time at the moment of the theatrical or musical performance. Dances, music or theatre performances often follow clear rules and choreographies that facilitate the transmission of knowledge and skills. At the same time, texts, staging or playing styles are not fixed, but are questioned again and again.

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In the historical play and numerous accompanying festival elements of the Landshuter Hochzeit, many people come together and act together on the stage and other venues in the city – for themselves and their visitors. Staging and props, catering and financing have to be prepared in advance and have to be well organised. The intangible cultural heritage here lies in the multifaceted interaction of the culture heirs and the knowledge and skills they pass on for themselves and others.

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Traditions handed down orally: the Feldgeschworene (jurors ensuring boundary marks)

Language is a key medium for imparting traditional knowledge. Oral traditions also include specialist and secret languages, language art or regional linguistic peculiarities. Earlier realities of life and experiences shine through in these.

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"Feldgeschworene" have monitored compliance with boundary signs since the late Middle Ages. Today, in the age of surveying offices and GPS, they are mostly volunteers and mediate between the authorities and the local population. The "Siebenerzeichen" (sevens’ signs) buried in the area of the boundary stones are laid out as markers according to a secret pattern. The knowledge about the signs is called the "Siebenergeheimnis" (secret of the sevens) and is passed on orally.

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Knowledge and practices concerning nature: high alpine farming in Allgäu

You cannot control nature without being shaped by it. If man has shaped the landscape in many places, then this has always required knowledge of nature – and often enough the necessary humility. Today, traditional knowledge about sustainable forms of farming is in danger of being lost because people’s relationship with nature has changed so much.

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For the alpine farmers in the Hindelanger Valley, a specific knowledge of the nature surrounding them develops in each generation through the interaction between people, animals and the landscape. Food production is at the centre of the high alpine type of economy. However, the maintenance of the natural landscape is also a significant part of alpine farming. It ensures the preservation of soil fertility and protects against flood or avalanche hazards by reducing soil erosion.

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Social self-organisation: the Osingverlosung (Osing Raffle)

The shared use of natural resources, the creation of housing and means of production for the common good, or the collective acceptance of risks are important factors for social cohesion. This intangible cultural heritage includes diverse forms of common land, cooperatives, insurance or pension funds as well as dispute resolution cultures.

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One form of common land that has been handed down since the late Middle Ages is the communal cultivation of the Osing plateau in Middle Franconia. The soils in different qualities are raffled every ten years in small sections to the entitled farmsteads in the villages of Herbolzheim, Humprechtsau, Krautostheim and Rüdisbronn. The raffle is a social event that renews the awareness of the common.

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To the exhibition unit: InheritingCulture – shaping collectively