Criteria to become UNESCO world heritage

The inclusion in the UNESCO list is decided by a committee. The recording must be of exceptional general value. The place or property must meet one or more specific criteria.

There are 10 different criteria to become an UNESCO heritage:

I.                    Be a masterpiece of the creative spirit of man (such as the Würzburg Residence, the Porta Nigra in Trier, the Aachen Palatine Chapel or the Wieskirche).

II.                  Have a great influence in a certain cultural circle. Architecture, town planning or landscape design (e.g. St. Michael in Hildesheim or Speyer Cathedral on the development of Romanesque architecture, the Bauhaus in Dessau as the cradle of the international style of 20th century architecture, the old town of Bamberg, the architecture of which had an impact as far as Hungary).

III.                Be an unique or outstanding testimony of a vanished civilization or cultural epoch (such as Stonehenge, the Roman buildings of Trier, but also the Baroque Wieskirche in Bavaria).

IV.                Be an outstanding characteristic example of architecture, ensemble type or landscape design in an epoch of human history (Würzburg Residence, palaces and gardens in Potsdam, Old Town of Luxembourg, Maulbronn Monastery, Bamberg Old Town). This criterion is most frequently used.

The Old Town of Lübeck has become a world heritage site 

CC-BY-SA 4.0 Andreas Murmann

V.                  Be an excellent example of an endangered settlement or land management of a culture (e.g. rice terraces in the Philippines).

VI.                Be directly linked to important events, traditional lifestyles, ideas or beliefs, or to artistic or literary works of exceptional universal significance. (Golden Bull as Basic Law of the Holy Roman Empire, blast furnace in Völklingen)

VII.              Show outstanding natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty (such as the Yellowstone National Park)

VIII.            Present extraordinary examples of the different periods of the earth's history (such as the Messel pit near Darmstadt)

IX.                Be exceptional examples of important biological processes and habitats (such as the Galapagos Islands or the Serengeti National Park with its migrating animals)

X.                  Contain the most important and typical habitats for the conservation of biodiversity (such as the wadden sea)

To be considered a property of outstanding universal value, the heritage must also meet the conditions of integrity and/or authenticity and have a protection and management plan sufficient to ensure its preservation. There is no financial support through the UNESCO. The countries are obliged to care for the heritage themselves.