This card was sent to me in July 2009 postmarked Dresden, just a few days after the final outcome from the great UNESCO World Heritage debate.
In 2004 Dresden and the Elbe Valley were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The area stretched for 18 km (about 11 miles). It features old villages, meadows, villas and gardens, and Dresden itself with its monuments and buildings dating from the 16th century.
In 2005 a referendum was held in Dresden about building a bridge across the Elbe to alleviate some of the traffic problems in the city. To cut a long and protracted story short, UNESCO warned that building the four lane bridge would mean that Dresden would be removed from the List. The bridge was eventually built, however, and last year Dresden was struck off, only the second place ever to have suffered what many consider to be this humiliation.
The question in my mind is how far should we go in protecting our heritage? I personally feel that we can over-protect until places become little more than museum exhibits, towns and villages going into suspended animation. I'm not even sure how much value being a World Heritage Site brings. It certainly brings the tourists - I've seen Canterbury swarming with people in the worst of weather. Is that a good thing? Should they be allowed evolve in the modern world, or be preserved for future generations?
D is for Dresden. A post for ABC Wednesday.
I told, briefly, the story of the rebuilding of the Frauenkirche in a post last April. It explains the mottlled effect of the stones.
You raise some interesting questions! A community has the right, of course, to make decisions in their own best interest, and it's unfortunate that an accommodation could not be made to allow for this. Dresden has historical significance that certainly can stand alone.
ReplyDeleteI so wish I could visit these places before anybody could tore this down. People should not forget we have to preserve our heritage that is where we can see through the future.
ReplyDeleteD is for Dad
I believe they need to be preserved, however the World Heritage List is long and unending. I think it actuality, people that appreciate history are aware of the list. Travelers not so much. I think the lists points out that a site is significant, and personally, I think it's a huge insult that Dresden would be removed. It's like stating that history never occurred there.
ReplyDeleteI added a link to this site on the Ancient Digger. I just love these postcards and I'm learning so much.
ReplyDeleteI was in Dresden several years ago and loved the place. Everything was very black though and needed a good clean (it was also still suffering quite heavily from severe flooding of the Elbe just a few months earlier). When I was there it wasn't that busy, but I can imagine when it is, it would really clog up those roads.
ReplyDeleteA town or a city is an evolving place. With ever increasing demands on roads, you need to deal with that. Which in some cases means building bridges or new roads through or near beautiful places.
Unesco is a great organisation, but even if Dresden did not 'make the cut' anymore, it is still a beautiful city worth visiting!
Thanks for this as usual wonderful entry of yours.
ReplyDeleteYour postcard and article are very interesting and remind me of the time I was driving down to the Gaeltacht (Irish speaking area) in West Donegal. I stopped my car and picked up a German hitch-hiker who was going there. I apologized to him about the poor quality of the mountain road (which is a shortcut)and said "hopefully some day they will improve it!" My German friend replied " I hope they leave it like this - that way fewer people will go down there - too many tourists will spoil this beautiful place"
ReplyDeleteI tend to lean more towards keeping the historic. There are some soulless American cities that have forgotten their heritage altogether, it seems.
ReplyDeleteI believe we should keep the historic - it's important to remember who we are and what we have achieved, and how we've achieved what we have. It's our link with the past, and once it's gone, it cannot be retrieved. Too many places are becoming homogenous - in most large cities, you could be anywhere in the world, apart from the language of the signs, and that (to me) is a great loss.
ReplyDeleteImportant places should be bypassed so that too much traffic simply does not enter. ;)
Gosh - that is an interesting issue. I think if the buildings remain intact, then we also need to give consideration to the peopel that live there.
ReplyDeleteI'd like some true history with my imagined future, please. I'm not sure how re-writing history is going to help make the world smarter and we need to get smarter in a hurry. IMO Good post. Beautiful postcard. Dresden has always been a special word to me.
ReplyDeleteOn behalf of the ABC Wednesday team, thank you!
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