Dannevirke: This wall is considered the oldest brick structure in northern Europe. © dpa/picture alliance

A string of Baltic Sea sites where Vikings moored their longboats and held off rivals are to be claimed as UNESCO world heritage sites, under a joint proposal by Germany, Iceland, Denmark and Sweden.

The German locations for the collection would be Haithabu, a village which was the Viking trading capital and original site of the city of Schleswig, and the Dannevirke (Danish: “Dane’s work”), a series of protective earthen walls. Both are located in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, where the joint nomination was announced on February 4.

The Dannevirke, an earthen wall starting from Haithabu, now an archaeological site, and stretching to the North Sea, was built by the Danes to keep out invading Saxons and Slavs and remains a historic symbol of Danish greatness.

Haithabu: These houses were reconstructed at what was once the Viking village of Haithabu. © dpa/picture alliance

Haithabu, now a green field next to a peaceful lagoon, has been excavated by archaeologists and the finds, including old boats and weapons from the fighting days, are shown in the "Wikinger Museum Haithabu," which can be easily reached from Schleswig by car or by bicycle along pleasant countryside cycling paths, also features fascinating scale models of the original Viking settlement and several "Moorleichen", or bog people. These leathery looking individuals - naturally mummified people preserved over many centuries in bogs - provide a unique window onto northern Europe's distant past.

The network of sites in Germany, Iceland, Denmark and Sweden (some of which are already listed by UNESCO), would be "authentic places of human history," said the Schleswig-Holstein premier, Peter Harry Carstensen, in that state capital of Kiel.

Germany has teamed up with its Dutch neighbor on another UNESCO nomination, the Wattenmeer (Wadden Sea) as a World Natural Heritage site. The expansive tidal mud flats stretch along the North Sea coasts of both Germany (in Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony) and the Netherlands. The nominated area covers existing protected area, including two national parks in Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony.

Seaside: Walking barefoot for miles in the Wattenmeer mud flats is a favorite pastime. © dpa/picture alliance

The German Federal Environment Ministry chaired the German-Dutch working group that drew up the nomination, submitted to UNESCO in January. The nomination went forward even after the withdrawal of Hamburg.

If selected, the Viking sites and the Wattenmeer would join 31 cultural sites and one natural heritage site on the UNESCO list. The first German site chosen for the World Heritage List was Aachen Cathedral in 1978. Also included are the Bauhaus School and its sites in Weimare and Dessau; the Monastic Island of Reichenau on Lake Constance; Wartburg Castle in Thuringia; and the historic coal mini industrial complex, Zollverein, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Messel Pit, a rich fossile site in the state of Hessen, is so far the only natural site in Germany on the heritage list.

February 8, 2008

with material from dpa

Links

German sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List

Schleswig-Holstein

Viking Museum Haithabu - in German

Schleswig-Holstein Wattenmeer National Park - in German

Germany in Class: Archives

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