Gable of the Wulflamhaus Stralsund
World Heritage nomination
The first attempts to nominate parts of the historic centres of Stralsund and Wismar for inscription on the World Heritage list were made during the GDR era; however, implementation of these plans began only at the end of 1995. Funding by the German Foundation for Monument Protection (Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz) as well as the technical and organizational support through the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State Office for Monument Protection (Landesamt für Denkmalpflege) facilitated the compilation of the first - then still separate - World Heritage nominations for the national selection process in 1997.
In October of 1998, the first hurdle was overcome when Stralsund and Wismar ranked as number 7 on the tentative list to be submitted to UNESCO, issued by the conference of cultural ministries of the German Federal Republic.
In 1999, the two cities mutually began to develop the nomination for inscription on the international World Heritage list. In addition, each city established an extensive management and monitoring plan as an instrument for monitoring the state of conservation.
At the end of the year 2000, six months before the scheduled deadline, the Hanseatic cities succeeded in reacting to a suddenly appearing, new regulation from the World Heritage committee and in finishing and submitting their nomination to UNESCO in Paris. Because of their timely submission, the older and in general considerably more favourable regulations for the inscription of European cultural heritage sites apply to Stralsund and Wismar. Under the new regulations, applicable since the beginning of 2001, the vote to inscribe the site on the World Heritage list probably would have occurred many years later.
In the year 2001, Stralsund and Wismar founded the German World Heritage Foundation (Deutsche Stiftung Welterbe). The goal of the foundation is to contribute to the implementation of the World heritage concept and thus to realize the common responsibility for cultural and natural heritage worldwide. In Budapest, on June 27, 2002, the World Heritage committee decided positively on the nomination of the Hanseatic cities for inscription on UNESCO's World Heritage list. The official inscription ceremony and transfer of the UNESCO documents took place in Wismar on May 24, 2003 and in Stralsund on May 25, 2003.
