Decision 45 COM 7B.187

Upper Middle Rhine Valley (Germany) (C 1066)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/23/45.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decisions 43 COM 7B.83 and 44 COM 7B.155 adopted at its 43rd (Baku, 2019) and extended 44th (Fuzhou/online, 2021) sessions respectively,
3. Takes note of the conclusion of the joint World Heritage Centre/ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission of May 2022 that there are currently no major threats to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property, its authenticity and integrity, but that a negative evolution related to changes is already discernible and could cumulate to a serious loss of values and degradation of the OUV, and requests the State Party to implement the mission’s recommendations in a timely manner;
4. Notes with satisfaction the dedicated work and progress made in updating the property’s Management Plan, as well as the development of tools to protect and preserve its OUV, encourages the State Party to revise and further develop the attributes that convey the OUV of the property in line with the retrospective Statement of OUV and other research resources, and to develop a sustainable tourism strategy for the property, and also requests the State Party to:
   1. Ensure that an adequate management system of the property extends also to its buffer zone and its wider setting,
   2. Submit the final draft Management Plan to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies prior to adoption;
5. Further requests the State Party to:
   1. Submit the conclusions of the regional impact assessment and the related decision for the planned permanent river crossing over the Rhine, as well as the planned specific design that will form the basis of a planning approval procedure, to the World Heritage Centre and not to take any irreversible decisions on the final plans until to the conclusions and recommendations of the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies’ review are known,
   2. Not to approve any design proposal for the planned permanent river crossing over the Rhine that would threaten the property’s authenticity and integrity and the protection and preservation of its OUV;
6. Commends the State Party for developing a comprehensive tool to assess the impact of existing and planned wind turbines in the buffer zone and wider setting of the property, which provides the basis for establishing exclusion zones for these facilities and a framework for spatial planning, but regrets that a harmonised legislative tools for the entire property has not been developed as requested in Decision 43 COM 7B.83;
7. Also encourages the State Party to finalise the Hall of Myths building with a flat skylight and to place the planned crystal rock inside the building;
8. Notes with regret that the plans for a new hotel on the Loreley Plateau are planned to be resumed, and reminds the State Party of its previous request to:
   1. Develop a strategic spatial framework for the future use of the area, tested through an impact assessment, that supports the OUV of the property before any new proposals are developed,
   2. Ensure that an impact assessment process is conducted at the early planning stages of any new hotel project, and to submit the related plans to the World Heritage Centre as soon as possible for review with the Advisory Bodies, accompanied by supporting documentation that ensures that the plans are compatible with the World Heritage status and the outcomes of the impact assessment;
9. Requests furthermore the State Party to consider the outcomes and implement the specific recommendations of the 2022 mission in relation both to the 2029 Federal Horticultural Show and other specific projects planned and implemented, including the Koblenz Cable Car, the ‘Koblenzer Brauerei’ area and the Summer Bobsleigh Run next to the Loreley Landscape, while continuing to keep the World Heritage Centre informed of the status of these projects;
10. Requests moreover the State Party, in relation to the plans for the expansion of the Sooneck open pit quartzite mine, to consider approving the proposal only after it has been reviewed the Advisory Bodies, together with the corresponding impact assessment which should be conducted in accordance with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage context;
11. Further encourages the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, in accordance with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, detailed plans for the planned redevelopment of the Löhnberger Mill building complex and site in Lahnstein, as well as for the planned modernization or replacement of the existing moorings in the river Rhine as soon as they become available, together with the corresponding impact assessment documentation, for review by the Advisory Bodies;
12. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2024, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 47th session.