Dresden Elbe Valley

Four-lane bridge construction project in the property

Four-lane bridge construction project in the property

Halting of the bridge project

a) Discussions with all stakeholders to find alternative solutions so as to ensure the safeguarding of the outstanding universal value of the property;

b) Review without delay the projects in the property taking into account the results of the visual impact study.

a) Discussion with stakeholders from July 2006 to February 2008;

b) Review of projects in the property: ongoing until a solution is found.

At its 30th session (Vilnius, 2006), the World Heritage Committee had expressed great concern about a bridge project, as approved by the City Council, considering that its construction would “irreversibly damage the values and integrity of the property”, based on an independent visual impact study conducted by the Technical University of Aachen(2006). The World Heritage Committee decided to apply the Reinforced monitoring mechanism at its 31st session (Christchurch, 2007) (Decision 31 COM 7A.27) and decided at its 32nd session (Quebec City, 2008) to delete the property from the World Heritage List in the event that the construction of the bridge has an irreversible impact on the outstanding universal value of the property.

The reactive monitoring mission in February 2008, had reviewed the possible adverse impact of a proposed bridge on the river Elbe on the Outstanding Universal Value of the property. The mission concluded that the Elbe crossing of the Waldschloesschen Bridge would, through its sitting, have a considerable negative and irreversible impact on the Outstanding Universal Value of the World Heritage property and the integrity of the cultural landscape.

At its 32nd session, the World HeritageCommittee regretted that the authorities, having allowed the construction works to proceed, had seriously compromised the Outstanding Universal Value of the property; and expressed its deep concern that the work planned will irreversibly damage the Outstanding Universal Value and integrity of the property. The World Heritage Committee asked the State Party to halt immediately the current construction works and restore the property to its former state of conservation and urged it to reconsider the alternative tunnel option.

The 32nd session of the World HeritageCommittee (32 COM 7A.26) decided to continue to apply the Reinforced monitoring mechanism to the property and requested the State Party to provide progress reports as relevant and to submit a report for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 33rd session in 2009.

No progress reports were submitted during 2008. An update report on the situation was submitted by the Permanent Delegation of Germany on 28 January 2009. The report provides information on the establishment and operations of a “Dresden Elbe Valley World Heritage Centre” and a report on management of the World Heritage site from February 2006 to January 2009. This report covers the state of conservation of single monuments and measures taken in the property including architectural conservation, urban development, transport, road construction and other infrastructure issues, nature and environmental considerations, public relations and tourism, collaboration in committees and associations.

It also addressed the key question and confirmed that work began on the Waldschlösschen Bridge in August 2007, based on the Dresden Regional Council decision of 8 June 2008. As of mid-November 2008 the foundations for the Elbe Bridge were completed. Work had started in the factory on the steel construction for the supporting structure of the bridge. The report informed that the substructures were finished in January 2009 and that the superstructures which commenced in November 2008 are currently being carried out for completion in June 2011. The road constructions leading to the bridge at the Kaethe Kollwitz Ufer will start in March 2009 for completion in June 2011. On the other side, construction for a connecting tunnel, ramps and road construction started in January 2009 for completion in September 2010.

The report also pointed out that all legal procedures at Courts concerning the halting or changing of the current bridge crossing project had been completed with the result that the bridge is being built as planned.

At the request of the Mayor of Dresden, a meeting between the State Party, the Mayor, the city authorities, ICOMOS and the World Heritage Centre took place on 14 October 2008 as a follow-up to the World Heritage Committee’s decisions and the state of implementation of the bridge to allow for a dialogue about potential solutions. The meeting did not produce any concrete results.

The World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies conclude that the requests by the World Heritage Committee at its 30th, 31st and 32nd sessions to halt the project and the bridge construction have not been addressed. The authorities commenced the construction prior to the 32nd session, at which the World Heritage Committee decided to retain the Dresden Elbe Valley (Germany) on the List of World Heritage in Danger. It further decided to delete this property from the World Heritage List at its 33rd session in 2009, if the planned works on the bridge continued and the damage already caused was not reversed.

The assessment of all relevant documents now concludes that the planned works on the bridge are continuing, that the project has not been halted and the damage caused to the World Heritage property has not been reversed. The significant infrastructure works so far undertaken have impacted irreversibly on the integrity and outstanding universal value of the property.