COMMON EUROPEAN CULTURAL HERITAGE FORTIFIED MONUMENTS
Initiatives for transnational cooperation and networking
5-7 April 2022, Terezín (CZ)
The Terezín International Fortress Conference aims to draw attention to today’s challenges for the cultural heritage of fortified monuments and to present best practices in cross-border cooperation, projects and networking.
The fortress conference was jointly organised by Terezín – město změny, Festung Königstein gGmbH and the FORTE CULTURA network.
The conference was divided into four main topics (conference programme):
- THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF FORTIFIED MONUMENTS IN EUROPE: Fortress networks for the interests of fortresses in Europe
- THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF ELBE FORTTURES: Cross-border cooperation for fortress tourism on the Elbe
- COMMUNITY PROJECTS FOR THE VALORISATION OF THE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF FORTRESS MONUMENTS
- OPENING CEREMONY OF THE EUROPEAN FORTRESS SUMMER 2022
Terezín Memorandum signed
During the conference, René Tomášek (Mayor of Terezín), Dr Jan Roubínek (Director of the Terezín Memorial) and Vendula Bláhová (Director of the ‘Terezín – Fortress of Change’ institution) signed a memorandum for a local partnership to preserve and develop the Terezín Fortress as an educational and tourist destination.
The memorandum is the beginning of a long journey, but Terezín has good foundations and great potential as well as strong partners such as the international fortress networks FORTE CULTRA and EFFORTS. At the conference, experts from 7 countries presented European best practices and methods for the revitalisation of historic fortresses.
We Stand With Ukraine
The programme included a minute’s silence in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and a joint declaration against war, for human rights and democracy.
FORTE CULTURA also declared the Medzhybizh Fortress in Ukraine (Державний історико – культурний заповідник ‘Межибіж’) a new official stop on the European Cultural Route. FORTE CULTURA pays the annual fees for this. Together with the partner network EFFORTS Europe, a partnership initiative was also launched to connect Ukrainian fortress monuments with fortresses from both networks on the basis of sponsorships.
European Fortress Summer 2022 launched
Part of the supporting programme was the opening of the European Fortress Summer 2022 with gun salutes. The initiative by FORTE CULTURA and EFFORTS combines events in over 200 European fortresses in the period from April to October.
The conference also included a guided tour of the ideal fortress town, a visit to the Terezín Memorial in the Small Fortress and a visit to the Vyšehrad Fortress in Prague. A summarised report (DE/CZ/EN) is available here: CONFERENCE REPORT (PDF, EN).
Conference presentations (EN)
- Minute of Silence for Ukraine – Statement of the conference participants: Dirk Röder (FORTE CULTURA ass. – Network of the Culture Route Fortified Monuments, DE)
- Opening Speech: The European Fortified Heritage – Distribution, categorization, significance: Dr. Hans-Rudolf Neumann (ECCOFORT – European Coopera-tion Centre of Fortified Heritage, Founder FORTE CULTURA, ICOMOS / ICOFORT Germany)
- FORTE CULTURA – European Cultural Route of Fortified Monuments and Fortress Network for Cultural Tourism and Marketing in Fortresses: Dirk Röder (FORTE CULTURA – Network of the Culture Route Fortified Monuments, DE)
- EFFORTS Europe Network: European Federation of Fortified Sites “From stronghold to welcoming arms”: Rafaël Deroo (EFFORTS Europe)
- EFFORTS & FORTE CULTURA: Common issues and solutions for theCultural Heritage of Fortified Monuments; Projects and activities to support the Fortresses in Europe: Dirk Röder (FORTE CULTURA – Network of the Culture Route Fortified Monuments, DE);
Rafaël Deroo (EFFORTS Europe) - Fortress of Culture Šibenik, Croatia: Holistically sustainable development concept for the valorisation of the cultural heritage fortresses – best practice in Europe: Đurđa Vrljević Šarić (Fortress of Culture Šibenik, Croatia)
- The Fortified Ideal City Theresienstadt (Terezín): Jiri Hofman (Information-Centre City Terezín, Fortress Vyšehrad Prague)
- The Theresienstadt Centre for Genocide Studies: A successful partnership between local authority and an independent educational institution: Simon Krbec (Terezín Centre for Genocide Studies)
- Reintegration, redevelopment and upgrading of the tourist functions of Dömitz Fortress – A student project of the Warsaw University of Technology: Marcin Gorski (Warsaw University of Technology)
- The Ravelin 2 Magdeburg – Rising from the Ruins: Josephine Kroneberg (Fortress Construction Association Ravelin 2, Magdeburg)
- Masterplan of Vyšehrad Fortress: Petr Kucera (National Monument Prague Vyšehrad)
- Czech-German Fortress cooperation – Cross-border cooperation to develop fortress tourism along the Elbe River: Simone Voigt (Fortress Königstein gGmbH)
- Regional Fortress Cluster Upper Rhine: German French cross-border cooperation on fortified heritage of the last 350 years – European best practice: Frauke Vos-Firnkes (Fortress Town Germersheim)
- FORTITUDE project Historic Fortresses Intensifying cross-border Tourism Development: Đurđa Vrljević Šarić (Fortress of Culture Šibenik, Croatia)
- Recapture the Fortress Cities / Reviving the Fortress Regions: Natural and cultural (military) heritage should be adapted and used for current and future challenges. Review of the Interreg project RfC and new approaches for continuation: Jiri Hofman (Information-Centre City Terezín, Fortress Vyšehrad Prague); Rafaël Deroo (EFFORTS Europe)
Video playlist for the presentations (EN)
Seven videos about the conference in a playlist on the FORTE CULTURA YouTube channel.
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