World Heritage "Dresdner Elbtal"

Project versus World Heritage status

The project of „Waldschlößchenbrücke“ is absolutely incompatible with the purpose of the World Heritage Site Convention.

According to paragraph 1 of the World Heritage Convention, as a cultural landscape, the Dresden Elbe valley is part of the heritage of mankind. It conforms to the criteria (i) to (iv). After the bombing of WWII the area was recovered or, with persevering commitment conserved, and it incarnates a concentration of beauty. Dresden has to be contemplated from the Elbe meadows. After the destruction, only here one can feel the often cited „triad of city, hills and river“.

Whereas the planned Elbe crossing was mentioned in the World Heritage application documents only briefly as posing a slight interference to the residential and natural scenery, two preliminary reports by ICOMOS have warned against serious interference with the characteristic local scenery and against the endangerment of the often-praised „distant effect of city and river“ through construction of this traffic facility.

The independent Visual Impact Study, presented by „Rheinisch-Westfaelische Hochschule Aachen“ in March 2006 (8 MB), confirms the incompatibility of the project, „Waldschloesschenbruecke“, with the integrity of Dresden‘s World Heritage.

Unique landscape Elbe Valley
Overview map of the World Heritage Dresden Elbe Valley