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The Great Spa Towns of Europe are a transnational World Heritage Site!

Screenshot The Great Spas of Europe

Screenshot The Great Spas of Europe
Image Credit: The Great Spas of Europe https://www.greatspasofeurope.eu/

News from Jul 30, 2021

Congratulations to our colleagues and Associated Partners in Baden-Baden and from the European Historic Thermal Towns Association EHTTA: Their application, together with a number of other thermal spas in Europe, as a transnational World Heritage Site was approved by UNESCO in July!

"The Great Spa Towns of Europe is a World Heritage Site comprising 11 famous historic spa towns and cities in seven countries, inscribed on the World Heritage List on the 24th July 2021. The Great Spas, in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom represent a unique cultural phenomenon which reached its height in the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as a particular urban type and form. As a World Heritage Site, it has been given global recognition as a phenomenon which helped to shape Europe", says the website of the successful applicant group.

EHTTA President Manuel Baltar congratulates and explains the significance of the succesfull nomination: “I want to emphasise that this inscription of the Great Spa Towns of Europe represents a very important step for all of us involved in protecting and promoting the thermal heritage of Europe. With a UNESCO World Heritage listing, we are confident that more people than ever will want to hear about, learn about, and to visit and experience the Great Spa Towns of Europe and to then explore other examples of this phenomenon."

The transnational aspect of the European Spa is a core interest of our own research agenda and an important asset in times of a potential (re)nationalization of material and immaterial cultural heritage.

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