UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage Sites

Regarding to the UNESCO-Convention about the World Cultural and Natural Heritage Sites vom 16. November 1972 (BGBl. II 1977, 213) the following sites are included into the list of UNESCO:

• THE MESSEL PIT (the only World Natural Heritage in Germany),
• THE Lorsch ABBEY
• Saalburg Fort and Limes
• The Upper Middle Rhine Valley

Lorsch Abbey

Lorsch Abbey with its famous, nearly 1200-year-old King’s Hall gate house has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1991. Today, this building serves as a representative of the magnificent architecture of the then most important centre for religion and culture in the Frankish Empire. Founded in 760 and vested with privileges by Charlemagne, Lorsch rapidly developed into a powerful abbey in the Middle Ages with extensive land holdings reaching from the North Sea to the Alps.

The Abbey was dissolved in 1557 in the wake of the Reformation. The buildings were largely destroyed in 1621, leaving only a few remnants. Today, only the King’s Hall, vestiges of a Romanesque church, the Tithe Barn, perimeter walls and archaeological finds provide an idea of the original scale of the complex.
Exhibitions in the nearby Museum Centre offer extensive information about the Lorsch World Heritage site.

Lorsch Abbey and Museum Lorsch

Nibelungenstrasse 32 und 35
64653 Lorsch
Fon: +49 (0) 6251 103820
E-Mail: muz@kloster-lorsch.de
Internet: www.kloster-lorsch.de
Open: Di - So 10 - 17 Uhr

THE MESSEL PIT

The Messel Pit fossil beds near Darmstadt are the only UNESCO World Nature Heritage site in Germany. Here, in what was once a volcanic crater lake, the living world from some 49 million years ago has been conserved! The most famous of the many exceptionally well-preserved fossils is the Messel prehistoric horse. Almost the entire spectrum of the plant and animal kingdom was preserved in the pit’s oil shale – including the stomach contents of animals which give us insight into the “menu” of animals in prehistoric times!

Finds from the Messel Pit can be seen in the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt am Main, the Hesse State Museum in Darmstadt and the Fossil and Local History Museum in Messel. Only groups accompanied by a guide may visit the Messel Pit. A visitor’s platform also offers a view of the fossil beds.

The Messel Pit

64409 Messel
Fon: +49 (0)6159 717535
E-Mail: info@grube-messel.de
Internet: www.grube-messel.de

The Upper-Middle Rhine Valley

Known as the Upper Middle Rhine Valley cultural landscape, this impressive section of the Rhine Valley between Bingen/Rüdesheim and Koblenz was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 2002.
Culture, nature, history and myth are intertwined here and fuel a fascination experienced by visitors from throughout the world. The cities Rüdesheim and Lorsch are part of Hesse.

More information: www.rheingau-taunus-info.de and www.welterbe-mittelrheintal.de

Saalburg Fort

Saalburg fort is the only extensively reconstructed Roman fort on the Limes – the fortifications built to protect the eastern boundary of the Roman Empire. Today, visitors to this fort can experience for themselves a bit of what life was like nearly 1800 years ago in Roman times. The complex is one of the outstanding museums for this era and offers an interesting and varied programme of events for the entire family. Kaiser Wilhelm II had Saalburg fort reconstructed on the basis of archaeological findings to reflect the period around 200 A.D.

Saalburg Fort

Archeological Park
D - 61350 Bad Homburg
Fon: +49 (0) 6175 93740
E-Mail: info@saalburgmuseum.de
Internet: www.saalburgmuseum.de
Öffnungszeiten: Mai-Juli täglich 9-18 Uhr

The Limes

The Limes marked the border between the Roman Empire and Germania. Measuring 550 kilometres in length, this once gigantic fortification extends across the four states Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. With its 100 forts and 900 watchtowers, it is the largest archaeological monument on the European continent. The Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes have been a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site since 2005.
Remains of the wall and forts are still easily seen in many places in the countryside. The 160 kilometres of the Limes that cut through Hesse are bounded by scores of hiking and bike paths, particularly in the Taunus and Wetterau regions.

More infos: www.limesstrasse.de