UNESCO World Heritage Status promotes new discoveries

In 1987, UNESCO named Lübeck's Old Town a World Heritage Site "of universal cultural and natural significance". According to the selection committee's resolution, "inclusion in this list is a tribute to Lübeck's valuable, outstanding and all-embracing significance which must be encouraged and cherished in the interests of mankind as a whole". This was the first occasion on which an Old Town in the Federal Republic of Germany was officially designated as a cultural monument.

Lübeck's importance as the leading "western city on the Baltic coast" and as the "prototype of the modern western city" in the Baltic is well known. Archaeological excavations were necessary, however, to show how this example of a North European city originated and to determine the location and layout of the original town. Archaeological research was facilitated when, in April 1992, Lübeck's inner city was designated a protected area for excavation purposes. This is an additional safeguard which would scarcely have been possible without the inclusion of the Old Town in the UNESCO list of world heritage sites.

Recent archaeological excavations have produced new and unexpected results. In 1996, researchers found a well near St. Mary's Church. According to scientific tests, the well dated from the year 1152 - the first indication of human habitation. In recent years, excavations have yielded nearly three million archaeological finds as part of the World Heritage Site.

Since this happened, the Hanseatic city of Lübeck worked hard to make tourists aware of the value and significance of its cultural heritage. There are special brochures, leaflets describing sightseeing walks through the city, guided tours illustrating the history of municipal architecture and fact-finding tours organized for journalists from Germany and abroad.