UNESCO Treasures in Germany

UNESCO, the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization, has compiled a list of 830 sites considered by its World Heritage Committee to be of universal value. Of those, 644 are considered to carry significant cultural significance. Click for a virtual tour of many of the official UNESCO sites located in Germany.

The Bauhaus school was founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar in 1919 as both a place of instruction and a design philosophy. Master designers and students associated with the Bauhaus school sought to return to craftsmanship as the foundation of fine art. Influential designs and famous works of art and architecture, including the one pictured here, were also produced in Dessau from 1926 to 1932. Bauhaus buildings in both Dessau and Weimar were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996.

The Muskauer Park is a large English-style park that straddles the border of Germany and Poland. The New Castle (pictured) dates from the 16th century but the surrounding park area wasn't laid out until some two hundred years later. The park was added to the World Heritage List in 2004 by UNESCO, which cited its importance for "the development of landscape architecture as a discipline."

Downtown Dresden -- including the Church of Our Lady, left, the House of the Estates, the cathedral and Dresden Castle's Hausmann Tower -- are seen from across the Elbe River. They are part of an 18-kilometer (11-mile) stretch that was declared a World Heritage site in 2004. The valley contains numerous monuments, parks, villas and important natural features. UNESCO cited the fact the Dresden Elbe Valley has long been a European crossroads for culture, science and technology.

Essen's Zollverein coal mining industrial complex, on the World Heritage List since 2001, was spruced up with fantastical lighting in this picture for a cultural event. Instead of refining coal, these days the sprawling site houses museums, offices and event space. UNESCO chose this complete infrastructure of a historical mining site because it provides material evidence of the evolution and decline of an essential industry over the past 150 years. The city of Essen has been named Europe's culture capital for 2010.

The picturesque island of Reichenau, located on Lake Constance in southernmost Germany, provides a glimpse into medieval monastic life. It is known for the Abbey of Reichenau, located on the island, as well as for its wineries and vegetable gardens. The island was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2000.

The 12th-century castle near Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, now holds concerts instead of royal gatherings. It has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1999.

A UNESCO cultural heritage landmark since 1996, the Cologne Cathedral is one of the most-visited locations in the country. Next to the Ulm Cathedral it is the second tallest church in Germany and the third tallest in the world. Although it looks much older, the church was actually only completed in the 19th century.

Artist Hans Peter Kuhn cast colored light on the pipes, bricks and steel of the Völkingen ironworks, defunct since 1986, giving it a look its builders likely never imagined. The structure, which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999, is open to the public. It is the only intact example in western Europe and North America of an integrated ironworks that was built and equipped in the 19th and 20th centuries and has remained intact.

Bamberg, a small town in the Franconian region of northern Bavaria, dates from the 10th century. It boasts a cathedral from the 13th century and a 350-year old university. During its period of greatest prosperity, from the 12th century onwards, the town's architecture strongly influenced northern Germany and Hungary. In the late 18th century it was the center of the Enlightenment in southern Germany, with eminent philosophers and writers such as Hegel and Hoffmann living there. Bamberg, which was added to the World Heritage List in 1993, is also home to many US military personnel.

The small town of Goslar, located at the northern foothills ore-rich Harz Mountains in Lower Saxony, joined the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1992. From the 10th to the 12th century it was one of the seats of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Its well-preserved medieval historic center has around 1,500 half-timbered houses dating from the 15th to the 19th century.

Constructed in the ninth century, the abbey in Lorsch is one of the oldest buildings in Germany. The abbey, together with its monumental entrance, the famous "Torhall," are rare architectural vestiges of the Carolingian era. It was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1991.

The baroque Augustusburg Castle and the neighboring hunting residence Falkenlust belonged to Clemens August von Wittelsbach, an elector and archbishop of Cologne. They are among the earliest examples of Rococo architecture in 18th-century Germany. The castle, located in Brühl between Cologne and Bonn, contains many of the original furnishings and is open for public tours.

The cathedral in Speyer, located in the heart of wine country in Rhineland-Palatinate, was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1981. It was founded by Conrad II in 1030 and remodelled at the end of the 11th century. It is considered one of the most important Romanesque monuments from the time of the Holy Roman Empire and was the burial place of the German emperors for almost 300 years.

The Aachen Cathedral is a conglomerate of many different styles of sacred architecture and became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978. Construction of the chapel, with its octagonal basilica and cupola, began in around 790 under the Emperor Charlemagne. It was originally inspired by churches in the eastern part of the Holy Roman Empire.