The "Great Spas of Europe" on their way to the World Heritage List

Great Spas of Europe

ICOMOS recommends inscription on the World Heritage List

The 44th session of the Intergovernmental World Heritage Committee, to be held in Fuzhou (China) from 16 to 31 July 2021, will decide on the inscription of the Great Spas of Europe - including Baden near Vienna - on the World Heritage List. An important step towards a successful inscription.

The Advisory Body of the World Heritage Committee, ICOMOS published a recommendation on 4 June to inscribe the Great Spas of Europe on the World Heritage List. ICOMOS has confirmed that the Great Spas of Europe represent an exceptional testimony to the European spa phenomenon, which reached its highest expression from around 1700 to the 1930s.

"We are very pleased with this positive recommendation, which clearly shows the potential of the 'Great Spas of Europe' as a World Heritage Site," said Mayor Stefan Szirucsek.

The ICOMOS recommendation is an important basis for the World Heritage Committee's decision on inscription - it is therefore expected that in the second half of July the inscription will be officially confirmed and the "Great Spas of Europe" will be included in the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage List.

Baden is also receiving recognition and congratulations from federal and provincial politicians.

Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz emphasises: "The city of Baden is unique in its historical preservation as well as the combination of modern living space and thermal spa region. I wish Baden every success in its application to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site 'Great Spas of Europe'!"

Johanna Mikl-Leitner, Governor of Lower Austria, underlines Baden's successful course for the future: "With this nomination, Baden joins the list of the most important cultural and spa resorts in the world. It is thanks to the city's careful and consistent pioneering work that not only guests from all over the world are attracted, but Baden is and remains a liveable hometown and popular excursion and leisure destination for our compatriots."

For more information on the nomination file, visit https://greatspasofeurope.org/

Baden and the "Great Spas of Europe"

Baden bei Wien looks back on a 2,000-year old bathing tradition and rich cultural history, which is still reflected in the cityscape today.

In the 19th century and early 20th century Baden bei Wien was one of the European spa towns of international standing.

The "Great Spas of Europe", which in addition to Baden bei Wien include 10 other European spa towns, were officially nominated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in February 2019. The content of the nomination is the exceptional nature of international spa towns with their special type of ‘spa town’ settlement, with their landscape and urban planning features, as well as their diverse cultural and historical significance for European spa history. The Great Spas of Europe phenomenon has been submitted as a holistic phenomenon. The selected spa towns should not be included in the World Heritage List for themselves alone, but as a part of the Great Spas of Europe.

The Great Spas of Europe comprises eleven spa towns from seven European countries: The Czech cities Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad), Mariánské Lázne (Marienbad) and Frantiskovy Lázne (Franzensbad), the Belgian Spa, the French Vichy, the English Bath, the Italian Montecatini, as well as the German spa cities Baden-Baden, Bad Ems and Bad Kissingen and of course Baden bei Wien from Austria.

Great Spas of Europe Conference" from 3 to 5 December 2019 in Baden

The mayors of the Great Spas of Europe met in Baden from 3 to 5 December 2019. Topics of the meeting were the status and schedule of the review, as well as joint marketing measures for 2020 and the next steps around the expected decision of the UNESCO World Heritage Conference in China in July 2020.

OUV "Great Spas of Europe"

  • The eleven applicants are spa towns in Central Europe of outstanding importance, all of which have developed an early form of modern tourism.
  • They have a special form of spa town structure and architecture.
  • All eleven cities were of great significance in the 19th century for the social changes in politics, culture and society.
  • They are of great importance in the sphere of history of medicine.

Mayor Dipl.-Ing. Stefan Szirucsek: "The Great Spas of Europe unite the world's best addresses for spa cures and health. The World Cultural Heritage Site makes us reflect on the very strengths of these cities: health and relaxation. For Baden, this cooperation is a unique opportunity to take the development of tourism to a whole new level of quality".