UNESCO Chair
UNESCO Cultural and Natural Heritage in Hamburg and Surroundings
1 August 2025
Photo: C. de Guttry
In the summer semester of 2025, the UNESCO Chair offered a university course titled “UNESCO Cultural and Natural Heritage in Hamburg and Surroundings.” The course was designed to go beyond traditional classroom teaching by giving students the opportunity to complement theoretical knowledge with practical experience through real-world site visits.
The course consisted of two parts spread across two semesters, including a block seminar and an excursion to UNESCO-related sites.
The block seminar introduced students to UNESCO’s history and its efforts to promote values such as respect for diversity, sustainability, and the protection of cultural and natural heritage. During the excursion, students visited UNESCO-related sites and experienced how these values are embedded in Hamburg and its surroundings, while also forming part of a broader global network.
During the trip, students visited the following sites and organizations, which highlight Hamburg’s and northern Germany’s active participation in regional and international UNESCO initiatives:
- Bauhütte des Kirchenkreises Lübeck-Lauenburg
- Old Town of Lübeck
- Biosphere Reserve Flusslandschaft Elbe (MV), including the Green Belt project
- Museum der Arbeit (Printing Arts / Druckkunst)
- Old City of Bremen
- Reetdächer (Open-Air Museum Molfsee)
- Speicherstadt and Kontorhausviertel, including the Chilehaus
- Jewish Cemetery of Altona on Königstraße
- UNESCO Chair on Societal Climate Change Research and Resilience
- UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning
- UNESCO School Grootmoor
Most students attended this course as part of their teacher training in Geography (Lehramt).
The local UNESCO partners served as tangible examples of how active engagement at the intersection of regional and international initiatives can foster positive change within local communities. From the perspective of the UNESCO Chair, the course also provided a valuable opportunity to strengthen collaborations within the UNESCO network.