Potsdam and Europa Nostra host series of heritage events which illustrate the city’s importance to Europe’s cultural landscape

On 26 June, Potsdam and Europa Nostra hosted a series of heritage events which illustrate the city’s importance – past, present and future – to the European cultural landscape.

For over 300 years, Prussian kings showcased in this royal city exemplars of art and architecture from across Europe and the world. This iconic built heritage is set amidst more than 650 hectares of parks and gardens, including the world-famous, terraced gardens of Sanssouci Park.

One legacy of this history is the important concentration in Potsdam today of institutions for cultural heritage, science, research, politics and education, which includes as of 2024 the headquarters of Europa Nostra Germany. This remarkable confluence makes Potsdam an increasingly vibrant centre for heritage research, dialogue and action. One emerging focus: climate change.

Historic gardens are on the frontlines of the climate crisis, a challenge Potsdam’s gardens aren’t running from. On 26 June, Europa Nostra Germany President Uwe Koch and Office Manager Carlo Paulus, together with Andrew Potts, Heritage and Climate Action Advisor at Europa Nostra / European Heritage Hub, set out into the gardens to learn more. They were joined by Sven Kerschek of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg, formerly one of the managers of the Sanssouci gardens.

Sven Kerschek has been a leader in grappling with the causes and impacts of climate change at the UNESCO World Heritage-listed park. “This forest is dying,” he said bluntly. Sanssouci’s grounds are so carefully maintained, it is possible to miss the signs, but Sven Kerschek walked colleagues through the devastating impacts that increasing heat and drought are having on the landscape.

Last year the Foundation hosted the innovative exhibition “Re:Generation Climate Change in Green World Heritage – and What we Can Do”.  Normally historic gardens try to prune away the evidence of damage but this time, using neon pink billboards, they did the opposite: spotlighting for visitors the harm climate change is wreaking and pointing to nature- and culture-based solutions.

Later that day Europa Nostra Executive President Prof. Dr. Hermann Parzinger joined Andrew Potts and Uwe Koch in a visit to Prof. Dr. Ottmar Edenhofer, Director of the world-famous Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK). The four discussed cultural enablers and barriers to climate action and 1.5° pathways. A fitting conversation to be held in PIK’s offices in the historic Astrophysical Observatory Potsdam on grounds that Albert Einstein once walked.

Thursday night Uwe Koch, Hermann Parzinger and Dr. Edenhofer joined the President of the Brandenburg State Parliament Ulrike Liedtke and other speakers for a timely programme on “Democracy and cultural heritage in times of climate change.” The programme examined the challenge that populism and anti-science discourse pose to the solution-oriented social and political discourse required to tackle climate change and what role the unifying dimensions of cultural heritage (e.g. social cohesion, democratic values) can play in bridging these divides in Europe.

The evening was crowned by a short, joyous event where a 2025 European Heritage Award / Europa Nostra Award was presented to the European Heritage Volunteers Programme. For many years, the NGO based in Germany has organised “Traditional Crafts in Practice” training courses at heritage sites across Europe, involving participants from countries worldwide. The grass-roots programme bridges generations and cultures, revitalising neglected sites, and demonstrating the value of hands-on, community-based heritage practice. The awards plaque was jointly presented by Hermann Parzinger, Executive President of Europa Nostra, and Barbara Gessler, Head of the European Commission Representation in Germany, to Dr. Bert Ludwig, Director of the European Heritage Volunteers, who was joined by an enthusiastic group of supporters.

The day illustrated the cultural heritage hub that Potsdam is becoming. A place where expertise, practice and institutional capacities are combining to drive interdisciplinary cooperation on cultural heritage, especially in the fields of climate change and society,  social cohesion and transformation, and for “Sharing Heritage” through cross-border cooperation.