Bavaria’s state directory for intangible cultural heritage has grown by three entries: the Evangelical Wedding Procession from the former County of Wertheim (Lower Franconia), the Kirwa in the Amberg-Sulzbacher Land (Upper Palatinate) and the Neustadt Children’s Festival (Upper Franconia) were added to the now 69 entries on the recommendation of a panel of experts comprehensive national directory included. The new entries came from the deferral process of the fifth round of applications for 2021/2022, said Head of the State Chancellery Florian Herrmann (CSU) on Tuesday after a cabinet meeting.
On October 17, 2003, Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural and Communication Organization) passed the Convention on the Preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage. All over the world, traditional knowledge and skills are to be made visible as intangible cultural heritage and measures that are suitable for preservation and further development are to be supported. Germany joined the Convention in 2013.
Intangible cultural heritage – IKE for short – is understood to mean traditions such as dance, theatre, music, customs, festivals, knowledge passed down through the ages and traditional handicraft techniques that give a community a sense of identity and continuity. Unlike tangible cultural heritage such as monuments, works of art or cultural landscapes, which are always present and tangible, intangible cultural heritage is only visible at the moment of action.
In the case of intangible cultural heritage, the focus is on the people who pass on their traditions and values, their knowledge and their artistic and technical skills from generation to generation and who redesign them in dealing with nature and society. In Bavaria, these include the Augsburg Peace Festival, the wood turner’s trade, the Tölzer Leonhardifahrt, the tradition of high-alpine farming in the Allgäu, carp pond farming and the Oberammergau Passion Play.