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D-Day landing site proposed for World Heritage List

January 31, 2018

A bid by the French government to have Allied invasion site recognized by UNESCO could finally come to fruition. Germany also proposed geographic areas and landmarks that they would like to see join the cultural list.

https://p.dw.com/p/2rquw
D-Day Landung Kanadische Soldaten
French Canadian troops were among the first soldiers to land on the German held French coast on D-Day Image: Imago

France is seeking World Heritage status for the beaches where Allied troops launched their invasion of France in World War II, the UN's cultural agency UNESCO confirmed on Wednesday. Making the list would be a victory for French officials, who have been lobbying for the nomination since 2006.

According to a statement from France's Culture Ministry, an 80-kilometer-long (50-mile-long) coastal strip between the municipalities of Ravenoville and Ouistreham is to be declared a World Heritage Site.

On June 6, 1944, some 135,000 Allied soldiers landed on the beaches of German-occupied Normandy, across the English Channel from Britain, to liberate Europe from Nazi Germany.

"This site, proposed for inscription on UNESCO's World Heritage List, preserves the traces and bears the memory of a combat for liberty and peace," the Culture Ministry said.

The proposal is expected to be discussed at the World Heritage Committee's July 2019 meeting, the ministry added.

Read more: Emmanuel Macron calls for UNESCO status for French baguette

The beaches have been on France's "tentative list" of potential world heritage sites since 2014, a necessary step prior to a formal candidacy for listing.

A D-Day landing beach in Arromanches, Normandy Flash-Galerie
Some of the Normandy coast to be included in the World Heritage listingImage: DW

Germany submits its bids

Meanwhile, Germany's Conference of Ministers of Education has announced two nominations for the World Heritage List, dpa reported. One was the 800-year-old Ore Mountain Mining Region, which spreads outs between the German state of Saxony and North Bohemia in the Czech Republic. The cross-border application came from Germany and the Czech Republic.

The second nomination was a unique water management system in the Bavarian city of Augsburg. The historic system, which includes fountains,water towers, and canals, shows off technology, architecture and industrial archaeology from the years between 1416 to 1922 and was unique within Europe, the nomination underscored. 

Both the French and German submissions have been passed on to the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

sb/cmb (dpa, AFP)

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