Memory of the World: Welterbe Sachsen-Anhalt

Ensuring Free Access - Preserving Documentary Heritage

The global UNESCO "Memory of the World" network has existed since 1992. The register has set itself the goal of safeguarding various international documents of significance in archives, libraries and museums and making them accessible to the public. Germany is represented in the Memory of the World Register with 24 entries, including the Grimm Brothers' fairy tales, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and the Gutenberg Bible. From Saxony-Anhalt, the Nebra Sky Disc and the early writings of the Reformation movement are inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.

The Bronze Treasure of Central Germany

The Nebra Sky Disc is one of the largest archaeological finds from the Early Bronze Age. Due to its 3,600-year-old depiction of astronomical phenomena, it has been part of the Memory of the World since 2013. For the first time in Europe, an astronomical timekeeping instrument was available with which dates could be precisely determined over a period of years. Until its discovery, astronomical knowledge from such an early period was only known from monumental buildings such as Stonehenge.

In 1999, illegal excavators discovered the circular bronze plate on a peak near Nebra. Following a spectacular rescue operation, the Sky Disc is now the most famous exhibit in the permanent exhibition at the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle.

A treasure of bronze and gold buried thousands of years ago reveals the existence of a previously unknown culture in the heart of Europe

Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize winner

The hoard found at Nebra with swords, axes, chisels and arm spirals

Early Writings of the Reformation Movement

The Reformation movement had its origins in Wittenberg. Thanks to the printing press, Luther's ideas spread throughout Europe within a very short space of time. The consequences of the Reformation had a lasting impact on the history of Europe and the world. In many places, a new social order emerged from a critical impulse towards the supremacy of the church.

The writings of the Reformation were inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2015. They contain 14 writings and letters by Martin Luther, which he wrote at the beginning of the 16th century. These include Luther's letter to Charles V, Luther's treatise "On the Freedom of a Christian" and his Epistle to the Romans. These writings resulted in a surge in education and a new religious and political awareness and are also evidence of the extensive communication channels of the time.

Some of the documents are kept in Saxony-Anhalt at the Anhalt State Library in Dessau and at the Luther Memorials Foundation.