Hidden Heritage as a Characteristic of the Danube Region

The “Danube Culture Platform – Creative Spaces of the 21st Century” was dedicated to the hidden, forgotten, invisible cultural heritage of the Danube region. The key objective of the Danube Culture Platform was to develop two strategies for cultural routes regarding the hidden heritage in the Danube region. The development of new cultural routes is beyond the scope of the project, thus the undertaking of several working meetings and conferences was to find inspiring topics and approaches to further developing cultural routes in the Danube region. The project partners finally agreed on two possible strategic approaches:

1)           Interpretation Framework for Cultural Routes Based on Hidden Heritage in the Danube Region

2)           Themes for the Prolongation of European Cultural Routes

1)           Interpretation Framework for Cultural Routes Based on Hidden Heritage in the Danube Region

The “Interpretation Framework” is applicable to existing or new European cultural routes or initiatives in the Danube region. The term ‘Interpretation Framework’ is used to describe a flexible and broad approach for guidelines on audience development and interpretation. It broadens themes and messages, explores the bigger picture, the societal context and communicates various aspects of history in a unique way. Interpretation helps to foster understanding, create visitor experiences and make them engaging, memorable and fun. It seeks to engage people in the meaning of things relating to their own lives in a way that the place, object or people being interpreted are better understood and respected.

At the heart of the vision is the promotion of innovative formats and audience development for cultural heritage through collaborative partner effort. This leads to the proposal for an “Interpretation Framework for Cultural Routes in the Danube Region” and interpretative themes based on the hidden heritage in the Danube region, tangible, intangible, visible, invisible, digital or little known. Contemporary arts and new technologies are important means of interpretation. Hidden heritage is seen as an interdisciplinary field contributing to the development of new narratives towards the culture of remembrance:

• Invisible Culture and History: The Danube Culture Platform has brought together a wide range of topics related to the Danube region, from which existing and future cultural routes can select for the creation of new narratives.
• Personalities from the Danube region: Almost forgotten, invisible or unknown historical personalities might also be the starting point for new narratives to keep the hidden heritage alive.

2)           Themes for the Prolongation of European Cultural Routes

The second proposal for a cultural routes strategy was developed from the research and the pilot projects of the Danube Culture Platform that seem to be valuable suggestions and could be taken as connecting points for the extension of the following existing cultural routes: Roman Emperors and Danube Wine Route, European Route of Jewish Heritage, routes dealing with Christian Heritage and Atrium Cultural Route – Architecture of Totalitarian Regimes of the 20th Century

These two strategies for cultural routes regarding the hidden heritage in the Danube region are part of the Memorandum “Danube Culture Platform – Creative Spaces of the 21st Century” that was signed by the nine Partners at the end of the final conference in Regensburg.

Please find more information as well as a detailed list of the individual topics within the Memorandum (on pages 7 to 12) or the Project Documentation (on pages 25 to 27).