Current Research Projects

In reaction to recent events, the examination of the destruction of cultural property in armed conflicts has become one of our main research interest. We concern ourselves with the current challenges by analysing UNESCO’s legal instruments, especially the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two protocols (1954 and 1999) as well as the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

Firstly, is the monograph “Kulturgutzerstörung – Die Auslöschung von Kulturerbe in Krisenländern als Herausforderung für die Vereinten Nationen”, written by Prof. von Schorlemer, UNESCO Chair, and published by Nomos Verlag in 2016 (1025 pages). Further publications are concerned, amongst others, with the Responsibility to Protect ("The Usefulness of the 'Responsibility to Protect' as Applied to the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Armed Conflict", in: Cultural Heritage Law and Ethics: Mapping Recent Developments, edited by Art-Law Centre 2017, pp. 71-93) as well as the preservation of cultural heritage in Mali ("Military Intervention, the UN Security Council and the Role of UNESCO: The Case of Mali", in: Anne Marie Carstens, Elizabeth Varner (ed.), Intersections in International Cultural Heritage Law, Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2020).

In cooperation with experts of the German Archaeological Institute (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, DAI), the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, SPK) and the German Commission for UNESCO, Prof. von Schorlemer co-authors the Archaeological Cultural Heritage Report on Tomorrow’s Science under the auspices of the German National Academy of Natural Sciences Leopoldina.

She examines the instruments and actions in international law, used by UNESCO, UNIDROIT, the United Nations Security Council, the Council of Europe, the EU and the International Criminal Court, especially in regards to the destruction of and illicit trade with archaeological cultural heritage – in water and on land – in Germany and worldwide.

The Federal Republic of Germany has not yet ratified the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage but could embark on doing so in the near future.

The UNESCO Chair endorses the ratification process of the Convention by researching the legal problems of underwater cultural heritage. We pay particular attention to the question of underwater (war) graves and their appropriate protection, taking into account the conflicting poles of archaeological interests and dignified handling of sepulchres.

See also the Leopoldina discussion paper “Traces under Water” – Exploring and Protecting the Cultural Heritage in the North Sea and Baltic Sea (2019).

Prof. von Schorlemer co-authored a commentary of the 2016 German Cultural Property Protection Act, which was published in 2020 by the Nomos Verlag. She commented on the right to claim restitution and returns according to EU law and public international law (paragraphs 49-53).

On behalf of the German Commission for UNESCO, the UNESCO Chair in International Relations was involved in the joint research project “ILLICID – The illegal trade in cultural-heritage artefacts in Germany” (2015-2018) which was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research with 1.2 m euros.

The project investigated the illegal trade of ancient cultural properties, especially with those originating in the Eastern Mediterranean area (Iraq, Syria).

The final report of the project can be found here.

The implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted in 2015, is one of the interdisciplinary topics of UNESCO. However, the role that culture plays is rather unprecise and fundamentally underestimated, although the SDGs refer directly and indirectly to culture at numerous points.

The UNESCO Chair aims to contribute towards research on the links between cultural heritage, cultural diversity and sustainable development ("nexus"). We do so by examining existing instruments in international law that apply to culture (esp. the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage).