Safeguarding the successes of civil resistance – why the Wachau became part of UNESCO’s World Heritage list and was awarded with the European Diploma of Protected Areas by the Council of Europe

Barbara SCHWARZ

(Mayoress Dürnstein, Wachau, Austria)

Starting with the construction of the railway in about 1908 , nearly 50 years later because of the plans how to build the new road across Wachau valley and because of the plan to build an hydroelectric power station near Dürnnstein – there was always a reason for civil resistance in the Wachau.
Not before all these fights had been fought and damage had been prevented it was possible for the Wachau to be awarded with the “European Diploma of Protected Areas “ and to become part of UNESCO´s World Heritage. During all this time people learned to protect the landscape and they founded the “Arbeitskreis Wachau” as a platform for monitoring and development in the region.
Our common goal is to preserve and enhance the natural and cultural landscape with its cultural and historic sites, its richness of nature and the freely running river as the central elements.