Logistics network established for aid supplies to protect Ukrainian cultural heritage
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- Logistics network established for aid supplies to protect Ukrainian cultural heritage
The German Archaeological Institute (DAI) and the Cultural Heritage Rescue Unit, supported by the DAI, the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) and the Römisch-Germanisches Museum – Leibniz Research Institute for Archaeology (RGZM), have, in collaboration with other cultural institutions, set up a logistics network to deliver material assistance for the safeguarding of museums, archives and monuments in Ukraine. The Federal Foreign Office supports these aid supplies, which supplement measures taken as part of the initiative Safeguarding Cultural Heritage in Ukraine.
The military aggression in Ukraine is not only causing human suffering on a wide scale but is also leading to the destruction of museums, libraries, archives and monuments. Seven world heritage sites, over 400 museums and 3,000 cultural sites are currently at risk because of the war. In response to Ukraine’s appeals for international aid via the EU civil protection mechanism, German cultural institutions have come together to offer assistance within the network Safeguarding Cultural Heritage in Ukraine. The network was established by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media in association with the Foreign Office.
The German Archaeological Institute (DAI) and the Cultural Heritage Rescue Unit have joined forces with Blue Shield Deutschland, the Guidelines for the Protection of Cultural Property (known by the German acronym SiLK) and a number of emergency response organisations as well as the DGKS (a registered association for cultural heritage protection) to set up a logistics network for the collection and distribution of aid supplies. To this end, urgently needed packaging materials such as bubble wrap, cartons, boxing, packaging paper, plastic sheeting, sandbags, carbon dioxide extinguishers, fire-retardant textiles and other aid supplies are being collected in storage areas specially made available by the Allied Museum in Berlin, where they are being prepared for shipping.
The German Federal Agency for Technical Relief is making its logistical expertise and its central logistics centre in Hilden available for shipments of emergency aid to Ukraine. The Ukrainian partners provide lists of materials that are needed to protect and transport movable cultural assets and for the emergency safeguarding of immovable cultural heritage.
Experts in the preservation of cultural heritage at the DAI and in the Cultural Heritage Rescue Unit, supported by the Foreign Office, are coordinating the collection of the supplies and, with their partners, are establishing reliable and durable transport routes to Ukraine. The THW is offering its considerable logistical experience in the field of humanitarian aid, while the RGZM is contributing its expertise in boxing and consolidating primarily archaeological cultural assets.
Blue Shield Deutschland has put its international contacts and its many years’ experience with cultural heritage in conflicts, disasters and emergency situations at the network’s disposal. As a non-profit association, Blue Shield Deutschland collects financial donations for the initiative. The emergency response organisations in Munich, Stuttgart, Cologne, Halle/Saale, Weimar, Dresden and Berlin, coordinated by the SiLK team, collect donations of material and forward it to central collecting points. The cultural heritage protection association DGKS is working with partners to produce an information campaign to appeal for donations throughout Germany.
By setting up the logistical infrastructure, all the parties involved in the network Safeguarding Cultural Heritage in Ukraine hope to create a sustainable emergency relief mechanism for the protection and preservation of Ukrainian cultural heritage.
Information on donations :
Notfallverbünde. Gemeinsames Portal der Notfallverbünde Kulturgutschutz in Deutschland
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kulturgutschutz e.V.
More information on help offers:
DAI – Solidarität und Hilfe für die Ukraine
DAI – Hilfe für die Ukraine – Sicherungsprojekt für das Wissen über das kulturelle Erbe
SiLK – SicherheitsLeitfaden Kulturgut (EN)
