EUROPEAN CULTURAL PATHS
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The work started 1997…The European Cultural Paths, (ECP), 1997-99 successfully conducted a Raphael-funded project highlighting cultural remains and cultural landscapes of the North European Bronze Age period.ECP was a pilot project, involving partners in five countries: the National Board of Antiquities in Estonia, the non-profit making organisation Föreningen Bronstid in Sweden, the City Museums of Odense in Denmark, the City Museums of Aschaffenburg in Germany and Karmøy municipality in Norway.
The project was initiated and led by the Swedish partner Föreningen Bronstid with Ms Annila Sterner as project manager.
e-mail: annila.sterner@bronzeage.net
The first pathsEstonia brought forth two areas, one centred around a Bronze Age cemetery at Rebala, the other one at the Bronze Age hill fort surrounding the main meteoritic crater at Kaali on the island Saaremaa. In Sweden two Bronze Age paths were created on the Bjäre peninsula in Northern Scania and in Denmark one on the island Funen. The German partner focused the Bronze Age within a huge landscape-historical programme for the Spessart region in Middle Germany. The Norwegian partner, finally, concentrated on the huge Bronze Age burial mounds in Avaldsnes on the West Coast.All participating projects were presented in colourful guide brochures. In addition, new information boards were set up and a number of research achievements and presentation activities were promoted by the project.
A permanent networkA most important result of ECP is the interest on a European level for possible new projects on the basis of the experiences of the pilot one. At the September 1999 final general meeting of ECP it was therefore decided to permanent the ECP network, founding an umbrella organisation for the promotion of future projects and for a continued exchange of professional experience. The secretariat of the permanent ECP Network is in care of the German partner.Interested in the ECP Network? Please contact:
Dr. Gerhard Ermischer
e-mail: Stadt-AB.Museum@t-online.de
New projects in action
norBARnorBAR – Northern Bronze Age Route – is a natural enlargement of the first experimental Bronze Age paths of ECP into a broad road from Ireland in the west to the Baltic in the east. The ambition is to guide the public to all the important Bronze Age sites along this belt presenting them within the concept of a tourist route. The martial Vikings are well known to everybody. But few are aware of the extreme wealth, due to intense travelling and trading contacts, of the mighty chieftains in the North 2000 years before the Vikings. This fact norBAR is hoping to change. Important components of the project are research, communication and sustainable tourism.norBAR is now preparing to apply for funding of the project.
The project still needs partners in some parts of the region.
Interested?
Visit norBAR at www.bronzeage.net/
or contact:
Carina Johnsson, County Council of Halland, Box 517, 301 80 Sweden carina.johnsson@lthalland.seThis project deals with cultural landscapes, which are well defined geographically and morphologically. Common features are an image of poverty, neglecting by science during recent periods and a great number of testimonies of the past endangered by modern development. The project concentrates on the preservation of the landscape, protection of cultural and natural heritage by awareness, landscape management, sustainable landscape development, cultural tourism in a sustainable way and definition of the economic value of the landscape. Main components of the project are research and communication.
European Pathways to Cultural LandscapesAltogether twelve partner projects from ten countries co-operate in this project, which applied to the Culture 2000 Programme in May 2000. Project co-ordinator is the former German partner of ECP Dr Gerhard Ermischer, Aschaffenburg City Museums.
For more information contact:
Dr. Gerhard Ermischere-mail: Stadt-AB.Museum@t-online.de
