Landscape with craters

Kaali Project team visiting the Spessart Project and the EU coordination office for "Pathways to Cultural Landscapes"

From 10 to 14 March Ants Kraut and Helle Solnask from the Kaali project, Estonia visited the Spessart area in the frame of the staff exchange programme of the EU Culture 200 Programme "European Pathways to Cultural Landscapes". The objective of the exchange was to get first-hand knowledge about the methods of work and public promotion of the Spessart partner project and to learn about a German perspective of the Historic Landscape Characterisation.

The programme of the visit, prepared by the EPCL Project Manager Harald Rosmanitz and Chairman Gerhard Ermischer, was diverse and interesting, aiming at introducing as much as possible within a limited period of four days. Considering the rather complicated situation of the Spessart area, which is divided between two federal states and goverened by different laws on cultural heritage, it was of great interest to see how the EU project functions in overcoming administrative obstacles, carrying out research and mapping the landscape development of the region.

Jürgen Jung from the Research Centre for Central European Highlands of the Senckenberg Research Institute gave us a good overview of the GIS work at Spessart. Very positive results have been achieved in collecting information on geology, biology, foresting, archaeological sites and monuments throughout the whole region. Cooperation and networking between different disciplines has been essential in the landscape study. Due to the short time span visits of the cultural pathways in Bieber and Frammersbach were postponed.

One of the highlights of the exchange were visits to the meteorite craters and museums in Nördlingen and Steinheim. The unique landscape formed as a result of the double meterorite is prominent even today. As a specialised meteorite museum is being designed in Kaali it was highly relevant and interesting for us to learn about the experience of the German colleagues of how to promote natural and cultural monuments of similar origin.

The last day of our visit was devoted to the tradition of glass making in Lohr and the region. Excellent weather favoured our visit to an old glass kiln, another half of the day was devoted to the present day glass production in "Spessartglas" in Lohr.

Special mention should be made of the impression we got from the co-ordination office that largely thanks to the support from the town of Lohr has excellent premises not only for the office, but also ample space for exhibitions. In our tight timeschedule sufficient time was found for meeting the Mayor of Lohr, press conferences, discussing future plans and actions regarding both projects and joint activities in the meeting room of the EU office. The dates for Gerhard Ermischer and Harald Rosmanitz to come to Kaali this summer were finalised, which will be the next step towards getting to know each individual project and tighter co-operation.

Impressions