Austria

 

More detailed report: National Policy Report

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Glossary: Terms in German

National coordinator: Hannah LEODOLTER

 CULTURAL HERITAGE POLICY

Austria is a federal republic, consisting of nine provinces which have their own parliaments (Landtage) and pass laws for certain fields of responsibility. According to the Constitution of 1920 which regulates the competences of the federal state and the provinces, preservation of monuments is the responsibility of the federal state, whereas building regulation, protection of nature but also of sites (Ortsbilder) and land-use-planning are to be regulated by the provinces. In this respect, the responsibility for cultural and natural heritage is split between the provinces and the federal state.

About 37 500 immovable buildings and archeological sites are protected. Restauration-projects of protected monuments can get public funding, for which € 13,6 million are provided. Additional €3 million are collected through private (tax-reduced) donation for restorations of specific objects.

 

 INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

Federal office for the protection of monuments (Bundesdenkmalamt, BDA)

According to the monuments protection act, the BDA selects the buildings and archeological sites but also movable objects and collections for protection. This protection can be enforced even against the will of the owner, but the owner (and in some cases the mayor and the head of the province) can appeal to the federal court of administration (Bundesverwaltungsgericht). If the protection is in force, alterations and demolitions need the consent of the BDA. If this consent is denied, the owner can again ask for a decision by the federal court of administration. The BDA does not manage buildings itself, the state owned buildings are managed by the Ministry of Economy

Since 2014 the BDA answers to the federal chancellery, administers the care of the built and movable heritage (including export restrictions) and the archeology, whereas the protection of sites, and the care of nature and landscapes is to be organized by the provinces which have their individual instruments for spacial-planning and regional development.

The BDA is led by a president, assisted by a scientific director (Fachdirektor). The selection of monuments and the control of alterations are administered by the heads of the departments for the nine provinces, which get help from central departments (e.g.: architecture, research, movable heritage... ).

 

 LEGAL FRAMEWORK

Concerning the laws, the federal monuments protection act (Bundesdenkmalschutzgesetz) was passed in 1923, and the last modification took place in 2013.

Nearly every province passed a law for the protection of sites. The most important are:

  • the laws for the preservation of the cities of Salzburg (1980/2017) and Graz (2008/2015) and;
  • The law for the protection of sites in Tyrol (2003/2018).

Every province has its own law for the protection of nature and landscape.

Other pertinent documents are:

 RATIFIED INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

Austria has ratified the following conventions on cultural heritage:

Council of Europe

  • European Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage (Valetta, Malta 1992)
  • Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society (Faro, 2005)

UNESCO

  • Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (The Hague, 1954)
  • Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (Paris, 1970)
  • Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972)
  • Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (Paris, 2003)