On 2 October, the official Certification Ceremony for 5 new Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe took place during the 9th Cultural Routes Annual Advisory Forum at the Astra Museum in Sibiu, Romania. The European Route of Industrial Heritage, Iron Curtain Trail, Le Corbusier Destinations: Architectural Promenades, Liberation Route Europe and the Routes of Reformation obtained the certification in 2019.

Snežana SAMARDŽIĆ-MARKOVIĆ, Director General of Democracy, Council of Europe, Birgitta RINGBECK, Chair of the EPA Governing Board and Stefano DOMINIONI, Executive Secretary of the EPA on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe and Director of the European Institute of Cultural Routes awarded the certification to Mr. Meinrad Maria GREWENIG, President of the European Route of Industrial Heritage, Mr. Michael CRAMER, Founder of Iron Curtain Trail, Mr. Detlev GEISSLER, President of the Routes of Reformation, Ms. Leslie MOZDZAN, Manager of Le Corbusier Destinations: Architectural Promenades, and Mr. Rémi PRAUD, Manager of Liberation Route Europe.

The European Route of Industrial Heritage network uncovers the European dimension of industrialisation. More than 1,800 sites in 47 countries, more than 100 Anchor Points, 18 Regional Routes and 16 Theme Routes invite visitors to discover the variety of themes and stories that together make up European innustrial heritage. ERIH reflects exchanges rooted in European concepts.

The Iron Curtain Trail is a cycling route that stretches from the Barents Sea to the Black Sea coast, covering over 10,400 kilometres in 20 countries, both EU (14) and non-EU (6) states. The trail seeks to commemorate the political division of Europe to West and East before 1989 and promotes collective memory, cycling tourism, cultural and heritage tourism, and sustainable development.

Le Corbusier Destinations: Architectural Promenades seeks to enhance Le Corbusier’s work and reputation across three continents and six countries. Admiration for Le Corbusier’s work is universal and his impact and influence on later building design and urban planning is acknowledged amongst architects and design historians worldwide.

Liberation Route Europe is a European cultural route, linking the main regions along the advance of the Western Allied Forces in the 1944-45 latter stages of World War II. The route crosses from southern England across the Channel to Normandy and northern France, through Belgium, the Netherlands and northern Germany to Berlin.

The Routes of Reformation represent the Reformation process as a European movement. The project initially aimed to establish a European Cultural Route of Reformation by identifying, selecting and connecting existing Reformation-themed cultural heritage sites, objects, and non-material legacies around Central Europe.

The 5 Cultural Routes were awarded with the “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe” certification in compliance with the criteria established in the Resolution CM/Res(2013)67 revising the rules for the award of the Cultural Route of the Council of Europe certification

The complete programme of the 9th Annual Advisory Forum on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe is available here.