05/05/2021

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

The national list of intangible cultural heritage of the Austrian UNESCO Commission
UNESCO Commission includes three new elements: tapping in Stans, ceramic flaming and dry stone walling. This means that 136 Austrian traditions are now listed in the register.

Under the term 'Intangible Cultural Heritage', UNESCO has been documenting and protecting a wide range of living traditions worldwide since 2003. Whether performing arts, customs, festivals, knowledge of nature or craft techniques - all forms of intangible cultural heritage are always based on human knowledge and expertise as well as a variety of skills.
skills. The visualisation of customs and practices creates a new understanding of regional
understanding of regional specialities and makes a valuable contribution to their preservation.
preservation.

Since 2010, the Austrian UNESCO Commission has maintained the national register of intangible cultural
intangible cultural heritage in Austria. On 05 May 2021, the list was expanded to include three
further elements of cultural expressions and living traditions. An advisory board of the Austrian UNESCO Commission decides annually on new
new entries every year. The Austrian list now has 136 entries.

The three new entries in the Intangible Cultural Heritage List as of 05 May 2021

Area: Social practices, rituals and festivals

Klöpfeln in Stans in Tyrol is a tradition that has been handed down since the middle of the 19th century,
traditional night-time tradition in a peculiar and dramatic form. It only takes place every ten years on Advent Saturdays, when a procession of around 30 people, consisting of the high priest, Bacchus, Urbal, altar boys and Levites, visits farms and inns to perform songs based on biblical events. biblical events. Although the custom also exists in other places in Tyrol and neighbouring and neighbouring countries, but in Stans - due to the ten-year rhythm and the unusual figures and masks figures and masks - a speciality.

Area: Traditional crafts

The flaming of ceramics refers to the application of a recognisable pattern to ceramic pieces. The first finds of white-blue coloured ceramics in the area around Gmunden date back to 1600, from which the typical decorative technique of "flaming" or "Gmundnerische Geschirr" developed. It takes around two years to learn the craft of flaming, which emphasises sustainable and local production. Patterns in loops or loops, stripes, waves or arches are typical. The green banding in combination with the white glaze background creates the typical "green flaming", which is applied to crockery and decorative objects.

Dry stone walling has been documented in Austria since the 12th century and was mainly used in agricultural areas for mainly used in agricultural areas for wine terraces, alpine pasture enclosures, forest roads, railway construction and much more. Dry stone walls are created by stacking stones on top of each other without any other materials except dry earth, and whose structural stability is ensured by the careful selection and placement of the stones. Even today, it is still an important part of the cultural landscape and design. Today, winegrowers in particular are returning from other building materials back to pure dry stone walls.

All three new entries, including further information and images, can be found online in the Austrian Register.

Further information on intangible cultural heritage

Intangible cultural heritage is not World Heritage - A clarification of terms

The Austrian Inventory currently comprises 136 entries:

11 from the field of "oral traditional forms of expression", including language as a carrier of intangible cultural heritage"

24 from the field of "performing arts"

55 from the area of "Social practices, rituals and festivals"

15 from the area "Knowledge and practices in dealing with nature and the universe"

31 from the area of "Traditional craft techniques".

Link to the complete Austrian directory

Individual traditions are regularly presented on Instagram @livingheritage_at #intangibleculturalheritageaustria #livingheritage

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