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Germany seeks Unesco status for Erfurt’s Jewish heritage sites

German officials are on tenterhooks this month as they wait to learn the fate of a bid to attain Unesco World Heritage status for historical Jewish sites in Erfurt, the capital of the eastern state of Thuringia.

Published: 7 September 2023 14:34 CEST
Medieval Jewish gravestones in Erfurt
Archeologist Dr. Karin Sczech displays a depot of medieval Jewish gravestones in Erfurt. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Michael Reichel

The Unesco committee responsible for decisions on new World Heritage sites is meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between September 10th and 25th to determine which sites will be added to the list.

Germany has two proposals among the more than 50 being considered: Erfurt’s medieval Jewish heritage and the alpine and pre-alpine meadows, pastures, and moorland landscapes in the Werdenfelser Land, Staffelseegebiet, and Ammergau region in Bavaria.

In July however the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which was part of the Bavarian proposal, announced its intention to withdraw the application. The district cited a Unesco consultant’s negative assessment of the area’s chances.

The other nominations for inclusion on the World Heritage list include Viking fortresses in Denmark and the Bale Mountains National Park in Ethiopia.

Germany currently has 51 World Heritage sites, including the Cologne Cathedral, Aachen Cathedral, and the historic center of Berlin.

READ ALSO: 10 must-see Unesco World Heritage sites in Germany

Erfurt’s medieval Jewish heritage site could soon join this prestigious list. The city’s application includes various buildings in the old town, such as a medieval ritual bath (Mikwe) discovered by chance about 16 years ago and Erfurt’s Old Synagogue. The latter was initially repurposed as a warehouse and later used as a restaurant and dance hall after a pogrom in 1349 essentially wiped out the city’s Jewish community.

The city believes that the building was spared from destruction by the Nazis for this reason.

With its oldest sections dating back to 1094, the Old Synagogue currently houses a museum exhibiting artefacts from medieval Jewish life in Erfurt, which are also part of the World Heritage application.

These artefacts include thousands of silver coins and bars, and gold and silver jewellery items from the 13th and 14th centuries. Researchers suspect that this collection, known as the Erfurt Treasure, was buried during the 1349 pogrom.

Jewish cultural heritage sites in Germany were recognised as World Heritage sites for the first time two years ago when the “ShUM” sites in Mainz, Worms, and Speyer, known as the cradle of European Judaism, received World Heritage status. The acronym ShUM refers to the Hebrew initials of Speyer, Worms and Mainz.

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‘It’s a lifestyle’: How you can learn to sail in Germany

Sailing or boating is a great way to experience Germany's lakes, rivers and seas to the north. The Local spoke with a German sailing instructor to find out his favourite things about sailing and how to earn a boating licence.

Published: 6 September 2024 17:01 CEST
'It's a lifestyle': How you can learn to sail in Germany

Since he began sailing, the hobby has pushed Wahid Ajouaou Saidi to seek broader horizons. 

Eventually his goal was to cross the Atlantic Ocean – something he achieved last year when he captained a boat on a journey from France to the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. But the Tübingen native has always enjoyed sailing at home in Germany’s lakes and waterways.

Ajouaou Saidi teaches sailing and boating as well as occasionally leading expeditions or delivering boats overseas through his business, Medlantic Watersports.

Through a partnership with another Berlin-based sailing school, he carves out a living by sharing his passion with eager students – some of whom want to eventually cross the Atlantic themselves, while plenty of others are content to just take a boat out on the Spree or a lake nearby.

The Local spoke with Ajouaou Saidi about the best places to sail in Germany, and how to get a German boating licence (with or without German speaking skills).

Where and when to sail in Germany

Wahid Ajouaou Saidi grew up in southern Germany and still treasures the region’s lakes.

“My most beloved place in Germany in general is Lake Constance, or Bodensee as we call it in German. It’s so huge and you have a view of the Alps from there – it’s really beautiful in the summertime,” he said.

But in recent years, Ajouaou Saidi has settled in Berlin, so he’s taken to navigating different waters.

“Wannsee and Müggelsee are really great for sailing,” Ajouaou Saidi told The Local. “And of course the Baltic Sea is also not that far away.”

There are also plenty of rivers in Germany – many of which are open for sailing.

When he’s teaching courses in Berlin, Ajouaou Saidi initially takes his students out on the River Spree.

“There are huge differences between sailing on rivers or lakes,” he said, adding that he generally prefers lakes for their wide open space and lack of current.

The sailing season in Germany is generally from April to October, give or take a few weeks depending on the weather.

Flux Ahoi

A view of the FluxAhoi sailing school on the Spree in Berlin. Photo by @Haenselbert

Do you need a licence?

Generally, boats with engines up to 15 horsepower can be freely operated by anyone–which is why anyone can rent small boats on the Spree, for example.

But for all boats with engines above 15 horsepower, including both sailboats and motorboats, you need a boating licence to legally operate the vessel in Germany.

If you’ve earned a boating licence in another country, your foreign licence also works in Deutschland–at least initially.

But similar to a driver’s license, eventually you’ll need to get the German equivalent to keep boating.

“If you live in Germany for more than one year, you need to have the German licence,” Ajouaou Saidi explained.

How to get a boating licence in Germany

Again, similar to driver’s licences, the path to earning a boating licence generally involves taking a course which includes both theory and practice hours, and then passing a test.

The tricky thing about earning a German boating licence for non-native speakers, however, can be the language barrier. 

Ajouaou Saidi said that he realised there was a market for English-speaking sailing courses because, living in Berlin, he met quite a few people who were interested in learning to sail but weren’t confident enough in their German-speaking skills to sign up for a standard course auf Deutsch. 

Eventually, he partnered with Stefan Grosenick, who runs the FluxAhoi sailing school in Berlin, and together they adapted the basic German sailing course for English speakers.

“For now we are offering the inland waters pleasure craft licence (Sportbootführerschein) in English,” Ajouaou Saidi said. This is the basic licence that anyone who wants to get into boating for the first time should start with. From there you can move on to other licences for bigger vessels or specific skills.

But you’ll still need to learn the basic terms in German to pass the theory test.

“The course is in English, but you’ll see the terms in German also,” he says, adding that the boating licence exam is multiple choice, so by learning the basic terms in German most students can pass, even without excellent German speaking skills.

“Of course, you need to have some basic to intermediate German skills,” Ajouaou Saidi said, “But you don’t need to be a native speaker. It’s completely fine if you have A2 level German or higher.”

While Ajouaou Saidi’s courses are primarily offered in Berlin, he also offers an online theory course. 

So if you’re seeking an English sailing course and living elsewhere in Germany, you could start with that.

The best thing about sailing

Asked to explain one of his favourite sailing experiences, Ajouaou Saidi spoke excitedly at length about his journey across the Atlantic Ocean.

“At night, if it’s a full moon the whole horizon was lit-up, or when it was dark you just see the stars like you never saw them before…You see whales or dolphins almost every day because they love to swim in the bow wave…and if you’re into seafood, you can have great seafood everyday that you just catch yourself, said Ajouaou Saidi.

“This is what I really love about sailing. It’s not only about navigating a boat – it’s a lifestyle.” 

For more information on courses and sailing excursion offers see the FluxAhoi website, or contact Ajouaou Saidi here.

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