Archives: Atlas Obscuras

Watering Can Museum

Discover Gießkannenmuseum (Watering Can Museum) in Giessen, Germany: An homage to the humble watering can.

Dresden Panometer

Discover Dresden Panometer in Dresden, Germany: An exquisite panometer representing Dresden as it was from 1695 to 1760.

House of the Glockenspiel

Discover House of the Glockenspiel in Bremen, Germany: Böttcherstraße's bells, extolling Nordic virtues and the great conquerors of the world.

Peter And Paul Fest

Discover Peter And Paul Fest in Bretten, Germany: One of the most well-known city festivals in the world.

Herbertstraße

Discover Herbertstraße in Hamburg, Germany: Hamburg's first legal sex work is relegated to a gated street that still does not allow pedestrian women.

Tetrahedron in Bottrop

Discover Tetrahedron in Bottrop in Bottrop, Germany: This massive steel pyramid can be entered by a set of jagged steps that let visitors stand in its heart.

Statue of Loreley

Discover Statue of Loreley in Sankt Goarshausen, Germany: A memorial for a young woman and her ghost, which are claimed to have caused countless deathly shipwrecks.

Site of the Forest Swastika

Discover Site of the Forest Swastika in Plattenburg, Germany: Remnants of 100 trees that made the Nazi symbol each fall.

Medieval Courtyards of Lübeck

Discover Medieval Courtyards of Lübeck in Lübeck, Germany: The small alleys in Lübeck's Old Town are a result of medieval urban sprawl.

Spreuerhofstrasse

Discover Spreuerhofstrasse in Reutlingen, Germany: The narrowest street in the world is in danger of closing up entirely.

Mathematikum

Discover Mathematikum in Giessen, Germany: This peculiar museum offers hands-on interaction with seemingly intangible principles of mathematics.

Mouse Tower

Discover Mouse Tower in Bingen, Germany: Legendary site where an evil bishop was devoured by rodents.

Heidelberg Studentenkarzer

Discover Heidelberg Studentenkarzer in Heidelberg, Germany: A preserved college lock-up that recalls a clubhouse approach to discipline.

DIALOGMUSEUM

Discover DIALOGMUSEUM in Frankfurt, Germany: This unique exhibit "Dialogue in the Dark" reverses roles as the visionless become guides and the sighted become ‘blind.’.

Burg Pfalzgrafenstein

Discover Burg Pfalzgrafenstein in Oberwesel, Germany: Tiny castle in the middle of the Rhine made you pay to pass.

Glockenspiel of Hameln

Discover Glockenspiel of Hameln in Hamelin, Germany: The real life town from the Pied Piper of Hamelin has a mechanical puppet show that retells the famous story many times a day.

Wälderhaus

Discover Wälderhaus in Hamburg, Germany: This wooden hotel is a temple to German sustainability and forest conservation.

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i
To represent a masterpiece of human creative genius. 261 ii
To exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design. 480 iii
To bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared. 514 iv
To be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history. 642 ix
To be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals. 137 v
To be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change. 172 vi
To be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria). 256 vii
To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance. 151 viii
To be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features. 98 x
To contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation. 168

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