“It’s a success story: in 1993, Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz (the German Foundation for Monument Protection / DSD) took on the task of coordinating “Heritage Day”, which, over the past 25 years, has grown to be probably the largest cultural event in Germany. (…)

On Heritage Day, which took place on 9 September 2018, approx. 8,000 historical buildings, parks and archaeological sites throughout Germany opened their doors to culture and history enthusiasts. The event organizers counted a total of approx. 3.5 million visitors to the monuments and on the themed guided tours. In 2018, the opening ceremony was hosted by Cologne. Alone in this cathedral city on the Rhine, more than 150 monuments and 400 guided tours were open to visitors or participants during the week-end, and about 50,000 visitors had been counted here by the time the event came to an end.”

On the occasion of the anniversary, welcome was entrusted with the creation of the promotional film for Heritage Day. For this purpose, a camera team travelled halfway across Germany with a drone. Overflight clearances and filming permits were obtained. An exciting tour through the Cologne Fortress Museum was organized with an enthusiastic group of visitors. Many interviews were conducted. An extensive volume of DSD archive material was viewed and processed. Texts were prepared and many, many hours were spent in the editing suite. The results are something we can be really proud of: the linguistic and visual touch of our film makers Henning Quanz & Matthias Meurer, aesthetic in both respects, makes this film a real eye-catcher and a blessing for our ears. Our opinion: this film is exactly the right door-opener for the event!

https://www.tag-des-offenen-denkmals.de/besucher/25-jahre-jubilaeum/

Photographs, graphic design and text passages quoted: Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz (German Foundation for Monument Protection)