CONTEXT 186 : DECEMBER 2025 41 St George’s church, Wismar, Germany, where the annual brick architecture conferences are held (Photo: Tim Tregenza, Wikimedia) Gothic, bringing together 26 partners from six countries. Its success led to its permanent establishment as a non-profit association which has grown to include 39 towns in Denmark, Germany and Poland. Their networking has brought together technical and conservation expertise and led to cultural and economic benefits. They organise a Europe-wide open day of brick gothic every June and publish a guide book to the route, available on line. The year 2005 saw a parallel development, the foundation of the European Centre for Brick Architecture with a remit for brick buildings of all periods. From 2006 this has held an annual conference on all aspects of brick architecture at Wismar. The proceedings are published and can be found online. Wismar is a Hanseatic city which is not as well known as nearby Lubeck, which has been a world heritage site since 1987. Lubeck is on the west side of the river Elbe and so after the second world war it was in West Germany, whereas Wismar, on the east side, was in the GDR. For towns like Wismar, with a brick heritage comparable to Lubeck, reunification was an opportunity to put their heritage in order. The conservation of the old town was identified as a priority in 1990, with plans made for its preservation and redevelopment, and a fundraising programme put in place. World heritage status was seen as one way of achieving the city’s aims. Realising that they were unlikely to achieve this by themselves, they combined with the nearby Hanseatic City of Stralsund to submit a joint application to Unesco in 2000, which was accepted in 2002. Exceptionally, the application was accompanied by management plans for the two cities. Much of these have now been achieved. Both have benefited from world heritage status bringing networking and funding, and from it being seen as an honour and responsibility of which they have been keen to show themselves worthy. Another outcome has been a significant rise in tourism, which has helped the local economies. In Wismar, the so-called Gothic Quarter round the Marienkirche, which was wardamaged and then pulled down in 1960, has been laid as a public park, with the surviving tower restored. A major project has been the restoration of St George’s church from 1990 to 2010, at a cost of over 40 million euros. Its soaring arcades and lofty vaults are the setting for the annual brick architecture conferences, where topics can range from the arcaded friezes on late medieval gothic buildings to 19th-century markets at Barcelona and George Gilbert Scott’s St Pancras station. A merchant’s house at Lubsche Strass 23 has been restored as a world heritage visitor centre, with information and displays about the old town and its buildings, and also about the Unesco world heritage programme. Its interior reflects decorative schemes of 17th- and early 19th-century remodellings. A rare feature is the panoramic wallpaper in the ballroom showing the adventures of Telemachus, made by the Paris company Dufour and Leroy. Stralsund also has a world heritage visitor centre, and among its many medieval buildings is a 14th-century house that has been restored and is open to the public. With a lofty ground floor ‘hall’ where business was conducted, and a full height chute and windlass for lifting items up to the storage rooms in the roof, it presents a contrast with late-medieval town houses in England. These town centres, with their brick houses and huge brick churches, are well worth exploring and are models of good conservation practice. They also show what a difference world heritage status can make. David Andrews is a former historic buildings manager at Essex County Council. Wulflam-Haus in Stralsund (Photo: Joachim Kohler Bremen, Wikimedia)
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