Archaeozentrum Bavaria-Böhmen — Conserve and mediate Common Cultural Area

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The Bavarian-Czech border area is defined by the exchange between Germanic and Slavic ethnic groups as a common cultural space and anchored in collective memory. The aim is to establish an “Archäo-Zentrum Bayern-Böhmen” at the History Park Bärnau-Tachov as a cross-border coordination body for education and encounter with the task of developing cultural and natural heritage, anchoring them in the consciousness of the population of the assisted area and making them accessible to the general public. The common cultural roots in history are particularly easy and exciting to bring to people of all ages with the means of experimental archaeology. To this end, the Archaeozentrum consists of several modules such as a workshop to deal with materials and relics of the common past, several computer workstations to deepen and disseminate the findings gained, and an open-air laboratory in the form of a medieval construction site for testing, reproducing and implementing medieval techniques and constructions. To ensure that this is done well-founded and technically correct, the project is supported and supported by various universities from the assisted area and the neighbouring region. The content of the project, developed by the participating universities and realised with the involvement of a general public, leads to the strengthening of cross-border tourism and the perception of the common cultural and natural heritage. The implementation takes place in publicly accessible, bilingual workshops, exhibitions, lectures and excursions, mainly in and around Bärnau but also in the wider assisted area. In these events, one can approach a broad topic in practice and theoretically, ranging from the development of artisanal techniques to the influence of cultures on nature in the border area and the development of arable farming to provide basic services to the population in the project area to the influences on national developments. For this purpose, it is fundamentally necessary to develop common standards in experimental archaeology, in teacher training and in the teaching of history, in order to create the conditions for being able to convey the common cultural heritage in the project area. The aim to align the examination regulations of the participating universities also makes the project area a lighthouse and pioneer in the scientific cooperation between Germany and the Czech Republic. In order to ensure the sustainability of the project, a joint memorandum sought a sponsorship after the end of the funding period in the form of an academy or an institute attached to the History Park. Despite the scientific anchorage, the public accessibility of all activities ensures a broad social impact.

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