Reintegration, refurbishment and upgrading of the tourist functions of Dömitz Fortress Project partner: Faculty of Architecture, Warsaw University of Technology, Municipality of Dömitz, FORTE CULTURA e.V. Network of the European […]

The Prague Vyšehrad National Cultural Monument becomes the first FORTE CULTURA member in the Czech Republic. The fortress above the Vltava River offers a beautiful view over the Czech capital […]

The Bundesbank bunker in Cochem was a carefully guarded and camouflaged secret of the FRG for decades. During the Cold War, 15 billion Deutschmarks were stored here on around 1,500 […]

Now that the municipality of Bellheim has joined the FORTE CULTURA network, a large section of the Queich line has become a new stop on the European Cultural Route. The […]

29 members and guests from 7 countries met at   the 2021 FORTE CULTURA General Assembly at Königstein Fortress (Saxony). Under the leadership of Dirk Röder, the Executive Board and Scientific […]

As part of the Interreg – IPA CBC project FORTITUDE a specialist workshop on the subject of heritage and promotion was held in the fortress city of Karlovac in October under […]

In Bergen op Zoom came EFFORTS with Liberation Route Europe and FORTE CULTURA to discuss the role of fortresses in the Second World War. Fortresses were often used as concentration […]

Under the title “Reintegration, renovation and upgrading of the tourist functions of Dömitz Fortress”, students from Warsaw University of Technology visited Dömitz Fortress at the beginning of the winter semester. […]

The fortified city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch for short) is the capital of the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant and boasts an extraordinary fortified heritage with its city walls and citadel. […]

The Four à Chaux in Lembach is an underground fortification of the Maginot Line from the 20th century. Managed and organised by the Association des Amis de la Ligne Maginot […]

FORTE CULTURA meets renew Europe in the fortress and confirmation town of Ziegenhain. At the end of August, the town of Ziegenhain and the Renew Europe political group took the […]

The Upper Rhine region is one of the European regions with the most fortified monuments from 2000 years of history. Since the fortified town of Germersheim joined FORTE CULTURA in […]

Online evaluation conference on European best practice 6. Mai 2021, Pula (HR), hosted by FORTE CULTURA and Juraj Dobrila Universität in Pula (HR) The joint scientific committee FORTE CULTURA / […]

The European Fortress Summer 2021 was launched at a press conference in Germersheim on 15 April. The campaign developed by FORTE CULTURA in 2018 to market summer events in fortresses […]

On the initiative of the fortress town of Germersheim, supported by the PAMINA Eurodistrict and the Baden-Alsace-Palatinate Tourist Association (Vis-à-Vis), FORTE CULTURA has developed a fortress flyer with a map, […]

We welcome the regional fortress group “Fortresses and defence history on the Upper Rhine 1929-1999” with the Dettenheim Bunker Museum, the Hausach Bunker Tour, the Hornisgrinde Bunker, the Neumühl Camouflage […]

With the signing of the membership application by Mayor Erich Spamer, the town of Büdingen has be- come the latest FORTE CULTURA member. The Upper Hessian fortress town not only […]

Sandomierz is located on the western bank of the Vistula in the Holy Cross Voivodeship. The formerly fortified old town with its central town hall square is home to buildings […]

The application for certification of FORTE CULTURA® as a “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe” was submitted in Luxembourg just in time for the deadline. FORTE CULTURA® is thus […]

The Srebrna Gora fortress is the highest mountain fortress in Europe. Built between 1765 and 1777, it reinforced the defence of the Prussian state borders in Lower Silesia. The Silberberg […]

The European Federation of Fortified Sites (EFFORTS) network, based in Brussels, was founded in 2017 in the Spandau Citadel. As a lobby organisation, EFFORTS is the interface between European institutions […]

At this year’s virtual Annual General Meeting, far-reaching resolutions were passed that will have a lasting impact on the development of our network and cultural routes. The most striking change […]

FORTE CULTURA is now using social media to increase its reach Facebook and Instagram. While the Instagram account is aimed more at the general public, the Facebook account is more […]

The network office provides a comprehensive information and strategy paper on dealing with the “C19 consequences” in fortified monuments. It contains information and recommendations for ensuring the safest possible conditions […]

Fort Grauerort, a Prussian fortress pearl on the Elbe, was built in the 19th century and developed into an attractive cultural location in the Hanseatic city of Stade under the […]

At the end of February, representatives of the fortresses in Stade, Königstein, Terezín (CZ), Torgau, Pirna, Magdeburg and Dresden (here Staatliche Schlösser, Burgen und Gärten Sachsen gGmbH) as well as […]

The Berlin-based association organises guided tours and excursions to architectural legacies from the Cold War era (barracks, airfields and bunkers). The association is also committed to preserving the most modern […]

The Royal Museum of the Armed Forces in Brussels was an impressive venue for the Liberation Routes Europe (LRE) Annual Conference and Expo 2020. Dirk Röder represented FORTE CULTURA®. In […]

In memory and remembrance of the many victims of the last major German offensive in the West, known as “Unternehmen NORDWIND”, 75 years ago, 18 fortifications on both sides of […]

Rüsselsheim Fortress is located directly on the River Main and is now the second former Hessian state fortress in our network after Ziegenhain. The fortress is home to the Rüsselsheim […]

Dömitz Fortress is widely known along the Elbe. What is far less well known is that the fortress is actually the citadel of the former fortified ideal town of Dömitz, […]

In late August 2019, the historic Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad, Serbia, hosted an interdisciplinary international conference titled “Fortresses of Tomorrow: Balance between Cultural Heritage Safeguarding and Entertainment.”

The fortified city of Antwerp hosted this year’s general meeting of EFFORTS (European Federation of Fortified Sites), during which Dirk Röder (European Fortress Tourism and Fortress Marketing Network e.V.) was […]

Fortress monuments and the Second World War have many points of contact. The European cultural route “Liberation Route Europe”, certified  by the Council of Europe in 2019, leads along remembrance […]

The Polish curator of the FORTE CULTURA® Scientific Advisory Board, Marcin Gorski, gave the introductory lecture during the symposium “One Hundred Years of Cologne’s Green Lung – From Historical Defence […]

Following on from the discussions at the annual meeting of the cultural routes in Sibiu, representatives of the Routes of Reformation and FORTE CULTURA® met in Berlin to discuss interfaces […]

Ziegenhain is not only an impressive fortress town and therefore a stop on the FORTE CULTURA cultural route, it is also part of the GrimmHeimat and Rotkäppchenland network, touches on […]

Ohrid is a town in the south-west of the Republic of North Macedonia on Lake Ohrid on the border with Albania. The town is known for its medieval churches and […]

Rainer Nitsche, Deputy Mayor of Magdeburg in Department III Economy, Tourism and Regional Cooperation, opened the “2nd Elbe Fortress Cultural Heritage Forum”, which was attended by the Mayor of Dömitz […]

Around 80 representatives  of  European  cultural routes, the Cultural Routes Institute from Luxembourg and the EPA* member states met for the annual meeting of the Council of Europe’s cultural routes in Sibiu, Romania.

von Dr. Hans-Rudolf Neumann Im Rahmen einer FORTE CULTURA – Pilottour nach Malta und Gozo kamen erste Kontakte mit der staatlich maltesischen Denkmalschutz-Organisation HERITAGE MALTA zustande. Die aus vier europäischen […]

Representatives of the Chinese city of Shouzhou, the European Fortress Tourism and Fortress Marketing Network, ECCOFORT and ICOFORT signed a memorandum of understanding in Spandau Citadel on the development of friendly and cooperative relations for fortress tourism and marketing.

This year’s symposium focussed on cross-border cooperation between the fortress monuments on the Upper Rhine. The first results of the “Vis-á-Vis” (Baden-Alsace-Palatinate) tourism community’s project to develop regional tourism modules […]

Under the leadership of Koblenz’s Head of Cultural Affairs Dr Margit Theis-Scholz, the workshop brought together around 20 interdepartmental stakeholders to discuss the future of Koblenz Fortress in connection with […]

How can the 25 historic fortresses along the Elbe support each other in marketing themselves to tourists? This was the key question at a  conference that brought together 15 representatives of important Elbe fortifications from Germany and the Czech Republic at Königstein Fortress.

Four long-standing tour guides from the town of Germersheim have successfully completed their qualification as tour guides with a FORTE CULTURA® certificate. To mark the occasion, Mayor Marcus Schaile presented […]

On the initiative of our member La Línea de la Concepcíon (ES), representatives of fortress monuments and tourism professionals from the Campo de Gibraltar tourism region met for the first […]

Boyen Fortress was built from 1843 as a Prussian ring fortress in what is now Giżycko, formerly Lötzen, and was one of the most powerful fortresses in Masuria.

The conference formed the framework for the general meeting of the European Fortress Tourism and Fortress Marketing Network.

The International Tourism Exchange Berlin once again offered a good opportunity for an exchange with network members, potential co-operation partners for fortress tourism and fortress marketing from all over the world.

The Campo de Gibraltar stand at Spain’s largest international travel trade fair in Madrid was very busy. José Juan Franco Rodríguez, mayor of our network member La Línea de La […]

Torgau is the only large fortress system in Saxony that has been partially preserved.

Around 200 participants from over 20 countries met in Görlitz for the annual meeting of the European Institute of Cultural Routes.

The European Fortress Summer 2018 came to a close with the Cologne Fortress Days at the end of September. 18 fortress monuments from 9 countries have taken part in the […]

Mayor José Juan Franco Rodríguez signed the membership documents in mid-October, making his town of La Línea de la Concepción the first Spanish member of the network. The town is […]

In Turin, fortress experts from 19 countries presented their progress and findings in the fields of historical research, building research, georeferencing, digital heritage, culture and management as well as concept […]

Around 40 experts, tour guides and representatives of fortified monuments gathered in Germersheim at the beginning of July, including fortress cities such as Ulm, Landau (DE), Wissembourg, Strasbourg (FR), Feste Emperor Wilhelm II at Mutzig (FR)

On the occasion of the European Cultural Heritage Year 2018, the Directorate General for Cultural Heritage Rehinland-Palatinate organized the “European Day for the Preservation of Monuments” in Trier together with […]

The general meeting of the European Fortress Tourism and Fortress Marketing Network e.V. elected its new board at Rosenberg Fortress.

On the 24th of April the European Fortress Summer 2018 was ceremoniously opened on the fortress Rosenberg.

During the theme week, selected fortresses were presented on the Sharing Heritage Instagram page, including Königstein, Ehrenbreitstein and Kufstein.

ECCOFORT is acting as lead applicant for a new project application for the Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE programme.

Dirk Röder presented FORTE CULTURA, the European cultural route for monuments, as an exemplary instrument for the valorisation of historical cultural heritage.

International representatives of fortified monuments and interest groups met at Spandau Citadel to establish the „EFFORTS – European Federation of Fortified Sites“ network.

Königstein Fortress is one of the most outstanding fortress monuments in Europe. For an even broader market presence and to intensify co-operation with European fortress monuments, especially on the Elbe, […]

The two-day anniversary conference was also the starting signal for the third call for project applications in the current funding period up to 2020 and the beginning of a series […]

Experts from Serbia, Germany, Croatia, Switzerland and Turkey met at Petrovaradin Fortress to discuss transnational cooperation in the maintenance and marketing of fortresses in the Danube region. FORTE CULTURA and […]

On the occasion of the 8th Fortress Day, Mayor of Culture Iris Mann signed the certificate of accession to our fortress network on behalf of the city of Ulm/ Neu-Ulm […]

On 1 June 2017, Bert Flöck, Head of the Building Department of the City of Koblenz, officially declared his membership of the network and signed the declaration of accession.

The association „Friends of the Maginot Line in Alsace“ is one of the active organisations that preserve and maintain the fortress heritage of the 20th century. Today, they play an important role in reappraising history, educating and informing people about the effects of war and destruction.

As part of the fortress conference, the fortress town of Germersheim officially declared its membership of the European Fortress Tourism and Fortress Marketing Network e.V. I

Representatives from the fortress sites in Mainz, Koblenz, Luxembourg, Germersheim, Rüsselsheim, Wesel, Büdingen and Trier-Pfalzel took part in the workshop.

As part of the City of Mainz‘s membership, the local stakeholders discussed the fortress heritage of the City of Mainz…

Erika Farkas presented the European Cultural Route Fortress Monuments FORTE CULTURA® and the European Fortress Tourism and Fortress Marketing Network to 67 participants from 7 countries in Arad, Romania.

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Erika Farkas, Fort Monostor, organised the fortress conference „future for forts (f³) in Komarom. The programme focused on the valorisation of the fortified cultural heritage in Central Europe.

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ECCOFORT meets 12 fortifications in 6 Central European Countries As a project partner, the European Cooperation Centre of Fortified Heritage reg.ass. -ECCOFORT- was responsible for the development of the culture […]

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The concluding conference of the Forte Cultura project in Kostrzyn nad Odra that lasted from November 24 to 27 was accompanied by a small but highly captivating exhibition in Berlin Gate – the visitors centre of the fortress museum Kostrzyn.

With international participation, on 26th November 2014, the project FORTE CULTURA finished successfully with the final meeting in Kostrzyn nad Odra. During the two-day conference, the most important results of the project work packages were presented.

With the foundation and legalisation of the “Association of Fortress Tourism and Fortress Marketing Network” – “FORTS-2-MARKET” – in November 2014, there is now the guarantee to continue networking, marketing and tourism development of FORTE CULTURA in a wider range.

The first European Contact Tour of the Culture Route FORTE CULTURA started on the 30th of August 2014.

With a dedicated speech, the Italian deputy of the European Council, Mr. Alberto d’Alessandro, has expressed his appreciation for FORTE CULTURA during the implementation conference on 8 October 2014 in Verona.

Ms Agnieszka Żurawska- Tatała took part in a co- funded by the European Union Pesto Conference on the promotion and networking of EU projects in Graz (Austria) on the 2nd and 3rd of October 2014 promoting the project Forte Cultura and learning new practices concerning tourism.

“Kostrzyn fortress virtual model” is a visualization which shows 3D elements complied with historical imaging from the years: 1920 – 1925 and was created within the framework of the project “Forte Cultura – Capitalising of fortified cultural heritage for sustainable development and competitiveness of cities and regions”.

In August of 2014, the Fortress of Kufstein was officially confirmed by the Joint Technical Secretariat of the EC in Vienna as new project partner in the developing FORTE CULTURA culture route.

The region of Lviv in the Ukraine was originally included as the twelfth partner in the project FORTE CULTURA. Nonetheless, recent political, social and military events in the country have not allowed the city to actively cooperate within the project framework.

On the 4th and 5th of July 2014 at the Citadel in Erfurt the lead partner, project partners and guests participated in a workshop on the fortresses society impact and integration strategies.

There was a “Valorisation of traditional knowledge and expertise for protection of fortified heritage”, held as a part of the WP 6 a transnational workshop on the 27 and 28th of May 2014 at the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Slovenia – Restoration Center (RESCEN) in Ljubljana.

On 9 and 10 April 2014 in Josefov took place the third European Conference of Fortified Ideal Cities in the frame of FORTE CULTURA project. The conference was attended by 31 experts and representatives from ten European countries Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Latvia, Poland, Romania, The Netherlands and Ukraine.

During the annual ITB in Berlin the new project FORTE CULTURA caused a considerable stir. Not only the Director of the European Cultural Routes Institute of Luxembourg, Penelope Denu, has been enthusiastic when she accept with great pleasure the first newsletter of the project, but also the Scientific Coordinator and co-developer of the project, Dr.-Ing. Hans-Rudolf Neumann, ECCOFORT reg.ass. Berlin.

On the 10th of January 2014 there was a contract signed with the company COCOMO to conduct the realisation of “Kostrzyn fortress virtual model”.

Project partners of WP 6 met with other guests on 5th November 2013 in the Starhemberg Palace in Vienna to an open discussion about the applicability of the European heritage label for the area of historic fortifications.

During the International Conference „Interpretation of Built Heritage“ at 30th September 2013 of Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board in Chandigarh Dr.-Ing. arch. Hans-Rudolf Neumann, Vice Chairman and Scientific Coordinator of ECCOFORT reg. ass., was invited as speaker.

During an event of the University of Pula as member of the South East European EU funding project ADRIFORT on 15th and 16th September 2013 in Pula / Croatia, ICOMOS / ICOFORT expert and co-developer of the Central European EU funding project FORTE CULTURA Dr.-Ing. Hans-Rudolf Neumann was invited as speaker.