Pretzien/Bernburg. €500,000 has been set aside by the Investment Bank for the Salzlandkreis project management body for the ‘World Heritage Site Tourism Enhancement’ initiative. ‘We were delighted to receive the news from the State Ministry for Economic Affairs and Tourism,’ District Administrator Markus Bauer announced publicly on Tuesday.
What the Salzland district is currently planning to do with the additional half a million euros to give the application for the World Heritage title a significant boost was the topic of the on-site meeting at the Pretzien weir. District Administrator and Head of District and Economic Development and Tourism Tilo Wechselberger (2nd from left and left in the picture) met with Martina Große-Sudhues (right), Director of the State Office for Flood Protection and Water Management, with Bert Knoblauch (2nd from right), Mayor of Schönebeck, and with Dr Gunnar Schellenberger (centre), Member of the State Parliament, who was instrumental at a political level in ensuring that these state funds flowed into the tourism and aspired World Heritage region.
The Salzland district will therefore develop a concrete project together with the "World Cultural Heritage in the Salzland District" association, the town of Schönebeck (Elbe) and the State Flood Protection Agency - this could be the construction of a new information centre, for example. The search for a location will begin immediately, as Tilo Wechselberger assured us.
"I am very pleased," said Mayor Bert Knobauch. "We started with a vision, a voluntary organisation that I would like to thank very much. Thanks also to the Salzland district, which is realising all of this on a full-time basis. We want to explain to the people here that the weir is not only important in terms of its function, but is also a world cultural heritage site. And taking the people with us ultimately also serves the realisation of such means and ideas."
"Treasures such as the Pretziener Wehr - and also the Pömmelte ring sanctuary and the Herrnhut settlement of Gnadau - are unique. There is enormous potential for our rural area as a link between Magdeburg and Halle in their preservation and tourist enhancement. I agree with the committed supporters of the World Heritage application in the Schönebeck area and in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. And it is in line with our future strategy for the Salzland district." District Administrator Markus Bauer emphasised his gratitude for the great joint commitment and for the fact that the state is now making the sum available to the Salzland district from the state's special fund, in addition to the usual funding channels.
"Becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site is complex and we need the strength of the entire region. It's not just the politicians, institutions or the administration that do something, but the citizens. That is a key assessment criterion and it is very, very important to me to achieve this." The District Administrator is also referring to the Salzland district as one of the founding members of the "World Cultural Heritage in the Salzland District e.V." association last September. Its creation was preceded by intensive preparations and the corresponding resolution in the district council, which was passed unanimously. The Salzlandkreis thus also ensures the office activities and half a staff position in the office.
Since then, the number of members in the association has continued to grow. Gunnar Schellenberger reported more than 60 to date and that the state capital of Magdeburg was recently welcomed as a new member. He said: "We have a lot of plans and that can only be achieved together and means a lot of work."
All activities around the Pretzien weir have already been supported by the Salzland district through investments in tourism and transport infrastructure. A new roadside cycle path was built on the district road between Plötzky and Pretzien. It has been open to cyclists since 2021. And the district has recently acquired an area directly next to the Pretzien weir to build a bus loop and some car parking spaces there. The preliminary planning is available and is to be discussed with all parties involved at the beginning of June so that the approval and implementation planning can begin quickly. The construction costs for this measure are also estimated at around 500,000 euros.