Common definition Reformation-themed cultural heritage
First formal step towards the establishment of the European cultural route of reformation
In the frame of Work Package 1 the Project and Associated Partners of ECRR have jointly developed and agreed upon a common definition for Reformation-themed cultural heritage. This definition will be taken as a reference for the further working steps within the project and set the base for the conception and establishment of the cultural route.
The working process until reach this common definition has been long and involved all PPs and APs, as well as some stakeholders (mostly through their participation in the transnational workshop in Wroclaw in December). The process consisted of several steps:
1) workshops in Wroclaw on theological-historical, cultural and touristic dimensions of Reformation;
2) group discussion in Wroclaw to set a common base in form of an initial draft for the definition;
3) internal discussion by the PPs and APs on this first draft, commenting it and/or elaborate alternative formulations;
4) collection and consideration of all inputs to formulate three "finalist definitions";
5) on-line voting of the finalists, incl. option to provide comments;
6) the definition preferred by the majority was refined based on the PPs and APs' comments and sent for a final agreement to the involved actors;
7) proof reading by a native English speaker.
Within the ECRR project, and for the establishment of European cultural route of reformation, “Reformation-based Cultural Heritage” is understood as:
“A set of tangible and intangible legacies from movements related to Christianity that took place across Europe mainly in the 16th Century, but rooted in ideas and processes from the 12th Century onwards, which unfolded with diverse regional and national characteristics. These movements led to cultural and religious pluralisation, a transformation of daily Christian practices and in the clergy and contributed to changes in social, cultural and political values and ideas.
Their legacies are manifold and range from buildings, written documents, sites of historical events, effects of the counter-reformation, travelling paths, works of art, museums and exhibitions, to culinary traditions, music, oral storytelling, legends and celebrations, as well as contributions such as an expansion in education, a promotion of national identities - mostly through translations into local languages - and values like individual responsibility.
These movements’ heritage is an integral part of the European cultural Environment”.
