Cultural property encompasses both tangible artifacts and intangible heritage that shapes societies. Historian Matthias Rogg and international law expert Lando Kirchmair delve into the critical issue of protecting cultural property during armed conflicts. They discuss the multifaceted threats to cultural property, including destruction, seizure, misuse, and humiliation. Their conversation emphasizes the vital role of international law in safeguarding cultural treasures. They also highlight how threats to cultural property often trigger destabilization, bolster violence and are part of information campaigning. Matthias and Lando grapple with the ethical dilemmas inherent in protecting cultural property during wartime, questioning the balance between safeguarding cultural treasures and protecting soldiers’ lives. This episode is the first in a two-part series exploring these complex issues.
For more information regarding cultural property and it’s protection please consider these additional resources:
The Monuments Men (2014) based on the bestseller by Robert M. Edsel The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History
Charlie English’s bestseller The Book Smugglers of Timbuktu (2018) about the attempt to save Mali’s world-famous library.
Frederik Rosén, NATO and Cultural Property. A Hybrid Threat Perspective, PRISM Vol. 10, No. 3 (2023)
Civil-Military Cooperation Centre of Excellence, Factsheet: Cultural Property Protection (CCP). Concepts, Interoperability and Capability Branch (2020)
Often, it’s not the case that you have to choose between stones and people, as some people put it. It is often possible to protect both cultural heritage and people. And in the long run, cultural heritage and the essence of being human are so strongly intertwined that it is hardly possible to separate them.
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Lando Kirchmair is Deputy Professor for National and International Public Law with a focus on the Protection of Cultural Heritage at the Universität der Bundeswehr München. He studied law, business law, Spanish and Portuguese as well as psychology at the Universities of Innsbruck, Salamanca and Salzburg, holding Magister iuris (2009) and Magister iuris rerum oeconomicarum (2010) degrees from the University of Innsbruck and a Doctor iuris (with distinction; “Die Theorie des Rechtserzeugerkreises“, Duncker & Humblot 2013) from the University of Salzburg (2012). His research interests include the interplay between legal orders, concentrating on questions of international, EU, and national public law, as well as legal philosophy. A particular focus of his current research agenda lies in cultural heritage protection as well as law and interdisciplinarity.
Matthias Rogg is a colonel in the German Armed Forces, who currently teaches in the Department of Military Strategy, Planning and Operations (DMSPO) at the U.S. Army War College. He received a PhD in Early Modern History from the University of Freiburg i.Br., a Habilitation in Newer and Contemporary History from the University of Potsdam and has taught since 2013 as Professor for History at the German Armed Forces University in Hamburg. Among assignments in the Armored Forces, the Ministry of Defence (Policy and Planning Staff) and the Military History Research Institute, he was Founding Director of the Military History of the German Armed Forces (Dresden) and Founding Director and Co-chair of the German Institute for Defence of Strategic Studies, the Think Tank of the Bundeswehr (Hamburg). His newest book The Army of the Unity? German Armed Forces between Peaceful Revolution and German Unification is in preparation for printing and will be published in 2025. He is a former International Fellow and graduate of the AY24 Resident Course at the U.S. Army War College.
The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense.
Photo Description: The Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem
Photo Credit: Francesco Hayez Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice