VIRTUAL: Prague Heritages

Abstract

The article presents the cultural science research on historical cultural objects that the author has examined with focus on conservation and restoration. All these cultural assets presented here, the UNESCO World Heritage Site Auschwitz-Birkenau and its legacies, the stone sculptures on the UNESCO World Heritage Site Easter Island, the Berlin Wall and the Golm monument complex, have a common purpose: they are the basis of our collective memory and should be preserved for future generations. Over time, however, various changes take place in cultural goods that can potentially lead to a change in meaning. This change in the meaning of cultural goods can occur for a variety of reasons and takes place at several levels, including cultural, political and historical. To assess which factors have had the greatest impact on changing the meaning of cultural objects and what role conservation and restoration activities have played, a longer period of observation is required. The presentation of the first research results in this area illustrates the complexity of the issue.