NETWORKING IN PRESERVING THE FIRST WORLD WAR MULTICULTURAL HERITAGE IN THE DANUBE COUNTRIES

The first task of NETWORLD is the systematic recording of the architectural heritage of the First World War. For the first time, the remains of fortifications, military buildings, former prisons and refugee camps, memorials, military cemeteries and other sites relevant to World War I will be documented on a transnational basis.
All data will be collected in a database under the direction of the Center for Cultural Property Protection at the University of Continuing Education Krems and made available to the public online. In an accessible form and language, those interested in history will be able to learn about World War I sites and plan cultural tourism activities around them. The database contains information on more than 400 World War I sites in 9 countries of the Danube Region.

One of the key objectives of the project is to link heritage sites (e.g. battlefields, prison camps, monuments) with tourism resources (e.g. museums, landscapes, archaeological sites) in the surroundings of World War I heritage sites.
The preservation and promotion of the historical and cultural sites of World War I requires high-quality and sustainable cultural tourism, with the aim of increasing the number of visitors to World War I sites. Special tourist routes will be developed in countries with battlefields (e.g. Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovakia) and prison camps (Hungary, Czech Republic, Austria).

The project will map the World War I cultural tourism routes in the partner countries and each country will present a tourism map with its respective World War I heritage sites.

As a common result of this activity, the transnational partnership will produce a tourist brochure presenting the World War I heritage and other tourist attractions. 50 sites in 9 countries of the Danube Region are identified to be discovered along the Walk of Peace.

The exhibition "Lieben ... fordern ... kämpfen - Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand und der Erste Weltkrieg" as part of the NETWORLD project, is presented in Artstetten Castle (Lower Austria).
On 28 June 1914, the anniversary of the Battle “auf dem Amselfeld” (1389), a Serbian nationalist assassinated the Austrian heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who wanted to strengthen the minorities in the k.u.k. monarchy. After this assassination, there was no changing the course of history - friends became enemies. The result was the First World War (1914-1918), with 17 million dead in Europe and three empires destroyed. But history goes on. And this history has made Artstetten a centre of peace in the past century.

The concept of the exhibition is innovative in several respects:

• History is shown "through the keyhole", confronting visitors with questions such as Why did Franz Ferdinand's car stop exactly 2.5 metres in front of the assassin? What was everyday life like during the war? Why does the name Hohenberg appear at the beginning and end of the monarchy?
• Accompanying peace education workshops for young people on the assassination and World War I will be offered in cooperation with the the Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution
• The mobile exhibition app "Durchs Schlüsselloch: Geschichte erzählt! Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand und der Erste Weltkrieg" breaks new ground in history education

The mobile exhibition app can be downloaded free of charge for Android. It provides visitors to the newly designed exhibition at Artstetten Castle with additional material for exploring Archduke Franz Ferdinand, his family history and World War I. It includes:

• Exhibits: videos, photos, texts, maps related to the exhibition
• Stories: contextualisation of the exhibits in running texts
• Comments: Questions for reflection on the active appropriation of history
• Shared comments: Possibility to share saved comments with others

The app can also be used independently of a visit to the exhibition to learn more about World War I.

The project is not only an occasion to commemorate the victims of the First World War, but also to raise awareness of the path that European countries need to take towards a common, peaceful Europe.
Within the framework of NETWORLD, the visibility of the architectural and cultural heritage of the World War I will be increased through the "Walk of Peace" brand. The idea of the "Walk of Peace" was initiated in the 1970s by the Austrian association Dolomitenfreunde, with the aim of reopening former frontline routes from the World War I and preserving the historical legacy of the war in the form of "peace trails". The idea has been taken up in various countries. The project aims to internationalise the label throughout the Danube region.