Blue Shield Statement in support of the Cologne Archives

(Sicher nicht nur) aufgrund meiner Intervention bei IFLA wird es ein Statement des Blue Shield Netzwerkes zum weltweiten Schutz des kulturellen Erbes zum Einsturz des Kölner Stadtarchivs geben. Dank an Sjoerd Koopman und Claudia Lux!

Laufende Meldungen gehen dort schon ein. Hier ein Auszug des Textes der in Kürze (rückdatiert auf den 5.3.) auf der ICBS Website veröffentlicht wird:

ICBS Statement in support of the Cologne Archives
March 5, 2009

On the afternoon of Tuesday 3 March, the building of the Historic Archive of the city of Cologne in Germany collapsed along with two neighboring buildings. According to news reports, rescue workers are searching for people believed to be missing after the collapse. The building dated from the 1970s and contained some 65,000 original charters as well as valuable collections of maps, images, posters and files.

The International Committee of the Blue Shield conveys its sympathy and support for all those at the Historic Archive of the city of Cologne following this tragic incident.

A selection of News reports on the incident is included below:

In English:
•    CNN
•    BBC

En français:
•    Le Monde
•    Bluewin.ch

Auf Deutsch:
•    Kölner Stadtanzeiger
•    Köln Nachrichten.de

On behalf of the Blue Shield Organization,

Julien Anfruns,
President
International Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS)

Contact Information: secretariat@icom.museum

For more information please contact the Blue Shield Office

The Blue Shield is the protective emblem of the 1954 Hague Convention which is the basic international treaty formulating rules to protect cultural heritage during armed conflicts.  The Blue Shield network consists of organizations dealing with museums, archives, audiovisual supports, libraries, as well as monuments and sites.
The International Committee of the Blue Shield, founded in 1996, comprises representatives of the five Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) working in this field:

•    the International Council on Archives (www.ica.org),
•    the International Council of Museums (www.icom.museum ),
•    the International Council on Monuments and Sites (www.icomos.org), and
•    the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (www.ifla.org)
•    the Co-ordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations (www.ccaaa.org)

National Blue Shield Committees have been founded in a number of countries. The Association of National Committees of the Blue Shield (ANCBS), recently founded in December 2008, will coordinate and strengthen international efforts to protect cultural property at risk of destruction in armed conflicts or natural disasters. The ANCBS has its headquarters in The Hague.

Association of National Committees of the Blue Shield (ANCBS)
Postal address ANCBS Office:
Laan van Meerdervoort 70
2517 AN The Hague, The Netherlands
E mail address: contact@ancbs.org
Web address: www.ancbs.org
Telephone: 00 31 (0)70-3466161
Fax:  00 31 (0)70-3467232