The ongoing loss of historical monuments in Germany continues unabated. The Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz (German Foundation for Monument Protection) announced on Tuesday that at least 1,077 monuments were lost in 2024 and 2025. According to the Foundation, these losses, which were often culturally, historically, urbanistically, or identity-shaping, typically went “largely unnoticed.”
The new Black Book of Monument Preservation-presented on Tuesday-details the lost and endangered monuments across Germany, spanning 324 pages, and highlights several worrying trends. These issues include the neglect of historical structures, economic or local pressures, expert misjudgments, political oversights, or insufficient enforcement of existing protective instruments. A new section in this edition, “Lack of Professional Expertise,” critically examines current political and legal decisions.
For the first time, the second edition of the Black Book includes a “Review” chapter, which evaluates the developments related to cases mentioned in the first edition. The Foundation emphasized that this clearly demonstrates that monument protection is not a static state but a continuous process. Furthermore, it shows that public attention can indeed lead to changes, both positive and negative. Additionally, cases previously submitted via the Black Book reporting portal have been included, encompassing over 400 reports from throughout the federal republic.
