Now online: new website for the European Heritage Label in the Netherlands

DutchCulture is excited to launch the new website showcasing Dutch locations honoured with the European Heritage Label: europeanheritagelabel.eu. Here, you will find information about the European Heritage label, the unique stories on the Dutch sites that have received it, and our podcast Europa om je heen (only in Dutch) about the sites in the Netherlands. The website is available in English and Dutch, tailored for a general audience, especially young people aged 18-30.

The five Dutch sites carrying the label are Kamp Westerbork, Peace Palace, Maastricht Treaty, Colonies of Benevolence and Our Lord in the Attic Museum. The European Heritage Label (EHL) recognizes and rewards sites of symbolic significance to European history, culture, or integration. The new website is an initiative of DutchCulture, designed by AWE Studio, and supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Cultural Heritage Agency in the Netherlands.

This new platform complements the information on our website focused on heritage sites interested in applying for the label.

Every two years, the European Commission awards the European Heritage Label to heritage sites of particular symbolic value for Europe. The label recognises buildings, monuments, landscapes, sites, cultural goods and objects, intangible heritage and places of remembrance that have played a special role in European history, culture or European integration. The national preselection for the award of the heritage label will start in autumn 2024.

DutchCulture advises candidate sites about possible applications and the formal requirements. Dutch applications are sent to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) and the Council for Culture for a substantive assessment. The Ministry of OCW is responsible for the national preselection of Dutch candidates for the European Heritage Label.

Is your organisation or site interested in receiving the European Heritage Label? Please reach out to Jacomine Hendrikse for advice on the new nomination round. The deadline for Dutch applicants is 1 October 2024.

In our podcast series Europa om je heen (NL), you can listen to the remarkable and personal stories about the Maastricht Treaty, Kamp Westerbork, the Peace Palace, and the Colonies of Benevolence, and why they are crucial to the history of Europe or the European Union. Discover this heritage and experience what it means for today's Europe—and for you!

The four Dutch heritage sites have been pivotal to the history of Europe or the European Union and have therefore received the European Heritage Label. Each episode features spoken word pieces specially created by Hasan Gök, Marlon Penn, Amber-Helena Reisig, and Danytha.

The podcast for the fifth Dutch EHL site Our Lord in the Attic Museum, which has been rewarded only recently, is still in the making.