German organ-makers rejoiced on Thursday after a special UNESCO meeting recognised their craft and organ music as an “intangible cultural heritage of humanity.”
“Organ music is a universal language that fosters inter-religious understanding,’’ the UN’s cultural body said during a meeting on the South Korean resort Island of Jeju.
UNESCO pointed to the unique community of organ-makers in Germany who pass their knowledge and skills on from generation to generation.
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“The UNESCO application was the result of decades of work by musicologists, organists and organ experts with the instrument, its history and its present, its technology and its tone,’’ prominent organ expert Michael Kaufmann told newsroom.
He said that he hoped that the recognition would open financial resources for the maintenance of the pipe organ tradition in Germany.
There are some 50,000 pipe organs in the country, found chiefly in churches and concert halls, played by both full-time professionals and part-timers.
Other newly inscribed UN cultural assets included Switzerland’s Basel Carnival, Kyrgyz horse-riding, Indonesian boat-building and Neapolitan pizza-making.
(Dpa/NAN)
