In this project a collection of over 50 legal texts regarding the movement of cultural heritage was created. The collection is accompanied by an introductory article which scrutinizes the sources from a legal and a cultural-historical perspective.

Research

Over a period of one year, over 50 legal texts from over 20 legislations in Europe, the Mediterranean, South America, Scandinavia and Russia were researched, transcribed and published online on https://transllegisl.hypotheses.org/.

In addition to the source collection, an introductory article examines the texts from the perspective of legal and cultural history. The article discusses not only the basic techniques of defining and protecting cultural assets, but also evaluates the rhetoric and arguments put forward (especially in the prefaces) in favour of this protection. The accompanying bibliography as well as the references to relevant sources and literature under the transcripts facilitate an in-depth examination of the background to each individual law.