In 1999, the Historic Centre of the City of Graz was accepted onto UNESCO’s World Heritage List. To celebrate its 20-year World Heritage anniversary, the City of Graz arranged an extensive information campaign to illustrate the topics of “World Heritage” and “UNESCO” in the city’s urban environment.

Since the World Heritage site was expanded in 2010, the world cultural heritage of Graz now consists of two central zones – the old town and Schloss Eggenberg – joined together by a long buffer zone to form a single World Heritage site. This unit and its connection have been brought to prominence for the public by a striking tram, designed by the Graz-based artist Herms Fritz and boasting various UNESCO programme logos connected with Graz.

This tram mainly travels along lines 1 and 7 – the links between the old town and Eggenberg – and ensures a lasting presence for UNESCO and World Cultural Heritage in the urban environment.

In order to address these topics during the tram ride too, there are posters inside the tram explaining Graz’s UNESCO title as well as a fold-out leaflet providing information on UNESCO and its relation to the City of Graz.

If the tram is used on a different line, its “messenger function” for UNESCO World Cultural Heritage is enhanced as it then honours those parts of the city that are not within the core and buffer zone.

“For 20 years, the old town of Graz has boasted the status of World Cultural Heritage, which was extended to include Schloss Eggenberg in 2010. The tram redesigned for this occasion provides not only a colourful feature in the historic city backdrop but also contributes significantly towards the visibility of UNESCO and its goals in the public sphere,”
says Dr Sabine Haag, President of the Austrian Commission for UNESCO.