Protection of Cultural Heritage Act (DSchG) - A. Definition** (DSchG)

1. Cultural monuments are works of human activity that are to be preserved for their scientific, artistic, historical, or local significance, in particular

a. Churches, chapels and other ecclesiastical buildings, castles, palaces, bridges, fortifications, public buildings, workers' and other housing estates, villas, townhouses and farmhouses, storages, mills and other buildings, whether fully preserved or only as ruins, as well as groups of buildings (rural settlements, town centers, old towns, or parts thereof);

b. Commercial and industrial facilities, installations for power generation, traffic facilities, as well as gardens and parks;

c. Building components, such as wall and ceiling paneling, doors and gates, built-in cabinet sections, staircases, latticeworks, stucco, ovens, inscriptions, murals, sculptures, coats of arms, signs, and other decorations, whether fully or only fragmentarily preserved;

d. Inscription stones, boundary stones, wayside crosses, field shrines, fountains, graves;

e. Manuscripts, documents, files, archival materials, printed materials, incunabula, graphic sheets, maps, plans, seals, seal stamps;

f. Sculptures, ceramics, paintings, drawings, products of the arts and crafts;

g. Vessels, devices, coins, coin stamps, medals, weapons, tools, jewelry, costumes, uniforms, and textiles of all kinds;

h. Archaeological monuments

1. Fixed archaeological monuments, such as settlement sites, graves, grave monuments, sanctuaries, fortifications, castle sites, traffic routes, cup stones;

2. Archaeological finds such as weapons, tools, vessels, pottery shards, jewelry items, coins, shipwrecks and remnants of other means of transportation, human skeletons, remains of plants and animals, insofar as they are related to human culture.

1. The competent authority records immovable works that are worthy of preservation pursuant to § 1 in a building inventory for each municipality. The owners of the affected works are to be included in the procedure.

2. Individual objects and building groups of significant scientific, artistic, historical, or cultural value worthy of preservation are entered into the inventory as protected objects.

3. The building inventory contains a description of the objects and specifies the relevant criteria for their evaluation. It is public and periodically updated.

4. The competent authority enacts the building inventory separately for each municipality.

5. The government council regulates the details in an ordinance.

1. Owners and other entitled parties must permit the responsible authority to examine and record an object for its eligibility for registration.

2. Should material damage occur during this process, it must be compensated. If no agreement on compensation is reached, it will be determined in the appraisal procedure according to the Expropriation Act of June 29, 1970. Furthermore, and for unlawfully inflicted damages, the provisions of the Liability Act of September 13, 1988, apply.

1. If objects listed as worthy of protection in the building inventory are affected by a plan or building permit, the responsible department must be involved in the procedure.

2. Owners of objects listed in the building inventory may apply to the responsible department for a declaratory decision on the listing, provided they demonstrate a legitimate interest worthy of protection. The declaratory decision is generally to be issued within 6 months from the application.

3. In all other respects, the provisions of the Planning and Building Act of March 7, 1989, shall apply.

1. Cultural monuments of considerable scientific, artistic, historical, or local significance that merit special protection are entered into the cantonal monument register. The entry is decided by the competent authority upon the recommendation of the monument commission, and after consultation with the municipalities in whose territory the monument is located. The municipalities have the right to independently apply to the competent authority for the inclusion of cultural monuments in the monument register.

2. The owner shall be consulted before a decision on the entry is made. He is given the opportunity to submit written comments. A reasoned decision shall be communicated to him.

3. The regulations governing entry shall apply mutatis mutandis to the removal from the register.

4. Entries and removals are published in the Cantonal Gazette.

5. The competent authority is authorized to inspect monuments to be registered or already registered, following prior notification of the owner and holder.

1. The competent authority may, even before the entry into the monument register, take necessary precautionary measures to protect an endangered monument.

2. The municipalities may apply for such precautionary measures with the competent authority or, in cases of extraordinary urgency, may take such measures themselves, notifying the competent authority.

3. If precautionary measures have been taken, the competent authority must decide within 3 months whether the objects in question are to be entered into the monument register or whether the provisional measures are to be lifted.

1. If properties or their components or accessories are entered into the monument register, a public-law ownership restriction pursuant to § 5 must be noted in the land register.

2. The land registry office must inform the competent authority of any changes in ownership of such properties.

3. The properties listed in the monument register may be marked with a plaque or inscription with the consent of the owner.

1. Real estate entered in the monument register may not be renovated, altered, removed, destroyed, or otherwise impaired in their effect without the approval of the competent authority. They must be maintained in such a way that their existence is permanently secured.

2. The competent authority is entitled to monitor the approved work.

3. Buildings and facilities of the state and municipalities that are under monument protection may, if their special significance justifies it, be made accessible to the general public. This requires a resolution of the government council or, in the case of objects belonging to a municipality, the municipality.

4. Buildings and facilities registered in the monument register that are privately owned can be made accessible to the public through easement agreements with the owner. This can only be done through public law property restrictions in exceptional cases with uninhabited buildings, and only if there is an extraordinary public interest.

1. Restrictions on property according to § 5, which equate to expropriation, must be fully compensated by the state.

2. For the costs of maintenance and renovation of real estate listed in the cantonal monument register, the state provides contributions insofar as additional expenses arise beyond the ordinary maintenance costs.

3. The contributions under paragraph 2 are determined by the government council after consulting the owner and the monument commission.

4. If the owner demands compensation according to paragraph 1, the government council will present a proposal to them. If no agreement is reached, the compensation will be determined, taking into account the contributions according to paragraph 2, in an appraisal procedure according to the Expropriation Act.

1. If a public law property restriction pursuant to § 5 results in a depreciation of the property's value, this must be taken into account when determining the cadastral assessment.

1. Movable cultural monuments shall only be entered into the cantonal monument register if, aside from the conditions set out in § 2, their origin from the Canton of Lucerne is established or can be assumed with a high degree of probability, or if they were created by a local artist.

2. Monument protection also applies to movable items that, despite their foreign origin, are so closely linked to the local past that their loss would constitute a significant detriment to the public.

3. Private collections of cultural monuments are not entered as such into the monument register, but only individual items for which the conditions of paragraphs 1 and 2 are fulfilled.

1. If registered movable items are exposed to the risk of impairment, decay, destruction, or loss, the owner must be requested by the competent authority to protect them within an appropriate period according to their instructions. If the owner does not do so or is unable to do so under the given circumstances, the competent authority has the right to order the storage of the item in a suitable, if possible, publicly accessible place, and to take the necessary measures for its preservation.

2. The state provides contributions toward the costs of preserving such objects, as specified in § 6.

3. At the request of the owner, the acquisition of the endangered items in accordance with § 11 replaces the measures mentioned in paragraph 1.

**1. If a movable object protected by an entry in the cantonal monument register is sold (sale, voluntary auction, exchange, gift), the state is entitled to acquire it at market value. Excluded from this is the sale to the spouse or registered partner, to a relative, to an in-law, or to siblings of the registered partner of the seller, provided they reside in the Canton of Lucerne. The seller must notify the competent authority. If no agreement is reached with the seller, the compensation to be paid by the state will be determined in an appraisal procedure according to the Expropriation Act.**

**2. The state can transfer the right of acquisition described in paragraph 1 to a local or church municipality or a corporation. A municipality or corporation should be given preference if they have a particular interest in the object and provide assurance for its appropriate storage and preservation. The competent authority decides on this upon the application of the Monument Commission.**

**3. If the entitled communities do not assert the right of acquisition within one month after becoming aware of the intended sale, the right lapses.**

**4. Sales that are not reported to the competent authority are invalid.**

1. The export of a registered movable monument from the canton area must be reported to the competent authority in all cases.

1. For archaeological finds (treasures and scientific objects), the provisions of Articles 723 and 724 of the Civil Code apply.

2. The finder or discoverer must promptly report the find to the municipality, which will inform the competent authority.

3. State and municipal authorities and officials, particularly the police, must communicate all observations regarding archaeological finds to the competent authority.

1. The competent authority records the archaeological sites in an inventory.

2. The archaeological sites inventory contains a description of the sites and statements regarding the necessary protective measures. It is public and must be continuously updated.

3. If planning or building permits affect registered sites in the inventory, the competent authority must be included in the procedure. Interventions in registered sites must be approved by the competent authority. The approval is free of charge. Otherwise, the provisions of the Planning and Building Act apply.

4. Owners and other entitled parties must grant the competent authority access to their properties. § 1b applies mutatis mutandis.

5. The government council regulates the details in a regulation.

1. If ancient artifacts are discovered during construction or excavation work, the discoverer, the builder, the construction manager, and the contractor must immediately notify the municipality, which in turn must inform the competent authority.

2. A specialist from the competent authority will promptly proceed to the site and issue the necessary instructions for the proper recovery and preservation of the find.

3. Until the competent authority releases the site, any work not authorized by the authority is prohibited. This obligation expires 5 days after notification.

1. Areas where ancient ground monuments are present can be declared as protected excavation areas.

2. Protected excavation areas must not be altered, particularly neither filled in nor built over, until they are released by the competent authority.

3. In this context, Section 6 applies correspondingly.

4. If the state has not initiated expropriation proceedings within a protection period of one year, the restriction on ownership lapses, unless a longer period has been agreed upon through negotiation.

1. Researching and excavating for archaeological artifacts require the approval of the competent authority.

2. Owners and other entitled persons must allow the competent authority and the persons it involves to carry out excavation work on their properties.

3. If damage to property occurs during excavation works under paragraph 2, it must be compensated. If no agreement is reached regarding the compensation, it shall be determined in the appraisal procedure according to the Expropriation Act. Otherwise, and for damages caused unlawfully, the provisions of the Liability Act apply.

1. Archaeological finds are to be kept in state collections or in regional and local museums. The allocation of newly discovered finds is carried out by the competent authority.

2. If it is in the interest of research and there is assurance of proper storage and preservation, archaeological finds may exceptionally be retained as loans in private collections.

3. The competent authority has supervisory rights over all archaeological finds in public and private ownership.

4. The competent authority must ensure through consultations and directives that the archaeological finds are inventoried, restored and conserved as necessary, properly maintained, and stored.

1. Responsible for the enforcement of this law are

a. the Council of Government;

b. the Department of Education and Culture;

c. * the municipal councils, provided that the municipalities have not regulated otherwise in their legislative enactments;

d. the Monument Commission;

e. * the competent agency.

f. * ...

1. The municipalities, in addition to the duties and powers according to §§ 2, 3, 5, and 13, have the obligation to cooperate in the enforcement of this law by promptly reporting circumstances and events that make measures for the protection of cultural monuments appear necessary, as well as violations of this law, to the competent authority.

1. The Executive Council appoints a Monument Commission consisting of five to seven members. It is composed of representatives from politics, property owners, and experts. The Monument Commission advises the competent office, the Department of Education and Culture, and the Executive Council on all important matters concerning monument preservation and archaeology and is to be consulted particularly in connection with the designation of protected status and its subsequent affairs as well as with major scientific excavations.

2. The Executive Council shall regulate the specifics in an ordinance.

1. The Department Designated by the Governing Council in the Regulation as Responsible

a. is responsible for all enforcement measures that are not assigned to other bodies by law and regulation,

b. provides owners and professionals with free advice within the scope of preserving cultural monuments.

1. In accordance with the funds approved by the Cantonal Council, the state supports the preservation and maintenance of cultural monuments, as well as the conduct of scientific studies, documentation, and excavations.

2. The amount of funds allocated depends on the artistic, scientific, and typological significance of the cultural monuments concerned, as well as the nature and scope of the works and investigations.

1. The Government Council may, after consulting with the Monument Commission, refrain from implementing a measure provided for in this law if such implementation would require disproportionately high expenditures in view of the significance of the object.

1. Appeals against decisions made under this law can be filed in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act of July 3, 1972.

1. This law shall enter into force on May 1, 1960, and shall be published.