Monument preservation
Source: BUS Rheinland-PfalzThe historically evolved cultural landscapes, cities and towns provide us and future generations with opportunities to develop individually and identify with the land. They are a piece of home.
Preserving this cultural heritage, a testimony to our history, is also the responsibility of the state.
This obligation on the part of the state also means that it must intervene in questions of monument preservation. It fulfills its responsibility by protecting monuments from inappropriate changes that destroy their historical value. It helps monument owners to bear the additional costs of preserving cultural monuments through tax relief and financial grants, and it advises them on professional preservation.
In the districts and independent cities, the lower monument protection authorities are responsible for the protection of cultural monuments and the support of monument owners.
As structural alterations of any kind are subject to approval under monument protection law, an on-site consultation is first required at the property or a written description of the planned structural repair measures. The monument owner then receives the corresponding approval in writing. In return, it is possible to claim the costs invested in making the property suitable for residential use against tax in accordance with Sections 7 and 10 of the German Income Tax Act (EStG). For this purpose, the Lower Monument Protection Authority sends out the so-called owner's declaration (two-page form) at the same time as the approval under monument law, which the owner should then send to the State Monument Office in Mainz in good time in order to announce the measure there as well, as a corresponding certificate for the responsible tax office is issued from here for a processing fee.