The International Commission on Historical Monuments (1933-1937)

At the end of 1933, the International Commission on Historical Monuments (ICHM, own abbreviation) was founded under the framework of the International Museums Office. It was a result of the discussions at the Athens Conference in 1931, at which the participants had explicitly expressed the wish to cooperate more closely internationally in the field of the conservation of cultural heritage. The ICHM considered itself a coordinating body for experience and documentation, a platform for exchange and a source of inspiration for the national administrations. They aimed to generate greater respect among the people for the testimonies of the past and to stimulate a spirit of international solidarity. Even before the ambitious goals of the Commission could bear fruit in practice, the disintegration of the international community put an abrupt end to the ideas of the Commission members. After the 1937 conference on excavations in Cairo, the archival record ends.  In this research note, a brief overview of the institutional and personnel anchoring of the ICHM is given, which would like to be an impulse for further research questions.