Wonders of the World

Wonder of the World or the seven wonders of the world were already in antiquity a list of special buildings or stills. The oldest tradition of a list of wonders of the world goes to the historian Herodotus back ( about 450 BC).

History

The first complete list of known " seven wonders of the world " can be found in an epigram of the writer Antipater of Sidon (2nd century BC ), who wrote a travel guide of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The Greeks called them: τὰ ἑπτὰ θεάματα τῆς οἰκουμένης [ γῆς ] hepta tà theámata tēs oikoumenēs [ GES ] - " the seven sights of the inhabited [ earth ] ." Philo of Byzantium described it in his De septem mundi miraculis.

The fact that the list was created in the Middle East, is obvious: Four of the wonders found there. Since that time many impressive buildings loaded and created, were cited in the area of the writer especially those.

This list has been changed many times over the years and adapted to the travel habits of the respective companies. Even in classical times there were alternatives, such as the Capitol in Rome, the " horns of the altar of Artemis on Delos", the " Hadrianustempel of Zeus at Cyzicus " (southern Marmara Sea) and many more. In the 13th century the entire city of Rome, Hagia Sophia in Constantinople were Opel ( now Istanbul, Turkey) was added, and even Noah's ark. From the initial short list of travel times created a whole travel brochure containing all the important buildings such as temples or sculptures. But this fell apart with time and memory remained especially the myth of the original wonders of the world.

Even today, inspired by the classic " Seven Wonders " authors, always new lists of " Wonders of the World " in various areas to create. This includes contemporary buildings as well as lists of exceptional natural events or works of art.

The Seven Wonders of the World

In ancient times, the mentioned Antipater described the so- familiar list of classic seven wonders of the world in his guide. Were mentioned in the most impressive and most magnificent buildings of its time and its Cultural Committee:

The list includes seven wonders of the world, because the number seven in ancient times was considered to be " perfect." This fixed number should increase the monuments in their meaning.

Today there are of these wonders of the world, only the pyramids of Giza. The others were destroyed by earthquakes and wars or disintegrate over time. The originally listed city walls of Babylon were removed, for example by Gregory of Tours in the 6th century from the list, because they were destroyed, and replaced by the " Lighthouse of Alexandria ". The Tower of Babel, however, never found its way into the list because he no longer existed in her first collection.

Ancient representations of the wonders of the world, there are quite a few, but some coinage were with the Helios head ( the Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the sun god Helios ), with the statue of Zeus in profile or with the lighthouse of Alexandria found. Descriptions of the mausoleum are. During the Renaissance, artists made ​​as the Dutchman Maerten van Heemskerck and Baroque Austrian architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach representations of the miracle of according to their ideas.

More " Wonder of the World "

Since the original wonders of the world were largely destroyed, attempts have been made to create new lists. The seven wonders of the world inspired authors to include other buildings in the classical list, where they also considered "younger" buildings like the Taj Mahal. Most of the world cultural heritage.

Architectural Wonders of the Modern

In the recent past, it has also appointed more modern buildings to " Wonders of the World ", which stood out for their high architectural splendours, its unusual appearance of others. This list is not based on records, but on architectural masterpieces that have prevailed over time. 1995 created the American Society of Civil Engineers is a list of the "Seven Wonders of the Modern World ":

• CN Tower ( Toronto, Canada)
• Delta Works ( widely distributed in the Netherlands)
• Empire State Building ( New York City, United States)
• Euro tunnel ( under the English Channel between France and Great Britain)
• Golden Gate Bridge ( San Francisco, United States)
• Itaipu Dam ( Brazil- Paraguay)
• Panama Canal ( Panama )

1995 newer buildings were not yet completed, such as the currently tallest skyscraper Burj Khalifa and Taipei 101, the highest and longest cable-stayed Millau Viaduct or the 57 km long Gotthard Base Tunnel, the longest tunnel of its kind

"The new 7 Wonders of the World "

Selection and result

A larger media coverage reached mid-2000s, the Foundation founded by the Swiss Bernard Weber in 1999 " NewOpenWorld Foundation " with the choice of so-called " New 7 Wonders of the World". The aim was according to Weber, to connect people from all over the world through their shared cultural heritage. The election took place in a combination of online voting and jury decision in three phases.

In the first phase, 200 buildings were available, over which, according to the organizers, about 20 million Internet users voted. Were from the 77 top finishers in the second phase of a jury consisting of seven architects selected (including Zaha Hadid, Tadao Ando, ​​César Pelli, and Harry Seidler ), chaired by former UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor Zaragoza, 21 finalists.

Protest came from Egypt: Culture Minister Farouk Hosni and the Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass stated that the election had no scientific background or official, and designated them as " nonsense ". Then the pyramids of Giza were removed from the list and declared " eternal wonder of the world ". In the third phase, from January 2006 to June 2007 was voted by Internet, phone or SMS. According to organizers, a total of 100 million votes were cast. Neuschwanstein Castle failed to reach the list just barely, and was elected to 8th place.

On 7 July 2007, the " New 7 Wonders of the World" were announced in Lisbon as part of an elaborately staged television show:

• Chichen Itza, Mayan ruins on the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico)
• Great Wall of China, border fortification ( People's Republic of China)
• Cristo Redentor, Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil )
• Colosseum, ancient amphitheater in Rome ( Italy)
• Machu Picchu, Inca ruins in the Andes (Peru )
• Petra, rock city (Jordan)
• Taj Mahal, grave Mosque ( India)

Criticism and reactions

Critical reactions triggered the choice conditions. Since the election mechanism did not provide safeguards against the release of multiple votes, the poll has been criticized as ' clearly unscientific. " In several countries, there were campaigns of tourism ministries, politicians or businessmen to call on people to vote for a particular building. They were explicitly encourages multiple voting. Prominent public figures operated in many countries, advertising for their candidate.

Another criticism was that the participation exclusively online or by phone was not possible. Thus, although could in principle every person participating in the voting process, but the majority do not have access to these technologies ( " digital divide "). Weber responded that that of Mali within a week more votes had been made as of Germany as a whole. In addition, it was criticized that charges levied on the telephone votes.

After initial support of Weber's initiative by the Office for Partnerships United Nations, UNESCO distanced itself from the survey and found that this handle to a private media campaign that neither scientific criteria follow even science and conservation serve (as opposed to recording of a building in the UNESCO world Heritage Site).

Bernard Weber harvested in Asia and the Third World wide recognition for his campaign, when the seven ancient wonders of the world were exclusively in the Mediterranean and the Near East. In today's poor countries the "New Wonder of the World " will therefore be received as a fairer representation or selection.

Wonders of Nature

Analogous to the man-made " wonders " are also various natural phenomena such as the Grand Canyon in the United States or the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia sometimes referred to as such, many of them also belong to the World Heritage Site. Again, a global survey of the New7Wonders project was (see above) performed. What resulted are the following:

• Amazon in South America
• Halong Bay in Vietnam
• Iguazu Falls on the border between Argentina and Brazil
• Jeju Volcanic Island of South Korea
• Komodo ( island) Indonesia
• Table Mountain (South Africa)
• Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National - Park in the Philippines

The eighth wonder of the world

The title of the "eighth wonder of the world " was often used to in the media - to make things, which, actually or supposedly represent a superlative (and sometimes, in an ironic form, even people) - sometimes referred to as advertising. Today, it is used less frequently.

An example: On the four walls of the entrance of the Empire State Building, the seven wonders of the world are on display as illuminated glass paintings of artist Roy Sparkia and Renée Nemorov that are formed at the beginning of the 1960 years. In another picture, the building itself is shown, the apostrophized through this context an " eighth wonder of the world ". The building was from 1931 to 1972 the tallest skyscraper in the world.