EPHEMERIS Two worlds, one heritage
At first glance, the Dolomites and the Wadden Sea could hardly appear more different: there, the majestic pinnacles and towers rising steeply into the sky; here, the endless horizons where water, sand, and sky flow into one another. Yet both landscapes are incomparable natural treasures – and both are today protected as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
History connects these places in unexpected ways. Where the “Pale Mountains” stand today, a shallow marginal sea of the Tethys Ocean stretched out some 250 million years ago – a primordial tidal flat. In this transitional landscape shaped by ebb and flow, sediments accumulated over millions of years, reefs formed, eventually fossilised, and were uplifted by geological forces to become the Dolomites. Whoever wanders among these bizarre stone towers is, in fact, walking across the remnants of an ancient seabed that has seemingly solidified into a mountain range.
By contrast, today’s Wadden Sea along the North Sea coast is a young natural wonder, shaped by the Ice Ages, by wind, and by the rhythm of the tides. Here, one can witness landscapes emerging, disappearing, and endlessly transforming. Millions of birds, fish, mussels, and worms depend on this dynamic environment as their habitat. What has long become part of the geological chronicle in the Dolomites appears in the Wadden Sea as a living process – a natural theatre that changes its face twice a day.
The exhibition brings together these two landscapes that are so different yet connected across time. Through large-format photographs and artistic perspectives, it creates a dialogue between stone and water, permanence and transience. It highlights the sharp, crystalline light of the Dolomites in contrast to the softly muted colours of the Wadden Sea; it also recalls that these “twins” were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on the same day – 26 June 2009.
Thus, the exhibition not only invites wonder but also reflection: on the vast timescales in which our Earth changes; on the fragility of even the mightiest geological formations; and on our responsibility to preserve these treasures. Anyone who immerses themselves in these images will sense that the Dolomites and the Wadden Sea are two versions of the same story – a story of sea and stone, of change and persistence, of nature as humanity’s shared heritage.
