In January 2020, the application for the inclusion of the ShUM sites in the UNESCO World Heritage List was submitted to UNESCO in Paris. The comprehensive document is now also available in German. The completeness check and questions from UNESCO experts are currently underway.

The numerous stakeholders involved in the application are working with continued enthusiasm on the scientific justification for the application and the presentation of the preservation, accessibility, and communication of the medieval Jewish monuments of the former ShUM communities.

Final consultations are taking place between the three cities and with the Jewish community as the owner of the sites in Worms and Mainz.

In Worms, an exhibition was opened in September 2020 in the Rashi House as a satellite of the major project "The Emperors and the Pillars of Power" in the Mainz State Museum. There is also a special area dedicated to ShUM to marvel at.

The state capital of Mainz has initiated a planning competition for the Old Jewish Cemetery, the results of which are expected to be the construction of a visitor pavilion and greater visibility for the entire cemetery area.

The so-called ShUM communities of Speyer, Worms, and Mainz are to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List for their extraordinary Jewish heritage.

Since 2012, the state of Rhineland-Palatinate has been preparing the nomination together with the participating municipalities and representatives of the Jewish communities.

The basis for this was a cooperation agreement signed by the partners before the official submission of the nomination documents to the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK) on August 1, 2012. It forms the basis for future cooperation and joint tasks associated with the World Heritage application. 

Minister President Kurt Beck signed the cooperation agreement on behalf of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The mayors of the cities of Speyer, Worms, and Mainz, Hansjörg Eger, Michael Kissel, and Michael Ebling, signed on behalf of the participating municipalities. Representing the Jewish communities, the chairman of the State Association of Jewish Communities in Rhineland-Palatinate, Dr. Peter Waldmann, the chairwoman of the Jewish community in Mainz, Stella Schindler-Siegreich, and the managing director of the Jewish Community of the Rhine Palatinate, Daniel Nemirovsky, added their signatures. The signing ceremony was also attended by Rhineland-Palatinate's Minister of Culture, Doris Ahnen, and the state's World Heritage Commissioner, State Secretary Walter Schumacher.

The cooperation agreement was a first formal step, to be followed by concrete measures. For example, the partners intend to coordinate and implement future tasks related to the World Heritage application in a joint association. Among other things, the association will be responsible for preparing the application documents, public relations, and the development of tourism in the ShUM cities.

In July 2014, the SchUM communities founded the association "SchUM Cities Speyer, Worms, Mainz." The SchUM cities want to use this association to highlight the unique Jewish heritage of the cities of Speyer, Worms, and Mainz even more strongly and make it better known nationally and internationally. The aim is to restore Jewish culture to the importance it had for centuries.

On July 21, 2014, Minister President Malu Dreyer, the mayors of the three cities, and representatives of the Jewish communities signed the association's statutes at the State Chancellery in Mainz for the founding members, the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, the three participating cities, the State Association of Jewish Communities, and the Jewish communities of Mainz-Worms and the Rhine Palatinate.

The application by the ShUM communities has now made it to one of the top spots on the German nomination list for an upcoming selection round of new UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

By 2020, the current, still preliminary application is to be developed into a detailed and comprehensive application for the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. This will require, among other things, more extensive scientific preparatory work.

In this video, Dr. Susanne Urban, managing director of SchUM-Städte e.V., explains why Judaism and wine are closely linked and what unique characteristics make the three SchUM cities ideal candidates for the UNESCO World Heritage List.