ALSH

State Archaeology Department of Schleswig-Holstein

Original name in German

Archäologisches Landesamt Schleswig-Holstein

Description

The State Archaeology Department of Schleswig-Holstein (ALSH) is the upper-level archaeological monuments protection authority in the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein. As public authority, it has to be involved in all issues affecting the archaeological heritage, specifically with regard to public planning. Its main responsibilities are the listing of ancient monuments and the saveguarding of the archaeological heritage on land and within the state’s territorial waters in the North and Baltic Seas. Amongst its most potent legal instruments are the ‘ipsa lege principle’, which extends automatically statutory protection to all archaeological sites – known and unknown – and the ‘polluter pays principle’ in accordance to the Valleta Convention, i.e. developer-funded rescue excavations carried out by the ALSH.

The ALSH is the lead partner in the BalticRIM Project.