Central Europe is a mixture of multi-ethnical regions, with a stormy past and many cross-cultural connections. The 19th and 20th centuries saw the birth of several nation-states that used cultural heritage constructs to legitimize their existence, demonstrating their long history and supposed cultural superiority. Characteristics of the minds of the different nations were searched for in the field of art history, too. The old and new states published series of “national” art histories in the second half of the 20th century.

Simultaneous with these “national” art histories was the contradictory notion of using art to promote a unified Europe. Instigated by the political changes of 1989/90, collective actions were brought to the region in the form of several international exhibitions, presenting topics such as Baroque art in Central Europe or “Central Europe around 1000”. Organized through international cooperation is the preparation of a nine-volume hand book on the history of art in Eastern-Central Europe, discussed in a European context.

A novelty of the convention of the Council of Europe (Faro 2005) is the definition of “heritage community”. According to it groups and/or individuals have the right to express their affinity to any part of European heritage, independently of ownership and localization, and anybody, alone or within a community, may belong to several heritage communities. Interpretations can and will be different, but the right to have access to material and sources of the common heritage has already started to be accepted.