Monuments are objects, groups of objects and parts of objects in whose preservation and use there is a public interest. This exists if the objects are significant for human history, for cities and settlements or for the development of working and production conditions and if there are artistic, scientific, folkloristic or urban planning reasons for their preservation and use.
Architectural monuments are monuments consisting of buildings or parts of buildings. Gardens, cemeteries and parks as well as other man-made landscape features are treated in the same way if they fulfil the requirements mentioned above. Historical features are to be treated as monuments if they form a unit of monumental value with the monument (Section 2 (2) DSchG NRW).
Monuments are to be entered separately from architectural monuments, fixed ground monuments (reference to ground monuments) and movable monuments in the list of monuments.
