Historic preservation in Zug under criticism
In Zug, numerous historic buildings are endangered by the revised Monument Protection Act. According to this law, monuments must meet extremely important criteria to be placed under protection, a standard that hardly any building in Zug achieves. In 2021, the Federal Court declared that a literal interpretation of this law would be inadmissible vis-à-vis the Federal Constitution and international law. Nevertheless, a new ruling by the Federal Court in the case of the Zug Cantonal School made waves because it did not address an appeal by the Zug Heritage Society.
The revised Zug Monument Protection Act came into force in 2019 and limits protection to “extremely important” buildings. As a result, many historic buildings in the canton of Zug that are valuable but not “extremely important” are at risk. Critics argue that this strict criterion concerns world-famous monuments such as Notre Dame Cathedral or Cologne Cathedral, but not local monuments such as the Zurlaubenhof.
Appeal and decision of the Federal Court
The Zug Heritage Society had challenged the law on the grounds of violations of the Granada Convention, an international treaty for the protection of architectural monuments. The Federal Court partially ruled in their favour, but the decision was not upheld in a more recent case, which means that many buildings in the canton of Zug remain at risk.
Future prospects
According to recent court decisions, many historic buildings in Zug are not protected. Owners and residents who want to campaign for the protection of these buildings now face the challenge of challenging the legality of the laws and bearing the associated legal costs. They can rely on international agreements and previous court decisions, but the hurdles are high. Homeland Security regrets that the earlier decision of the Federal Court was not upheld.