Dresdner Elbtal

The Saxon heartland, with Dresden at its centre, represents one of the richest cultural tapestries in all of Germany. This fact obviously didn't escape the Unesco officers in charge of designating new World Heritage sites, who in 2004 welcomed a 20km section of the river valley, the Dresdner Elbtal, into their prestigious club. This stretch follows the Elbe downstream from Schloss Pillnitz to Schloss Übigau, passing by Dresden's matchless baroque magnificence along the way.

But only two years later, in July 2006, the Elbtal ended up on a far less honourable list: the one identifying endangered World Heritage sites. The reason? The planned construction of a controversial four-lane bridge across the river near the scenic spot where Canaletto once immortalised Dresden's fabulous silhouette. Unless the city gives up - or seriously modifies - its plans, Unesco has threatened to revoke the area's World Heritage status. At the time of writing, city leaders remained stubborn, insisting that the organisation had known about the bridge plans at the time it approved their application. Dresden was given until the summer of 2007 to come up with a new approach. Stay tuned.