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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972. West Germany ratified the convention on 23 August 1976; and East Germany on 12 December 1988, making their historical sites eligible for inclusion on the list.

As of 2021, there are 46 official UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Germany, including 43 cultural sites, 3 natural sites. In addition, there are 12 sites on Germany's tentative list and 17 German entries in the Memory of the World Programme. The first site in Germany to be inscribed on the World Heritage List was Aachen Cathedral in 1978, which was one of the first sites in the world to be added to the list. The most recent sites to be inscribed were the Water Management System of Augsburg; and the Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region – shared with the Czech Republic – in 2019. Germany holds the fourth-highest number of World Heritage Sites in the World, after China and Italy, both countries with 55 sites respectively, and Spain with 48 sites.

Dresden Elbe Valley, which was designated a World Heritage in Danger in July 2006, was finally delisted in June 2009, making it one of the only two sites in the world that have been removed from the World Heritage Site register.