The clearest, most direct roots to the idea of the importance of the preservation of cultural heritage can be traced to the German states. The following if an excerpt from my Introduction to Folklore that may help with this:

Modern professional folklore collecting began in Europe in the early nineteenth century. Whether by coincidence or cause, this was also a time when nationalism was in vogue in Europe. Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803) played a critical role in the history of folklore studies and nationalism. He called for Germans and others to strive for nationhood and to use language and popular traditions to reinforce and inspire national cultures and consciousness. With the assertion that this material is important, Herder broke with Enlightenment thinkers who stressed the universal shared aspects of humanity rather than the cultural characteristics that divided people. In the Germanies, scholars such as Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814) and the poets Clemens Brentano (1778-1842) and Achim von Arnim (1781-1831) answered Herder’s call.

Fichte was a professor at the University of Berlin during Napoleon’s occupation of the German states. He feared that German culture and language might become extinct because of the oppressive domination of the French. In his “Addresses to the German Nation,” public lectures held in 1807 and 1808, Fichte attempted to alert Germans to this possibility. Echoing Herder, he stressed the idea that language held the identity of a culture, a people, and a nation, and that language shaped a nation’s destiny and helped define its unique qualities.

The work of Brentano and von Arnim drew on popular traditions for inspiration and material, but they were removed from the modern notion of professional collection of folklore. Instead, they saw little reason to remain true to their sources: for them, the most important goal was to create a national literature in the vernacular language, which would foster German awareness and inspire a generation of patriots.

In the midst of the early nineteenth century, when an increasing number of people were becoming aware of Herder’s message, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm approached popular tradition in a new way. The brothers had studied under Friedrich Karl von Savigny (1779-1861), who stressed precise historical method to arrive at a better understanding of German heritage. Although the sweeping Romanticism of Herder influenced them, the brothers were not content with exploiting popular motifs in literature. Instead, they collected the material in a manner that approached (but did not always reach) modern professional standards.

The work of the Grimm brothers inspired counterparts throughout Europe, particularly where people strove for nationhood. The scholarly tradition of folklore collecting paralleled that of the antiquarians and the “folklore” poets. The effectiveness of each in inspiring nationalism is difficult to evaluate and does not lend itself to simple generalizations. Nevertheless, some conclusions are possible. Early folklorists clearly helped define the nations as they fought for their own sovereignty. The politicians of nations that grew from the independence movements regularly pay homage to these early custodians of the popular culture. Historian Hans Kohn (1944) suggests that “Herder, who can be regarded as the first representative of German nationalism and of folk nationalism generally, was influenced by Rousseau’s stress upon the primitive and pre-civilized stages of human development, the national folkdom of ‘unspoiled people.’” He further asserts that “the new emphasis in Germany upon indigenous originality” was also due to a general trend in European thought. He suggests that while the Romantic-era notion of the value of local cultural roots had expression in Britain, many British publications ultimately had a greater effect in Germany. These included Samuel Richardson’s “Clarissa” (1748) and “Sir Charles Grandison” (1753), Edward Young’s “Night Thoughts” (1742), Thomas Percy’s “Reliques of Ancient English Poetry” (1765), and especially the supposed third-century Celtic literature invented by James MacPherson, including Fragments of Ancient Poetry Collected in the Highlands of Scotland, Fingal, and The Works of Ossian (1760-1773). In Germany, these British poets and authors helped inspire the idea that it was more important to study national traditions and originality rather than to consider universal standards and values.

Kohn suggests, however, that Herder was misunderstood and that his intention was not to be nationalistic. Writing in 1944 during the depths of World War II, Kohn noted that “today’s German nationalism overlooks that no eighteenth century thinker – not even Herder – regarded the reality of the folk as a natural and therefore unchangeable and unchallengeable foundation of history.” Nevertheless, the work of Herder provides an important building block for those who wished to find the justification for nationalism in the folk.