Germany, it seems, is finally getting serious about its colonial past — specifically, the bits and bobs they, uh, acquired during said past. The nation just announced a shiny new body, the Coordination Council for Returns of Cultural Property and Human Remains from Colonial Contexts. Because apparently, that's where we are now: needing a council just to give stuff back.
This isn't just some dusty government committee, though. It's a full-spectrum effort, pulling in folks from national, state, and city governments. German culture minister Wolfram Weimer, sounding quite pleased, called it a "key step" in handling these items "responsibly." Which, you know, is a nice way of saying, "We probably should have done this a century ago."
Everybody's Doing It
Germany isn't exactly a trailblazer here. Other European nations have been in the "return the loot" game for a bit. French President Emmanuel Macron, for instance, promised way back in 2017 to send African art back home. While France is still figuring out its permanent return agency, a proposal passed in January aims to make it official.
We're a new kind of news feed.
Regular news is designed to drain you. We're a non-profit built to restore you. Every story we publish is scored for impact, progress, and hope.
Start Your News DetoxSwitzerland, not one to be left out, launched its Benin Initiative in 2021, tracing the origins of those famous Benin Bronzes across eight museums. Just this year, Zurich’s Museum Rietberg sent eleven artworks packing for Benin. And the Netherlands, after forming its own advisory committee in 2019, returned a satisfying 288 objects to Indonesia in 2024. Let that number sink in.
Germany's council actually stems from a 2019 agreement to return illegally acquired artifacts. They’ve already made some significant moves, like handing over 1,100 Benin bronzes to Nigeria in 2022. And just this year, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (a name that just screams "old stuff in dusty basements") returned 23 objects to Namibia, a former German colony.
Still, there's a backlog. Many other returns are still waiting for their grand homecoming. Like, for example, a promised figurine named Ngonnso, still chilling with the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation instead of being back in Cameroon. One step at a time, Germany. One step at a time.
