The famous bronzes are to be found in a number of German museums
BERLIN, May 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Artefacts plundered in the 19th century and now residing in German museums could start being returned to Nigeria in 2022, after museum experts and political leaders hammered out an agreement on Thursday.
The next step, now that the German cultural and political leaders have reached a common agreement, will be to develop a road map for the return, which should be completed in the next few months.
That will mean inventorying all of the items by June 15, followed by a meeting on June 29 to consider the best approach.
“We are taking on the historic and moral responsibility of holding Germany’s colonial past up to the light and processing it,” said Culture Minister Monika Gruetters after the meeting. “The way we treat the Benin Bronzes will thus be a crucible.”
She said the goal will be to oversee “substantial returns” in an atmosphere of maximum transparency.
Hermann Parzinger of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation said the goal is to return the first items by 2022. He said talks are planned with the group’s Nigerian counterparts to ensure “substantial returns and future cooperation.” Those would include talks about allowing some of the items to remain on display in German museums.
Most of the artefacts, known as the Benin Bronzes, were looted by British forces during a military expedition to the kingdom, in what is now Nigeria, in 1897.
The famous bronzes are to be found in a number of German museums.
The Berlin Ethnological Museum holds around 530 artefacts from the kingdom of Benin, including around 440 bronzes. — NNN-AGENCIES