Germany returns looted works of art to Nigeria. It concerns statues and other objects from the then kingdom of Benin, which were stolen by the British and eventually ended up in German museums.
The German government speaks of a historic agreement, after years of negotiations. According to Berlin, the works are among Africa’s greatest treasures. At the same time, their history is also a story of colonialism and violence, emphasizes the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbock.
Among the first bronze statues now dating back is the bust of a king who used to stand on an altar in honor of a monarch.
When British soldiers invaded Benin in 1897, they looted the royal palace and stole more than 5,000 precious objects. More than a thousand of these objects are still in Germany.
Baerbock therefore calls the handing over of the first works to Nigeria a start. “It was wrong to steal the bronzes and it was wrong to keep and preserve them.”
The Kingdom of Benin existed from the 17th century until the British Invasion of 1897. The empire was located where the Nigerian state of Edo now lies. The kingdom has nothing to do with the present-day West African country of Benin.
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