Germany returns 21 historic pieces of bronze to Nigeria, looted in the 19th century
- In the 19th century, British soldiers looted valuable bronze images and put them on sale throughout Europe. Many of them stay at the British Museum in London.
The German Government has embarked on a process to restore and repair the damage caused by the plundering of the artistic heritage on African lands during colonialism, making valuable pieces of bronze available to the Nigerian Minister of Culture in the time of the kingdom of Benin. It includes the brass head of a sheep or king, an image of a ceremony and a throne surrounded by a python snake.
These pieces were taken from the city of Benin in a criminal attack of 1897 by British soldiers. Benin, a centuries-old kingdom, possessing a rich culture of trade and bronze, was devastated by the British at the end of the 19th century in full colonization and African oppression.
The pieces were later sold to European museums such as Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Cologne. "Go back," explains German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, delegating a spectacular ivory mask to the Nigerian minister, The Guardian. Germany returned some 1,000 pieces of this kind to Nigeria legally this summer, and these 21 bronzes are just one example of that.
The authorities want the step taken by Germany to be an encouragement, but many of the pieces legally translated will remain in the German museums lenders.
However, the looted heritage is much wider, and Britain has been accused that this has not yet taken that step. Thousands of stolen pieces are preserved at the British Museum in Benin and elsewhere in Africa in the 19th century. However, his government has permanently frustrated the debate of returning to its place, although small steps have already been taken elsewhere.
For example, a year ago the French State returned 26 works of art stolen at the end of the 19th century to the kingdom of Dahomey, the Gulf of Guinea. However, it is estimated that there are still 88.000 valid pieces left in French museums from sub-Saharan Africa.
The authorities want the step taken by Germany to be an incentive, but many of the pieces legally translated will remain in the German museums provided. So cultural looting, inevitably linked to the current economic and ecological looting of African countries.
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