In 1897, the British Army stole thousands of valuable works of art from the Royal Palace in Benin. Some of them ended up in German museums. Now the works of art are to be returned to Nigeria.
The 92 Benin bronzes from the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum in Cologne now officially belong to Nigeria again. Mayor Henriette Reker (independent) and the Director General of Nigeria’s “National Commission for Museums and Monuments”, Abba Isa Tijani, signed an agreement on the transfer of ownership in Cologne on Thursday. “Today this is a milestone in a decades-long, tough debate about the return of stolen art, with national and international significance,” said Reker. Tijani spoke of a “very exciting day”.
In 1897, the British Army stole around 5,000 works of art from the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, which is located in present-day Nigeria. They were auctioned all over Europe. Around 1100 so-called Benin bronzes are now in around 20 German museums – the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum (RJM) has the fourth largest collection. This summer, Germany and Nigeria agreed on a way to return the stolen objects.
Three bronzes are to be returned to Nigeria in December. Underneath is an elaborately decorated key. This should symbolically open the door for a new cooperation between Cologne and Nigerian museums, said Reker. This will result in a completely new approach to Nigeria’s artworks and culture as a whole.
What’s next?
52 bronzes are to be gradually returned from 2023, 37 objects will initially remain in Cologne as loans for ten years. The city council had formally decided to return the works of art last week.
Tijani said the return of the bronzes marks a new chapter in Nigeria’s history. The works of art are part of the identity of the people of Nigeria as they belong to the culture of their ancestors.
The ownership rights for 70 objects from the collection of the Stuttgart Linden Museum had already been transferred to Nigeria on Wednesday. A corresponding return agreement is to be presented in Hamburg on Friday. The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation in Berlin had already transferred ownership of its large inventory of Benin bronzes to Nigeria in August. (dpa)