Germany to set up a council which will return artifacts taken during colonial era

Germany will create a council which will be tasked with returning the cultural property and other artifacts, such as human remains which were taken from countries which were colonies, as reported by Euronews. The body bearing the name «Coordination Council for Returns of Cultural Property and Human Remains from Colonial Contexts» will include various representatives from different levels of German Government. As such, central government officials will be included, as well as those from 16 states making up Germany, through to municipalities.

The goal of this council will be to ensure that the return process will be transparent and to coordinate these efforts with international partners. Council will work as a result of an agreement between the central government of Germany and its states in 2019. The sides agreed to start returning artifacts which were taken during colonial times to their countries of origin. To communicate with this new German organ and negotiate the return of their cultural and historical property, several African countries — Cameroon, Tanzania, Ghana, and Togo — have created their own bodies. As for the results of this German initiative, back in 2022, German Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock visited Nigeria to return a batch of Benin bronzes — a group of various objects such as plaques, statues and parts of them. They were originally taken by the British, but some ended up in the hands of German collectors. Baerbock said that her country is ready to address its dark past. With the creation of the aforementioned council this message is reiterated in 2026 by Wolfram Weimer, Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.