According to German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Tuesday, Germany has returned 20 Benin Bronzes from its museums to Nigeria, making it the most recent European nation to do so.
The handovers are the most obvious indication yet that momentum is building in favor of the repatriation of artifacts that Europeans removed from Africa during the colonial era. Germany had previously promised to begin reclaiming Benin bronzes from its museums.
Germany and Nigeria earlier this year agreed to place all 1,130 Benin Bronzes, copper alloy relief sculptures, etc, many of which feature German public institutions.
At the handover, the German minister for culture and media, Claudia Roth, as well as heads of German museums, were present along with the Nigerian foreign minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, and the communication minister, Lai Mohammed.
“Today we are taking a step that was long overdue: We are returning 20 Benin bronzes from German museums to where they belong, to their homeland,” Baerbock told reporters in Abuja.
According to Nigerian officials, some of the artifacts from the Benin Bronze period had been in German custody for nearly 200 years, and others were kept in private collections and casinos.
Thousands of metal sculptures and castings were taken by British forces in 1897 during a raid on the then-separate Kingdom of Benin.
The Bronzes were sold at auction and sent to museums across the world, with the largest collection being in London.
The British Museum in London, which has the largest and most significant collection of Benin Bronzes, is expected to feel more pressure as a result of the repatriation.
The British Museum was urged to release the more than 900 Benin Bronzes it possesses by Nigeria’s minister of communication.