Dresden/Leipzig (dpa/sn) – The first three Benin bronzes from Saxon collections will be returned to Nigeria next Tuesday. They are among a total of 20 objects from German museums that will be handed over during a trip by Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth (both Green). For Saxony, the director of the ethnological museums in Leipzig, Dresden and Herrnhut, Léontine Meijer-van Mensch, will accompany the return, the Ministry of Culture announced on Friday.
More than 1100 works from the palace of the former Kingdom of Benin, which today belongs to Nigeria, have been on display in around 20 German museums. Most of the objects come from British looting in 1897. With 262 pieces, Saxony has the second-largest inventory in Germany after Berlin. This summer, Germany and Nigeria had agreed on a way to return the stolen objects. Saxony is also committed to return.
According to the ministry, the objects that are now being returned are a king’s ancestral staff and a ceremonial sword, both from the Dresden Museum of Ethnology. In addition, the commemorative head of an Oba from the Grassi Museum of Ethnology in Leipzig will be handed over to Nigeria.
