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The Hamburg Senate has decided to donate 179 works of art from the former Kingdom of Benin to the state of Nigeria. The Kingdom of Benin was located in what is now south-west Nigeria, not in what is now Benin. The centuries-old objects with an estimated value of 58.7 million euros are located in the Museum am Rothenbaum (formerly "Völkerkundemuseum") and are to be transferred to the African country through a "complete transfer of ownership".
The cultural authority has already made a provision in its budget for the amount of the estimated value in order to make a "return" financially possible. This does not result in any financial damage, explained Senator for Culture Carsten Brosda (SPD), one could "remove the amount from the balance sheet". The next step is for the public to agree. The signing of the contract for the "return" of the Benin bronzes in Hamburg, in the presence of Abba Isa Tijani from the National Commission for Museums and Monuments from Nigeria, is planned for mid-December.
As early as April 2021, museum experts from all over Germany, chaired by the then Minister of State for Culture, Monika Grütters, decided in Berlin to "return" the Benin bronzes in Germany that had been stolen by the British in the 19th century. The British Museum owns around 900 bronzes. The Hamburg artefacts were purchased with the help of patrons from seafarers and in London for the Ethnological Museum.
Hamburg's decision was preceded by a return agreement between Germany and Nigeria in June. The director of the Museum am Rothenbaum, Barbara Plankensteiner, comments with satisfaction on the Senate's decision: "With the restitution of its Benin collection, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg has set an important example in the processing of its colonial heritage." According to Plankensteiner, she is grateful for this moment to be able to witness. Brosda described the decision as a "decision of historic dimensions" as a "milestone in the ongoing process of coming to terms with our colonial legacy".
With the planned Hamburg donation, Germany will be the first country in the world to give works of art from this period to Nigeria. In addition to the Hamburg holdings, there are works of art from the Ethnological Museum in Berlin, the Linden Museum in Stuttgart, the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum in Cologne and two museums in Saxony. Both the state of Nigeria and the so-called "King of Benin" have been demanding the return of the bronzes to their country for decades.
The construction of a museum in Benin City in Nigeria has been planned for years, in which the works of art, one of the greatest African art treasures, are to be exhibited in the future. Until they are handed over, the artefacts are on display in the Museum am Rothenbaum in the exhibition “Benin. Stolen History". Some works are to remain in Hamburg as permanent loans.
