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Baden-Württemberg Art Minister Theresia Bauer: Competition for Grütters?
Photo: Christoph Schmidt / picture alliance / dpa
Baden-Württemberg is pushing ahead on the subject of colonial art: Art Minister Theresia Bauer has drafted a joint declaration for the federal, state and local governments that should regulate Germany's dealings with the legendary Benin bronzes.
More than 1000 of the valuable historical works from the former Kingdom of Benin are in German museums, the Green politician is now calling for binding targets to be set for repatriation.
In her “roadmap”, which is available to SPIEGEL, Bauer proposes a “quick and structured process”.
Her suggestion: processing the German holdings within a year, then clarifying jointly with the partners in Nigeria which objects should be returned there in a timely manner.
Implementation concepts should be available by the end of 2022.
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Benin bronze in the Linden Museum in Stuttgart: processing within a year
Photo: Dominik Drasdow / Linden-Museum Stuttgart
This sentence sounds like a threat: If a uniform regulation by the federal, state and local authorities does not come about, returns would be made "where the responsible authority decides."
In other words, Baden-Württemberg would follow this roadmap - even if the rest of the state didn't follow suit.
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Fierce debate about colonial art: Everything is conceivable - just no agreementBy Ulrike Knöfel
There is no question that the Benin bronzes are stolen from the colonial era.
The British raided the Kingdom of Benin in 1897, sacked it and then sold many works of art.
Most of the objects that came to Germany are in Berlin.
From autumn onwards, a large selection will be on display in the new city palace.
This plan threatens to turn into a fiasco, because the demands for return are louder, including those from Nigeria.
"It's time"
Minister of State for Culture Monika Grütters (CDU) has not seriously addressed the issue for a long time, despite many confessions.
And now, months before the election, another cultural politician wants to take over the sovereignty of one of the important debates of this time.
Minister Bauer designed the “roadmap” in advance of a digital round of talks on the subject of restitution, which Grütters has announced for the coming week.
Invitations include the management of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, the ministries of culture from four federal states and the Lord Mayor of Cologne.
There the Benin bronzes are municipal property.
The aim of the video conference is to find a common position in Germany, according to Grütters' spokesman, "in order to then coordinate the further procedure in dialogue with the Nigerian side."
Minister of Culture Bauer emphasizes that the group should not stop at further mere declarations of willingness to engage in dialogue.
She promotes self-commitment "with clearly defined steps" and adds: "The time is ripe."