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Statement on the handling of the Benin Bronzes in German museums and institutions LISTEN
APR 30, 2021
On Thursday, 29 April 2021, at the invitation of the Minister of State for Culture and the Media, Monika Grütters, a digital meeting took place on the further handling of the Benin Bronzes in German museums and institutions. The aim is to arrive at a coordinated position in Germany and to reach a common understanding with the Nigerian side. The participants in the talks were the directors of the German museums belonging to the Benin Dialogue Group, which hold the largest collections in Germany from the historical Kingdom of Benin (Nigeria), the responsible Cultural Affairs Ministers of the Länder, the City of Cologne, which runs the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum, and the Federal Foreign Office.
The building
The building is a partial reconstruction of the royal palace of the Hohenzollern family, who ruled the kingdom of Prussia and, from 1871 to 1918, reigned over Germany as emperors. The original palace, founded in 1443, was badly damaged by fire and bombs in the Second World War. In 1950, the communist East German government demolished what remained. In 1976, it opened the new Palace of the Republic on the site as the home of East Germany’s parliament and a venue for political and cultural events. After German reunification, the authorities began stripping the asbestos-riddled building and, by 2002, it was a skeleton. That year, the German parliament decided to rebuild the Prussian royal palace. In 2006, parliament approved the demolition of the remains of the Palace of the Republic.