How are the federal, state and local authorities involved?
Overview by Thomas Fues for Heinrich Böll Foundation. Full text and diagram as pdf files:
Change of government
The change of government in Berlin is a good time to take a closer look at the state of German policy on coming to terms with its own colonial history. This overview looks in particular at the concepts, institutions and funding in Germany associated with the restitution of ancestral remains and cultural belongings from the colonial era. In the German federal system, all three levels of government – federal government, federal states and local authorities – are involved.
Challenges for new government
The old, so-called traffic light, government has set certain things in motion, but has also left its successor, the black-red coalition, with construction sites in restitution policy. On the one hand, the division of responsibilities between the Federal Foreign Office (AA) and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) is not consistent, as the BKM does not play a direct role in the old government’s concept, although there is a relevant funding line in its budget. On the other hand, the financial support of the programs for cooperation with governments, communities and descendants from the former colonial territories is insufficient overall – in view of the extensive cultural heritage that was translocated to Germany during the colonial era.
Role of civil society
It is now up to the new federal government to decide how seriously it will tackle further work in these areas. The (non-binding) declaration of intent in the black-red coalition agreement
sets the bar high: „We will intensify the reappraisal of colonialism.“ German civil society is called upon to critically monitor the implementation of this objective. The societies and governments in the successor states of the German colonial territories and the restitution committees set up there also play an important role in this context.
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