Federal government, federal states and local authority associations adopt policy paper on coming to terms with Germany’s colonial history
On 14 October 2025, the federal government, the states and local authority associations adopted ‘Joint Guidelines’ on the handling of colonially appropriated cultural belongings and ancestral human remains in public German institutions. This is an important step for Germany’s restitution policy. Nevertheless, many questions remain unanswered regarding the details and implementation.
Workshop organised by the Heinrich Böll Foundation
This analysis by Thomas Fues was produced as part of a workshop held by the Africa Department of the Heinrich Böll Foundation on the opportunities and challenges presented by the guidelines on 12 November 2025 in Berlin.
German version of the analysis
Opportunities
The following decisions in the new guidelines in particular give hope for progress in German restitution policy:
- Creation of a central point of contact for the governments of origin;
- Establishment of an interdisciplinary and international network of experts.
Decisive factors for the implementation of the intended innovations are now political will at all levels and adequate financial resources for the new bodies. It remains questionable whether the corresponding budget lines in the Federal Government’s draft budget for 2026 will be sufficient to meet the tasks at hand.
Challenges
It should be critically noted that the guidelines make no specific reference to the obligations under human rights and international law that Germany has entered into (right to culture in the Social Covenant, UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples).
This is consistent with the restriction of grounds for restitution of cultural belongings to legally and ethically unjustifiable forms of appropriation. The guidelines do not take into account the possible cultural, spiritual or sacred significance for the communities of origin.
Way forward
Despite their shortcomings and weaknesses, the guidelines provide a good basis for the further development of German restitution governance. From a civil society perspective, the following factors are particularly important in this regard:
- Participation of civil society and academia from Germany and former colonial territories in the expert network;
- Funding instruments for communities of origin, descendants, academia and culture in former colonial territories;
- Political and financial support for remembrance work on colonialism in Germany.
BKM concept on colonialism
An important next step is the concept on colonialism announced by Wolfram Weimer, Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM), which he plans to present next spring.