„First wave“ of the return of Cameroon’s cultural heritage in September 2025
German version: https://dekolonial-erinnern.de/historischer-durchbruch-fuer-deutsche-restitutionspolitik-zu-kolonialen-kontexten/
With its visit to Germany (23 June – 1 July 2025) at the invitation of the Federal Foreign Office, Cameroon’s official Restitution Committee has achieved a breakthrough for the return of colonially appropriated cultural heritage. The delegation included representatives of the National Council of Traditional Rulers. Under the guidance of the Federal Foreign Office, concrete results were reached in talks with museums and the state governments involved in Munich, Stuttgart, Bremen and Berlin.
According to Cameroonian press reports, all four major cultural regions of Cameroon are to be covered in the „first restitution wave“ in September 2025. In preparation, representatives of the Federal Foreign Office will be travelling to the West African country in August.
Restitution package for September
The cultural belongings selected for the first wave are to be brought to Cameroon in a joint operation in September 2025. The restitution package could include the following belongings, among others:
– Coastal region: (Tangué from the Museum Fünf Kontinente München)
– Southern woodland: (Dzom So’o also from the Museum Fünf Kontinente München)
– Western grasslands: (Ngonnso‘ from the Ethnological Museum Berlin, 28 royal Nso‘ belongings from the Linden-Museum Stuttgart, possibly two royal Nso‘ belongings from the University of Mainz)
– Northern Sudan region: (royal belongings of Tibati from the Überseemuseum Bremen)
Role of the Federal Foreign Office
On the German side, the Federal Foreign Office assumed the leading role in the intergovernmental negotiations. The Cameroonian government had made it unmistakably clear in the past that it would not tolerate any direct restitution processes between German institutions and communities from its country. According to information from the Federal Foreign Office, Anna Bartels, the Commissioner for Foreign Cultural Policy, accompanied the Cameroonian delegation during the talks with the most important German contacts for restitution issues, including, for example, those responsible for the Federal-Länder Working Group on Colonial Issues and German museums. On this basis, the museum in which the „object“ is located decides together with the country of origin when and how individual belongings are returned.
Property law issues
Restitution decisions by the German museums require corresponding decisions by their respective owners. In the case of Ngonnso‘, which has great spiritual significance for the Nso‘ people as a mother goddess, the Board of Trustees of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation cleared the way for her return already in June 2022. In November 2023, the owners of the 28 royal belongings of the Nso‘ in the Linden-Museum Stuttgart, the state of Baden-Württemberg and the city of Stuttgart, passed restitution resolutions. A decision for return has also been made for two other Nso‘ royal entities owned by the University of Mainz. It is currently unclear whether the university will take part in the action in September.
Bavaria and Bremen
The ownership situation is different for the museums in Munich and Bremen, as no decisions have yet been made. In both cases, the respective federal state is the owner. In Bavaria, the state government could restitute directly, as the state parliament as part of its budget legislation has authorised the „free transfer of cultural assets originating from a colonial context“. In the budget regulations of the state of Bremen, an exception to the requirement to sell objects at full value is possible if there is an „urgent interest on the part of Bremen“. It is therefore at the discretion of the state governments of Bavaria and Bremen whether they will allow their museums to transfer the Cameroonian belongings in September 2025.
Process within Cameroon
Traditional authorities and civil society voices in Cameroon would like to see greater involvement in the restitution process, both with regard to Germany and their own government. The participation of the National Council of Traditional Rulers in the delegation trip to Germany makes it clear that the Cameroonian government is willing to do so. A key question for the dynamics in Cameroon is whether the returning belongings will be passed on to their communities of origin. According to a Cameroonian press report, the director of the National Museum, Hugues Heumen, described the intended process in Cameroon following the return as follows:
„We are planning a restitution in three stages. At national level, the objects will first be exhibited in the National Museum in order to be recognised and appreciated by the entire nation. After a Cameroonian-Cameroonian dialogue, the objects clearly identified by the communities will be returned to them.“
What is the German side doing?
For the German side, it is of great importance that the „first wave of restitution“ to Cameroon in September 2025 is successful. This requires, in particular, corresponding decisions by the state governments of Bavaria and Bremen. It is to be hoped that the Nso‘ belongings of the University of Mainz will also be involved. German civil society could accompany the historic breakthrough in German restitution policy by organising farewell events for the colonial loot. It remains to be seen how Germany intends to respond to the Cameroonian government’s more far-reaching demands for the return of the cultural heritage. The „Atlas of Absence“ has identified more than 40,000 belongings from Cameroon in public institutions in Germany. In the current talks with Cameroon, the handling of ancestral remains was excluded. This task must be tackled urgently by the German side.
Restitution task force at the Federal Foreign Office
Other governments of territories formerly colonised by Germany, such as Tanzania, Togo and Ghana, could also soon assert restitution claims. Germany is not prepared for this in institutional terms and with regard to state funding instruments, as a recent civil society petition has pointed out. It is obvious that the Federal Foreign Office must set up an appropriately equipped task force for restitution from colonial contexts in order to be able to manage the complex negotiation processes satisfactorily for all parties involved. Dealing with colonial legacies is about more than just returning looted artefacts. What is needed is the credible recognition of historical injustice and the organisation of (symbolic) reparations. If this were to succeed, the diplomatic gains would be significant, not only in relations with the former colonial territories, but also with the countries of the Global South as a whole.