Schlagwort: German Government
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Togo establishes restitution committee
This text deals with the establishment of a restitution committee by the Togolese government. Its purpose is to recover cultural heritage and ancestral remains that were appropriated by foreign actors, primarily during German colonial rule. The problem is that Germany is not adequately prepared for talks with Togo and other former colonies to come to…
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The ancestors are not (yet) allowed to return
This text informs about a new episode of the podcast ‘Decolonial Memories’ with Sirili and Tony Molelia from Kibosho/Tanzania (English & Kiswahili). They travelled to Germany to encounter their ancestors and cultural belongings that were stolen by German colonial troops. In a statement, the family formulates demands for restitution and reparations by Germany.
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Burundi: Forgotten Colony of German East Africa
This text focuses on an episode of the podcast Decolonial Memories with Jean Berchmans Ndihokubwayo, a historian from Burundi. He talks about the entangled history between his country and Germany, the former coloniser.
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Cultural heritage of the Nso in Germany
This text informs about a new episode on podcast Decolonial Memories with cultural scientist Dr Bulami Edward Fonyuy. He speaks about the efforts of the people of Nso in north-western Cameroon to bring back Ngonnso, the Founder Ancestor of the their people, held as colonial loot by the Ethnological Museum Berlin since 1903.
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Memorial concept without colonialism
This article analyses the public hearing held by the Bundestag’s Culture Committee on 17 December 2025 on the German government’s new memorial site concept. The text discusses the similarities and differences in the written and oral statements made by the experts. It also examines the comments made by Minister of State Wolfram Weimer and the…
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Germany’s new guidelines on colonial belongings & ancestral remains
In October 2025, the federal government, the states and local authority associations adopted guidelines on the handling of colonially appropriated cultural belongings and ancestral remains in German institutions. As the analysis presented here shows, many questions remain unanswered regarding the details and implementation of these guidelines.
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Portal „Collections from Colonial Contexts“ of the German Digital Library
The portal ‘Collections from Colonial Contexts (CCC)’ of the German Digital Library (DDB) aims to create centralised and transparent access to information from German museums that is already available in digital form in the short term. Experience to date suggests that the portal has so far been little used by actors from the contexts of…
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Reappraisal of German colonialism: many individual measures, no overall concept
This text analyses the German government’s response in August 2025 to an enquiry by the Green Party. In it, the government emphasises its willingness to come to terms with Germany’s colonial history. How this will happen depends largely on ideas and political pressure from civil society. It is crucial that the institutional and financial weaknesses…
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Historic breakthrough for German restitution policy on colonial contexts
With its recent visit to Germany, Cameroon’s official Restitution Committee has achieved a historic breakthrough for the return of culturally appropriated cultural heritage. Belongings from museums in Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart and Bremen are to be returned in a ‘first wave’ in September 2025. The Federal Foreign Office should set up a task force for the…
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Interim assessment of the debate on the looting and restitution of Cameroon’s cultural heritage in Germany
In his presentation at the Munich Museum Fünf Kontinente on May 8, 2025, which can be accessed in full in this blog post, Prof. Albert Gouaffo (Université de Dschang) took a critical look at the status of the Cameroonian-German restitution process. And he identifies conditions that need to be met on both the Cameroonian and…