Kategorie: English
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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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(Re)Presentations of Knowledge and Exhibition Practice
This fascinating report (with photos) by Maike Schimanowski and Kristin Weber-Sinn sums up their experiences as members of the curatorial team for the exhibition „Historia za Tanzania – Geschichte(n) Tansanias – Histories of Tanzania“, presently on display at the Humboldt Forum Berlin. The exhibition has been meant to be a first and final display of…
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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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Das Online-Portal „Sammlungsgut aus Kolonialen Kontexten“ der Deutschen Digitalen Bibliothek
Das Portal „Sammlungsgut aus Kolonialen Kontexten/Collections from Colonial Contexts (CCC)“ der Deutschen Digitalen Bibliothek (DDB) zielt auf die kurzfristige Schaffung eines zentralen und transparenten Zugangs zu bereits digital vorhandenen Informationen deutscher Museen ab. Die bisherigen Erfahrungen legen nahe, dass das Portal bislang wenig durch Akteur*innen aus den Herkunftskontexten und ihre diasporischen Gemeinschaften benutzt wird. Um…
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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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Connected, Entangled, or Shared History? The Legacy of Colonialism and Mission from Tanzanian, German, and Swiss Perspectives
This report by Dr. Lois-Singa Metili covers the conference „Connected, Entangled, or Shared History? The Legacy of Colonialism and Mission from Tanzanian, German, and Swiss Perspectives“, 18-19 July 2025, at Dar es Salaam Tumaini University (programme included).
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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…
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Episode 06 of podcast „Decolonial Memories“
In podcast „Decolonial Memories“, Cameroonian scholar Fogang Toyem talks about his changing perceptions of German colonialism. And his doctoral dissertation on colonial health policies in Togo and Cameroon.
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German restitution policy on colonial contexts
The change of government in Berlin is the right time to take a critical look at Germany’s restitution policy for colonial contexts. The so-called traffic light coalition has set some things in motion here, but it has also left serious work to be done. It is now largely up to civil society to push ahead…