Africa-Press – Namibia. BERLIN’S Ethnological Museum of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation in Germany is loaning 23 pieces of ancient jewellery, tools and objects to Namibia, indefinitely.
The objects are believed to have been taken from Namibia during the 1904-1908 Nama-Ovaherero genocide committed by German military forces.
The artefacts include an ancient three-headed drinking vessel, a doll wearing traditional dress and various spears, hair pieces and other fashion accessories.
The items were chosen by Namibian experts, who have been working on a joint research project between the German institution and the Museums Association of Namibia.
The director of the National Museum of Namibia, Esther Moombolah, told the media in Berlin that this process is a step towards reassessing the long, complex history that Namibia and Germany share.
“We urge all future partners to follow suit like this institution. Namibians should not have to get on a plane to see our cultural treasures, which are kept in boxes in foreign institutions,” said Moombolah.
The president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which runs the Berlin museum, Hermann Parzinger, could not say why the objects are being returned on long-term loan and not restituted to Namibia.
“It was a process of rapprochement and that’s the way that was decided for the objects to go back to Namibia. The objects that should stay in Namibia will also stay in Namibia,” he added.
Berlin’s Ethnological Museum has been working with the National Museum of Namibia since 2019 to determine the future of the hundreds of Namibian objects.
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