02.12.2025
Ethnologisches Museum
The Ethnologisches Museum (Ethnological Museum) – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin houses four objects from Kpando in present-day Ghana that include human remains. At its meeting on 1 December 2025, the board of the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SPK, Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation) authorised SPK President Marion Ackermann to conclude an agreement with the relevant authorities in Ghana for the repatriation of these objects. The foundation board also authorised her to hold talks to find a solution concerning three objects from Australia that have special spiritual significance.
The four objects from Ghana are two drums and two horns. All four objects contain human remains, including skulls and jawbones. They were acquired during the violent expansion of German colonial rule in the Volta region. Following its foundation board’s recent authorisation, the SPK will initiate the next steps for repatriation in consultation with the relevant Ghanaian authorities.
The discussions with Australia concern three objects, also located in the Ethnologisches Museum, that belong to the Eastern Maar people and were obtained within a colonial context. The Eastern Maar consider these objects to be “sacred items” and of particular significance. A concrete solution is now to be worked out for the objects, whether through restitution or an alternative solution in accordance with joint guidelines.
For a more detailed assessment, the foundation follows the “Joint Guidelines for Dealing with Cultural Property and Human Remains from Colonial Contexts” adopted on 14 October 2025. The perspective of the country and society of origin must also be appropriately taken into account.