Ethnological Museum

The ethnological museums in Europe profited from colonial rule and significantly expanded their collections in the process. As a result of a decision in 1889, all ethnological objects collected in the colonies by German officials or by state-equipped expeditions were first sent to the Berlin Museum of Ethnology in Stresemannstraße. The museum received an estimated more than 50,000 objects from Africa alone.

The objects, which are often looted by force or deception, will be shown from 1967 to 2017 in the newly built museum complex of the Staatliche Museen in Dahlem. No attention is paid to the problematic context of acquisition. The focus is on the presentation of "foreign" cultures. It is only in recent years that the demands for a reappraisal of the colonial past and the restitution of the illegally acquired objects in connection with them have become the focus of public attention.