Germany returns looted neolithic finds

This is the second return of antiquities from Germany to Greece within two weeks. In the first case it was a marble figurine and a “frying pan” implement, of the Cycladic period, which were returned by the State Museum of Baden.

In the second case, the findings are war booty from German excavations at 38 tumuli in Thessaly conducted at the beginning of the German occupation in 1941.

The initiative for the return of the Greek finds belongs to the director of the Pfahlbauten Museum, Professor Gunter Shebelle. Talking about his motives to the Deutsche Welle, professor Shebelle said: "Modern science understands the importance of respect and therefore knows how important findings are to the identity of a country. In this sense, the return is a matter of honor for us. "

Commenting on the importance of the German initiative to return the antiquities, the Director General of Antiquities and Heritage, Maria Vlazaki-Andreadaki, told the Deutsche Welle:

“This gesture has high symbolism. They recognize that cultural property should not leave the country. The museum itself came to us and announced the return. The objects themselves are humble objects. It comprises vessel shards, most undecorated, there not among items we prioritize for repatriation.”

Before the period of occupation, the German excavations in Greece with conducted with the permission of the German Archaeological Institute in Athens and the Greek Ministry of Culture.

During the occupation a dispute emerged over the jurisdiction between classical archeology representing the Institute and archaeologists in various departments of the National Socialist party which acted on their own account in the countries that were under German occupation. Gunter Shebelle recounts:

“It was Hitler who sent archaeologists in occupied countries. It was the same archaeologists who argued that excavations should be made for ideological reasons. As is known, these archaeologists were members of Commando Rosenberg, a Genealogical Heritage organization (Ahnenerbe) of the SS as well as other National Socialist organizations, following in the footsteps of the Wehrmacht, seeking to highlight their own contributions.”

The aim of the excavations of national socialist archaeologists in Greece was to document the descent of Germanic tribes in Greece in the second millennium BC.

Professor and member of the Commando Rosenberg, Hans Rainert, was in charge of the excavations in Thessaly, who after the war became director of the Pfahlbauten Museum. Just after his death in 1990, his successor, incumbent director Gunter Shebelle, discovered the Greek findings. But it took two decades until investigations were complete as to their origin. As Shebelle explained, the reasons for this delay, were largely associated with the division of Germany.

"Part of the documentation and the documents had remained after the war in East Germany. You should know that in 1943 many scientific institutes were transferred together with their material infrastructure outside Berlin. The Greek findings and all relevant documents had been shared and stored in five different locations in East and West Germany and in Switzerland. "

"We solved a police adventure from the neolithic period with the help of science and archives - the antiquities have been brought back," said Professor Shebelle concluding his speech at the official ceremony. While this puzzle is solved, the fate eight boxes which had remained in Volos, which included the major findings of the excavations in Thessaly, remains unknown. But that's not all. Gunter Shebelle believes that many antiquities excavated by the various German services during the occupation of Greece should still be in German museums warehouses and elsewhere. Their discovery could be the subject of Greek-German cooperation.