Looted and distributed around the world: Benin bronzes can be found in a large number of European museums.Image: DPA central image
The city of Zurich is today informing about the return of eleven objects from the Rietberg Museum collection. However, some of the works from the former Kingdom of Benin remain on loan to the museum.
March 20, 2026, 5:00 p.mMar 20, 2026, 5:13 p.m
In February 1897, around 1,200 British Empire soldiers invaded and burned the city of Benin on the west coast of Africa. They looted thousands of sculptures, memorial plaques and ivory carvings from the former kingdom, which is now largely on Nigerian soil. The works of art, which subsequently became known as Benin bronzes, ended up in museums and collections around the world through the hands of the colonial rulers, where they are still exhibited today, including in Switzerland.
“Recognition of historical injustice”
The Zurich city council has now decided to return some of the works of art from Benin at the request of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) on behalf of the Nigerian government. Mayor Corine Mauch said in a press release: “We are convinced that fair treatment of cultural assets also means recognizing and actively correcting historical injustices.”
The director of the NCMM, Olugbile Holloway, speaks of a decision that contributes to healing certain aspects of its own colonial past. The restitution of the cultural assets follows a long-term investigation by the Benin Initiative Switzerland (BIS), founded in 2021. The BIS researchers came to the conclusion that eleven of the sixteen objects in the Rietberg Museum’s holdings were secured or very likely came from the looting and are therefore worthy of restitution.
Other Swiss museums are participating in restitution
At the same time as the Rietberg Museum, the Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich and the Musée d’ethnographie de Genève also announced their willingness to return objects from Benin to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the descendants of the Benin Kingdom. In a joint statement, the directors of the three museums wrote that there was no doubt that a number of the objects came to their museums in the wake of the British attack. They called the return of these works of art a necessary step in historical reappraisal and a sign of respect.
The cultural artifacts known as Benin Bronze are of great cultural importance to the history of Nigeria and the kingdom’s descendants, according to the former director of the NCMM in an earlier interview with swissinfo.ch explained: «The bronzes were used to document the history of the kingdom. In Europe the bronzes are often exhibited as mere works of art, but they had clear ritual functions. »
Loans as witnesses to history
However, some of the works, whose ownership will now be transferred back to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, will remain in the Rietberg Museum. In coordination with the Royal Court of Benin and the NCMM, these will remain on loan in the Zurich museum. The former director of the NCMM already advocated this practice in 2023: “Some of our works of art should continue to be shown in exhibitions, also so that museums can tell about the looting and the return. This has to become part of the history of these objects.” (July)