Germany is returning four cultural artefacts from the Ethnological Museum in Berlin to Ghana.

According to the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK), the objects consist of two drums and two horns to which skulls and lower jaws are attached. The items came to Germany in connection with the violent expansion of German colonial rule in the Volta region of West Africa.

The Foundation Council has decided to repatriate the objects to the Akpini people in Kpando, in present-day Ghana.

The artefacts are insignia of former rulers, to which human remains are attached, making their return a particularly sensitive and significant process. “Especially for human remains from colonial contexts, the following applies: They have no place in German cultural institutions and must be given the highest priority when it comes to restitution. My ministry and I will continue to advocate for this in the future,” said Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer.