Germany

11th Nov 2025

At a glance:

No national laws on repatriation, but there are National Framework Principles for Dealing with Collections from Colonial Contexts and National Policies on the Care of Human Remains in Museums and Collections and Collections from Colonial Contexts
New guidelines issued in 2025 outline that the nation state must be involved in any repatriation claims
The German Contact Point for Collections from Colonial Contexts has an international mandate and is the first point of contact for anybody looking for colonial collections in Germany
Following the publication of the National Framework Principles, many institutions in Germany have been keen to undertake returns, and it is therefore a good time to engage with them on the issue of repatriation

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The structure of German government, and therefore German museums, is incredibly complex. There is the federal government, and then there are sixteen states. All federal laws and policies have to be implemented by these states individually – they have some autonomy in the areas of education and culture, under which museums and repatriation fall. Each of these states have their own laws around heritage, but there are national policies that govern Germany’s approach to repatriation. These national policies are not law, but they should have some influence on future laws that may be passed around repatriation.

There are over 7000 museums in Germany and three types of public museums. Each of these types of museums adheres to a prescribed process before an item is eligible for return:

Federal – there are only a few of these museums and they have to get the sign off from the government and each of the 16 states to authorise return
State – these museums have to check in with the federal government and ministries before agreeing to return, but ultimately can make their own decision on returns
Municipal – returns from these museums can be made by the local municipal parliament

More than 90% of museums in Germany are run by the states or municipalities. It’s worth noting that the Ethnological Museum Berlin is unique as it is both state and federal governed. There are also some museums that are state governed and private.

Universities also hold ethnological or anthropological collections.

All repatriations will have to go through and be signed off by the Federal Foreign Office. Either stating your tribe is federally recognised, demonstrating evidence that you have standing to make a request, or a letter from the Embassy will be helpful in this process.

In terms of repatriation, since the Sarr Savoy Report in 2018, German museums have largely been focused on the return of African items because of Germany’s colonial past in African countries. In January 2024, it was announced that France and Germany have launched a €2.1 million research fund to investigate the provenance of African cultural artefacts in their national institutions. This perhaps highlights the initial focus on the provenance and potential return of African collections. However, the National Framework Principles for Dealing with Collections from Colonial Contexts are for any colonial contexts. The country can generally be said to be open to repatriation and there are some clear routes to return which are worth pursuing, although many are still largely inexperienced in making returns. Guidelines issued in October 2025 outline that the nation state must be involved in any repatriation claims.

It is advised to be clear and direct with German institutions about what you want. It has also been hypothesised that German institutions would respond well to more people getting in touch directly with museum curators and directors about repatriation, as this kind of lobbying is often the way that change and action occurs. Museums are also often very interested in collaborations which go beyond repatriation. One obstacle many German museums face, is that often the cultural attribution of items are missing or vague. Prior collaboration to research collections is therefore often key to help identity items.

Terminology to be familiar with

The German museum sector uses the English term ‘human remains’ when referring to ancestors/ancestral remains

There is a term in German, ‘unrechtskontext’, which might be translated as the context of unlawfulness or injustice. Unrechtskontext is ‘used widely in the German museum world to refer to the acquisition of an object under improper circumstances’. (Larissa Förster, 2022)

The Länder – this is the German collective word for the 16 states

National Framework Principles

Following a new coalition federal government in 2018, a central working group was created to focus on provenance research. As a result of this work, in 2019, the federal government released their Framework Principles for Dealing with Collections from Colonial Contexts. This framework has informed the approach to repatriation in Germany ever since.

‘We want to deal with collections from colonial contexts in a responsible manner in close coordination with the respective countries and societies of origin. In this connection, we want to create the conditions for the return of human remains and of cultural objects from colonial contexts which were appropriated in a way which is no longer legally and/or ethically justifiable. Together with the agencies concerned, we will handle returns with the requisite urgency and sensitivity.’
(Framework Principles for Dealing with Collections from Colonial Contexts, 2019)

The ‘agencies concerned’ aren’t defined here, but it can be assumed that this would depend on the type of museum involved.
Amy Shakespeare

There are five objectives within the framework:

Transparency and Documentation – focuses on conducting inventories and digitising collections, as well as the establishment of a central contact point
Provenance Research – focuses on undertaking more provenance research into collections
Presentation and Information – focuses on heritage and scientific institutions to present the circumstances surrounding acquisition in a transparent manner
Return – this is stated as ‘the general willingness to return artefacts from colonial contexts, in particular human remains, to the countries and societies of origin’ and that requests are to be processed promptly
Cultural Exchange, International Cooperation – seeking direct exchange with countries and communities for the responsible handling, research, and presentation of collections

The publication of this framework led to the establishment of the German Contact Point for Collections from Colonial Contexts, more information on which is available lower on this page.

The Heidelberg Statement

Also in 2019, following their annual conference, the Directors of Ethnographic Museums in German Speaking Countries released a join statement, commonly known as The Heidelberg Statement. You can read the statement in full in English here, but the signatories committed to three principles:

to take care that all those who are related to the collections due to their history and cultural practices will, if at all possible, be informed about the places where collections relating to them are held;
to share the knowledge preserved wherever possible with the originators and their descendants, as this is how we will enhance the conditions for mutual trust;
to make ongoing research on our collection of materials public.

Joint Guidelines

In October 2025, the German Culture and Media Minister, the Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, the Länder Ministers of Culture, and others, came together to issue the Joint Guidelines on the Handling of Cultural Assets and Human Remains from Colonial Contexts.

These new guidelines express a willingness to engage in repatriation. They continue to distinguish between human remains and cultural items, with human remains being prioritised. There is going to be a dedicated Contact Point for human remains within the existing Contact Point for Collections from Colonial Contexts.

Most importantly to note for Indigenous Nations and communities, is that these new guidelines state that nation states must give their explicit consent for repatriation. The guidelines outline that repatriation will be dealt with through the German Foreign Office, the Contact Point, state Culture Ministers, and overseas nation state governments.

As these guidelines are so new, it remains to be seen fully what impact they will have on practice.

National Policies

All museums will usually follow the German Museums Association‘s guidance.

There is a distinction between requests for ancestral remains and requests for cultural items.

The German Museums Association has two main pieces of guidance in terms of repatriation – Care of Human Remains in Museums and Collections and Care of Collections from Colonial Contexts.

Ancestral Remains

It’s worth noting that whilst ancestral remains may be held in ethnographic museums, they may also be in anthropological collections in places such as universities or natural history museums.

The guidelines on the Care of Human Remains in Museums and Collections states:

‘If the museum or collection concludes from its own research that a repatriation is due, it should not wait for a claim to be made but should proactively seek to initiate a dialogue with potentially eligible recipients, thereby signalling its willingness to repatriate the human remains’
(German Museums Association, 2021)

According to an article by Dr Larissa Förster (2022), a consensus has been reached in the German museum sector that human remains taken from colonial contexts need to be returned.

The guidelines outline that claims will be decided on a case-by-case basis and that museums must make unconditional returns. Decisions for return will take into consideration:

The age of the ancestral remains (however there is no information as to how age will impact decisions, other than younger remains are more likely to be returned)
The origins and acquisition of the ancestral remains (provenance)
The legal status of the human remains in the museum or collection (presumably depending on the type of museum and how they would need to process a return)
The scientific, educational, and historical relevance of the human remains for the museum or collection (relevance is not defined)
Similar, completed, or ongoing settlement cases

It is important to note that the guidance states that ‘there should be no direct dialogue without including or at least consulting the government of the respective state’, meaning that if an Indigenous Nation or community were to make a claim from a German institution, they would contact the federal government – so it may be advisable to involve your federal government before making a claim.

Requests will be reviewed in this order:

Legal claims – establishing whether there is a legally enforceable claim for repatriation (these are few and far between as there are no laws that directly cover human remains in museums, but there are some complex provisions in German Basic Law and Civil Law that may be able to be applied in certain circumstances)
Ethical-moral considerations – if no legal claim exists, are there other grounds for repatriation? The Framework Principles state ancestral remains that were unethically acquired from colonial contexts must be returned – this is not legally binding but is a mandate for public museums and collections to consider when faced with repatriation claims
Larissa Förster outlined in 2022 that the context of injustice or ‘unrechtskontext’ could be a final step towards a decision of whether repatriation is appropriate, but this isn’t Germany’s official position

Collections from Colonial Contexts

Only in very rare cases will there be a legally enforceable claim to have an item returned.

There are two approaches to making a claim for an item:

Collection Items Removed Unlawfully– this will focus on the provenance of an item – if the circumstances of acquisition appear to be an unacceptable ‘wrongdoing’, the item must be returned (there is no indication as to where consent falls within this)
Special Significance of Collections Items – items may be returned because they are of special significance, similar to the US’ NAGPRA law, but without the requirement for items to be from certain categories

The German Museums Association advocates for a mixture of the two approaches above, which is something to bear in mind when making a claim.

Where to start with making a claim

German Contact Point for Collections from Colonial Contexts

The German Contact Point was established in 2020, following the publication of the National Framework Principles. The Contact Point is based within the Cultural Foundation of the German Federal States. Although the Contact Point was initially temporary for three years, they are confirmed to be in operation for the next five years (until 2028) and hopefully become permanent beyond this point – but it’s important to bear in mind that the Contact Point may not always be here as it is part of the government.

The German Contact Point is the first point of contact for anybody looking for colonial collections in Germany. They are partnered with the main organisations involved in repatriation in Germany and also provide support to German museums in approaching repatriation.

They also have an international mandate. They are able to help in two main ways:

First approaches – the Contact Point can help you to understand who to talk to in Germany and also identify institutions that hold ancestral remains and cultural items. If they don’t know where they are, they will set up a nationwide survey and support you to find out
Support with making a claim – if you know where your ancestor(s) or cultural item(s) are located, the Contact Point can give advice on how to make a claim from a German institution

If you have had difficulties obtaining a response from a museum in Germany, the Contact Point can reach out on your behalf. Museums are required to pay attention to requests from the Contact Point.

To get in touch with the contact point send them an email – contact@cp3c.de

It’s important to note that the Contact Point does not have control over the final decision of whether a return is approved.

There is shortly also going to be an International Agency for Museum Cooperation, which will be a federal, non-profit enterprise with a focus on practical guidance on repatriation including packing, logistics, and transport. This will also have an international mandate, although more details as to what this will include and how it will work alongside the Contact Point are yet to be released.

German Lost Art Foundation

The German Lost Art Foundation deals with cultural property that was stolen from its owners – during the Nazi era, the colonial period, or in the Soviet Occupation Zone and the German Democratic Republic – as well as with items of cultural property that went missing in the course of the Second World War. The Foundation funds provenance research in order to clarify whether or not objects were seized unlawfully.

Originally established in 2015 to focus on Nazi-looted art, in 2019 the German Lost Art Foundation developed to include research into collections from colonial contexts. The Foundation is part of the network of partnership institutions involved with the German Contact Point but has a different focus.

The German Lost Art Foundation provides:

Funding for provenance research related to collections from colonial contexts
Fostering research through events
Writing papers and publications

They have two aims to provenance research:

Enabling repatriation (which could be supporting upcoming or ongoing claims)
Making institutions aware how complicit they have been in colonialism

They have funding available for provenance research in partnership with a German institution. This could be for a 1-3 year project looking at larger collections, or a smaller short-notice project looking at up to ten objects. The Foundation is keen to support Indigenous Nations and communities to access this funding and build links with German institutions in support of future repatriations, so it is worth getting in touch with them, details of which are available on this webpage. Staff at the Foundation are experts in all matters pertaining to provenance research and they are part of an extensive network of provenance researchers in Germany.

Where to find ancestors and belongings

Survey on Human Remains from Colonial Contexts Held in Museum and University Collections in Germany

In December 2023, the German Contact Point published their ‘Survey on Human Remains from Colonial Contexts Held in Museum and University Collections in Germany’. The report found that ‘an estimated 17,000 human remains from colonial contexts worldwide are held by 31 museums and scientific collections in Germany’. It’s worth noting that approximately 46% of the ancestors listed in the survey have no geographical provenance. However, the report provides information by country about which of these German institutions hold ancestors. It may provide a useful starting point for finding ancestors in Germany.

German Contact Point List of Existing Databases

The German Contact Point has compiled this list of institutions in Germany that have digitally published collections from colonial contexts on their own websites, as part of their 3 Road Strategy. Many of the pages linked on this database have contact details for curators and other ways to get in touch. It is advisable to use Google Chrome to view these pages if possible and utilise the Google Translate feature that should appear in the top-right of the screen.

Collections from Colonial Contexts Database

This online database is part of the German Digital Library, and contains searchable collections information from 25 pilot institutions that have provided access to their databases. It is very much in its infancy but the hope is that it will grow over time. The search function is not easy to use in English.

Most museums only have parts of their collection available online. It is always worth also contacting the museum directly when looking for ancestors and belongings, as they might not yet be online.

Other institutions that hold ethnological collections in Germany:

We Want Them Back: Scientific Report on the Presence of Human Remains from Colonial Contexts in Berlin

The focus of this report is on the inventory by the ethnologist and provenance researcher, Isabelle Reimann. Her work has shown that there are more than 9,458 people in Berlin’s museums and universities alone. The ‘report is a first step in disclosing information about human remains from colonial contexts in the state of Berlin in order to enable those concerned to search for their ancestors in a targeted manner.’

Routes to Return