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In a project launched in 2017, the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin (Museum of Prehistory and Early History of the National Museums in Berlin) worked with scientists from Rwanda to analyse the provenance of around 1,100 skulls from the former colony of German East Africa. The results of this pilot project, funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation, are now available as a publication. "Human Remains from the Former German Colony of East Africa", edited by Bernhard Heeb and Charles Mulinda Kabwete, provides the basis for the responsible repatriation of human remains to their countries of origin. Professor Charles Mulinda Kabwete is a historian at the University of Rwanda. As curator at the Museum of Prehistory and Early History, Bernhard Heeb is responsible for processing the anthropological collection.

Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation: "For the SPK, the clear aim of the provenance research on the human remains is to restitute them to the countries concerned. We shared the results of our research with them a good two years ago and, with the approval of the Board of Trustees, offered to make restitution. We are prepared to return them immediately and are now waiting for signals from the countries of origin. With the publication now available, the results of the research work can also be read by the general public. I would like to thank the Gerda Henkel Foundation for its important support of the project, which enables us to make amends for the injustice committed."

"A great success of this project is that scientists and museum experts appointed by the Rwandan government worked together with the German team throughout the entire duration of the project and that the research results that have now been published already contain joint positions on the repatriation of the remains," adds Michael Hanssler, Chairman of the Management Board of the Gerda Henkel Foundation.

Of the 1135 skulls analysed, 904 skulls could be attributed to areas in present-day Rwanda, 202 to Tanzania and 22 to Kenya. No more precise classification was possible for 7. The vast majority of the skulls came from burial sites, mainly cemeteries or burial caves, and in some cases also from local execution sites. In very isolated cases, there is also evidence of executions by Germans (insurgents and plantation workers). The human remains examined belong to the anthropological collection of around 7,700 skulls, which the SPK took over from the Charité in 2011 in extremely poor condition. Before the provenance research began, the Museum of Prehistory and Early History had initially cleaned and conserved them at great expense. Many of them come from the so-called "S-Collection", which Felix von Luschan collected from almost all parts of the world at the turn of the century. Other remains come from the skull collection of the former anatomical institute of the Charité, as well as from other smaller collections. After the First World War, scientific interest in the anthropological collections waned considerably and they gradually fell into oblivion.

Due to the size of the collection and the variety of geographical origins, it was not possible to analyse the entire collection at once. The human remains from East Africa, which was largely under German colonial rule at the time of appropriation, were therefore the first part of the collection to be analysed in this exemplary project. Intensive archival work, field research by Rwandan scientists and anthropological analyses were necessary to clarify the exact origin of the skulls, for which hardly any written documents had been preserved. The involvement of representatives of the countries of origin was a central aspect of the research. The publication was also co-authored by Rwandan and German authors.

The first chapter of the volume provides an overview of the history of the anthropological collections now housed in the Berlin Museum of Prehistory and Early History. Chapters two to five deal with the reconstruction of the colonial context, the public debate about human remains in Germany and colonial networks. The sixth chapter documents the origin of the human remains from Rwanda. In this context, the recorded memories of Rwandan elders of German colonial rule and the colonial labour experiences of Rwandans are also presented. The seventh chapter complements the previous chapters by analysing historical documents and contemporary sources, while the eighth chapter deals with questions of restitution, reparation and the culture of remembrance. The last two chapters present the results of the provenance research on the human remains from Tanzania and Kenya.

In Rwanda, the scientists involved in the project are currently working on a follow-up project funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation to develop the framework conditions for repatriation and are also analysing previous restitutions of human remains to other countries.

A follow-up project of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation on researching the provenance of human skulls from West Africa, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, also builds on the experience gained during the work with the East Africa collection.

Human Remains from the Former German Colony of East Africa

Bernhard S. Heeb (ed.), Charles Mulinda Kabwete (ed.), Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Language: English, 472 pages, 13 b/w ill. and 2 col. maps, hardcover

Böhlau Verlag Cologne, 1st edition,

2022, 69,00 €, ISBN: 978-3-412-52344-2

Further information on the SPK's handling of human remains can be found at: www.preussischer-kulturbesitz.de/schwerpunkte/provenienzforschung-und-eigentumsfragen/umgang-mit-menschlichen-ueberresten.html