While thousands of people drown in the Mediterranean Sea or are forcibly deported, Germany’s political and cultural establishment celebrated itself as cosmopolitan, humane and liberal on Friday, June 12, 2015 in a small circle of invited guests.
While thousands of bones of colonized people from all over the world are stored in the depots of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and have been misused for research for more than 100 years, people talked about the ethos of the European Enlightenment and science and about the equality of people.
While Germany still denies the 1904-08 genocide in what is now Namibia, it was praised for its “exemplary” willingness to accept historical responsibility.
While the cellars of the Dahlem museums are literally overflowing with treasures shipped to Berlin during the colonial era, the city’s appreciation for the works of non-European cultures was emphasized.
The international alliance campaign No Humboldt 21! Moratorium on the Humboldt Forum in the Berlin Palace has “critically accompanied” the shameless prestige project in the center of Berlin since the laying of the foundation stone. Again and again, the alliance has pointed out the intolerability of the forum named after the grave robber Humboldt and denounced the cynical display of colonial robbery in the palace of the Brandenburg-Prussian slave traders, colonial rulers and genocides. It was able to count on the solidarity and support of more than 80 initiatives and organizations in Germany and abroad – and on the unwillingness of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. The Alliance also did not stand by silently at the topping-out ceremony and was on site.
