A German woman has returned a 2,400-year-old Greek artefact that she stole more than 50 years ago from the birthplace of the Olympic Games. The relic, the capital of an Ionic column made of limestone, measures about nine inches tall and 33.5 inches wide. It was taken from the Leonidaion, a 4th-century BC guesthouse for athletes inside Greece's Olympia sanctuary.
The woman, who had kept the ancient column since her visit in the 1960s, gave the artefact to the University of Münster in Germany after being inspired by the university's recent efforts to return other stolen objects. The Greek Ministry of Culture praised her 'sensitivity and courage' in a social media post. The university arranged the repatriation of the column.
Dr Torben Schreiber, curator of Münster's Archaeological Museum, said: 'It is never too late to do what is right, ethical and just.' Last year, Münster returned a Roman marble male head from a cemetery in Thessaloniki, and in 2019, it returned the so-called skoufos (skull cup) of Spyros Louis, the Olympic champion runner at Athens' first Olympic Games in 1896.
A repatriation ceremony for the column was held in Olympia on Friday. Greece's General Secretary of Culture George Didaskalou called it an 'especially moving moment'. He added: 'This act demonstrates that culture and history know no borders but require cooperation, responsibility and mutual respect. Every such return is an act of justice and, at the same time, a bridge of friendship between peoples.'
The return comes as Greece steps up its campaign to bring home the Parthenon Marbles, which have been housed in the British Museum since the 19th century. The marbles remain a long-standing source of political tension between Greece and Britain.
