- A woman returned an ancient relic more than 50 years after stealing it from a tourist site in Greece
- The woman — who hails from Germany — took a piece of a limestone column from a building in Ancient Olympia in the 1960s
- Greece’s Ministry of Culture has called the woman’s decision an act of “sensitivity and courage”
A woman has returned a valuable relic to Greece — more than 50 years after stealing it from an ancient tourist site.
The returned item was a 9 inch by 13 inch piece of limestone column from the Leonidaion, a building in Ancient Olympia, and it was taken by a German woman in the 1960s during a visit to the area, per a translated announcement from Greece’s Ministry of Culture. An official repatriation ceremony for the piece took place on Oct. 10.
The woman was motivated to return the item after hearing of other recent incidents in which relics had been returned to Greece from Germany, according to the announcement. She then contacted the University of Münster in her home country so that they could help facilitate the return. The Ministry called her decision an act of “sensitivity and courage.”
“This is a particularly moving moment,” said Georgios Didaskalou, Greece’s Secretary General of Culture, during the repatriation ceremony, per the announcement.
Artifact from Ancient Olympia returned to Greece from Germany.
Greece Ministry of Culture
“This act proves that culture and history know no borders, but require cooperation, responsibility and mutual respect. Every such return is an act of restoration of justice and at the same time a bridge of friendship between peoples,” he added.
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This isn’t the first time in recent years that the University of Münster has facilitated the return of historical artifacts to Greece. In 2019, the university returned “the so-called skyphos of Louis, the Olympic champion at the first Olympic Games in Athens in 1896,” the Greek Culture of Ministry stated. It is currently on display in Greece at the Museum of the Ancient Olympic Games.
In 2024, the university returned a marble male head from Roman times from a cemetery in Thessaloniki.
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The Leonidaion, the site from which the most recently returned artifact came, is located in the southwestern part of Ancient Olympia, which is about 200 miles west of Athens. It is the largest building on the site, measuring 245 feet by 266 feet, and was erected in the second half of the 4th century BC.
The building served as a guesthouse for important visitors and dignitaries, and was first uncovered by a team of German archeologists between 1875 and 1881, per the Greek Ministry of Culture.