A Greek wine jug looted during the German occupation of 1941 to 1944 has been returned by the German Municipality of Hanover and the August Kestner Museum.
The trefoil-shaped wine bottle with a stopper, dating back to 620-600 BC, which preserves traces of written decoration around the neck, was brought to the museum in 1986 by Geology professor Dr Hannfrit Putzer.
According to a letter that accompanied it, the Germans found the bottle in 1943 in excavations of the Corinth Canal, and had handed it over to him. Along with the letter, there was a note that gave the location where the object was found.
“The decision of the Municipality of Hanover and the August Kestner Museum is practical proof of their will to contribute to the restoration of the damage suffered by the cultural heritage of Greece, but also to defend the reputation of the August Kestner Museum. The Greek state [has] … made systematic efforts to locate and repatriate antiquities that were looted by the occupying forces. This effort continues,” the Greek Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, said about the repatriation.
Main Image :Courtesy August Kestner Museum