Germany to return colonial-era Namibian cross

The German Historical Museum has announced it will return a 15th century monument to Namibia which was removed during the colonial era. BBC News reports that the stone cross is a Portuguese navigation landmark placed on the south-west African coastline in 1486. When the area was under German colonial control in the 1890s, the cross was transported to Europe. Namibia asked for its return in 2017 and on Friday, the Berlin museum formally agreed to the request. German Culture Minister Monika Grütters said it was ‘a clear signal that we are committed to coming to terms with our colonial past’. Namibia's ambassador to Germany, Andreas Guibeb, called it ‘important as a step for us to reconcile with our colonial past and the trail of humiliation and systematic injustice that it left behind’.