Vattel: Le droit des Gens (1758)

This text provides one of the first reflections on the principles that would later lead to an international position against the destruction of heritage in wartime. At the same time, it still clearly outlines the right of a conquering party to take »booty« from an enemy without necessarily specifying whether this would exclude cultural assets. In this regard it differs distinctly from later texts, most notably the Hague Convention of 1899/1907. Despite indicating the need to preserve buildings of artistic merit, this text contains many aspects that can be regarded as having justified a treatment of European nation-states that differed from that of non-European groups whose statehood Europeans did not necessarily acknowledge. During the nineteenth century, such positions led to differences in treatment and consideration of peoples and their cultural assets in Europe versus societies subjected to colonisation.

commented by Elsje van Kessel

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Stanley: Coomassie and Magdala (1874)

The journalist Henry Morton Stanley covered the exploits of the Anglo-Indian invasion force of the ›Abyssinian Expedition‹ against the Ethiopian king Tewodros II, which came to a head at the Battle of Mäqdäla on 13 April 1868. After storming Tewodros‘ stronghold of Mäqdäla, the British soldiers looted the mountain fortress – which had served as repository for countless treasures recently looted by Tewodros himself from all over the Ethiopian kingdom as a means to establish his claim to sovereignty. A crown and chalice described by Stanley can be identified with items now in the possession of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, where claims for restitution date back to the 1870s.

commented by Verena Krebs

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Haager Landkriegsordnung (1907)

Die Haager Landkriegsordnung wird oftmals als Ursprung des völkerrechtlichen Schutzes für Kulturgüter im Krieg genannt. Während es sich dabei um den ersten verbindlichen völkerrechtlichen Vertrag handelt, der einen Schutz vor Translokation und Zerstörung von Kulturgütern vorsah, reichen die Bemühungen um eine völkerrechtliche Kodifikation dieser Regelungen weit in das 19. Jahrhundert und darüber hinaus zurück. Der technische Fortschritt und die Industrialisierung in dieser Epoche bargen auch für Kulturgüter in kriegerischen Konflikten neue Risiken. Die Haager Landkriegsordnung kann als Antwort auf diese Entwicklungen gelesen werden, die sich jedoch auch in die imperialen Gegebenheiten jener Zeit einfügen musste.

kommentiert von Sebastian Spitra

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Raharuhi Rukupo et al.: Petition of Natives at Turanga (1867)

Te Hau ki Turanga is the name of the oldest ancestral meeting-house (whare tupuna) that is still in existence in New Zealand. It was built in the early 1840s on the East Coast of the North Island by Raharuhi Rukupo, a chief of the Rongowhakaata tribe. In 1867, it was removed under the instructions of government minister Richmond as part of the confiscation of Turanga lands following the so-called »Maori wars«. Token sums were paid to the locals, but essentially the building was considered as a war trophy. While Te Hau ki Turanga was turned into a museum object, members of Rongowhakaata unsuccessfully petitioned the government for its return over the following 135 years. In 2012, the Crown finally conceded that the forcible taking of the building constituted a breach of Maori rights and that it should be returned to Rongowhakaata.

commented by Toon van Meijl

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Farmer u.a.: Wiesbadener Manifest (1945)

Am 6. November 1945 erreicht ein Befehl der US-amerikanischen Militärverwaltung den Wiesbadener Central Collecting Point, wo die bei Kriegsende in deutschen Luftschutzdepots aufgefundenen Kunstwerke lagern, größtenteils aus deutschem Museumsbesitz: Zweihundert Meisterwerke sollen unverzüglich für die Verschiffung in die Vereinigten Staaten vorbereitet werden. Für Walter Farmer, Leiter des Collection Point, und seine Kollegen vom militärischen Kunstschutz (MFA&A) ist dieser Befehl nicht mit den Pflichten und Aufgaben ihrer Einheit vereinbar, weshalb sie sich in einer gemeinsamen Erklärung zu Wort melden.

kommentiert von Tanja Bernsau und Elisabeth Furtwängler

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