The kidnapped dead: Germany’s stolen skulls

In 1900, German colonial officers executed 19 Tanzanian leaders, including Akida Kiwelu, and shipped their skulls to Berlin for scientific study. Thousands of such skulls and ancestral remains stolen from Germany’s past colonies are still kept in Berlin museums to this day.

In an administrative building in Berlin, Zablon Kiwelu encounters his grandfather’s skull for the first time. DNA testing confirmed a genetic match to this skull, held in an anthropological colonial-era collection of thousands of skulls known as the S-Collection. But despite proof of his heritage, Zablon cannot bring his grandfather home for a proper burial.

Through intimate accounts and revealing interviews with museum curators, activists, and affected families, this documentary uncovers the lasting impact of colonial-era crimes in Germany, Tanzania, and beyond. Why were these collections of human remains assembled? What were ethnologists like Felix von Luschan intending to prove? And why are thousands of human remains still held in museum collections to this day?

Presenter: Peter Frederick Matthews
Producer: Ben Schuman-Stoler, Rowan Ben Jackson
A Munck Studios and Kollo Media production for BBC World Service

(Image: Composite image of Zablon Kiwelu (L) and his grandfather Akida Kiwelu (R). Credit:)