The German Historical Museum (DHM) in Berlin has returned a bronze relief to the Belgian city of Dinant. The relief, created by Belgian sculptor Frans Huygelen around 1927, was confiscated in 1942 during the German occupation of Belgium. It was part of a monument dedicated to the execution of Belgian civilians by German soldiers in World War I. The return was prompted by a 1930 postcard showing the relief as part of the monument, which was missing from a 2014 photo, leading to confirmation that it had been seized by the German military commander of Dinant and Philippeville and likely brought to the Berlin Zeughaus, the Nazi-era army museum.
The restitution matters because it addresses a historical injustice from the Nazi occupation and helps close a gap in reconciliation between Dinant, Belgium, and Germany. The relief commemorates the massacre of over 670 residents of Dinant by German soldiers in 1914. Since German reunification, the DHM has been actively researching the provenance of its collections, particularly to identify artworks looted from Jewish owners during the Nazi era and return them to heirs. This return underscores the ongoing importance of provenance research and restitution in German museums.