Germany has said it aims to start returning Benin Bronzes looted by British soldiers in the late 19th century to Nigeria next year. It is one of the first countries to do so amid a growing trend to return cultural artifacts seized during the colonial era to their places of origin.

"We want to contribute to a common understanding and reconciliation with the descendants of the people who were robbed of their cultural treasures during the times of colonialism," Germany's culture minister Monika Gruetters said in a joint statement issued with the foreign ministry and German museums late on Thursday.

"In addition to maximum transparency, we primarily aim for substantial restitution," Gruetters added.

READ MORE

Tianhe launch 'can lead to galactic cooperation'

Reporting on Northern Ireland's peace process

Gorilla’s survival threatened by war

In 1897, Britain's soldiers seized thousands of metal castings and sculptures during a raid on the Kingdom of Benin, then separate from British-ruled Nigeria.

The "bronzes" – actually copper alloy relief sculptures, many showing court figures – were auctioned off and then spread among institutions from New Zealand to Germany and the U.S., with the biggest collection in London's British Museum.

The Ethnological Museum in Berlin has more than 500 historical artifacts from the Kingdom of Benin in its collections, mostly bronzes.

The University of Aberdeen in Scotland said last month it would return a Benin Bronze to Nigeria within weeks, one of the first public institutions to do so.

That decision raised pressure on other establishments, including the British Museum, to follow suit.

Late last year, France approved the return of 26 items pillaged from the Kingdom of Benin in 1892.

The British Museum, which holds hundreds of the sculptures, has alongside several other museums formed a Benin Dialogue Group to discuss displaying them in Benin City, some officially on loan.

Plans are under way in Nigeria's Edo state, of which Benin City is the capital, to build a center to store and study the returned artifacts by the end of 2021 and a permanent museum is planned by 2025.