At the end of January 2025, our associate researcher Dr Tobias Skowronek published a provocation in the journal Atlantic Studies: Global Currents as part of his ongoing research about the German metals used in the fabrication of the Benin Bronzes. In this provocation, the question is posed as to why historical scholarship, although it demonstrably knew about it, never emphasized the role of German heavy industry in the transatlantic slave trade. The investigation of historically suppressed forms of knowledge is one of the key questions of the Global Heritage Lab. In Tobias’ article, those early German industrialists who worked in the Aachen-Stolberg area and produced metals for the African trade until the recent past are highlighted as an example of the continuing connection between German heavy industry and the transatlantic slave trade. The publication clearly shows those connections that have been partly deliberately blurred in the past and aims to provoke further studies of the larger contextualization of the German entanglement in the global metal trade.
Paper abstract
The study “German brass for Benin Bronzes,” published in 2023 with my colleagues, revealed how German metals played a significant role in the production of the Benin Bronzes, one of the most controversial cultural heritage issues of recent years. However, the extensive discussion surrounding the restitution of the stolen artworks completely ignored the historical data that explained the presence of German metals in the Bronzes. In view of the sensitivity and topicality of the debates on de-colonialization and German profits from the transatlantic slave trade, this is unacceptably problematical. This provocation challenges this lacuna in reference to the Benin Bronzes as a symptom of a repressed narrative about the German metal export economy to Africa and aims to provoke further studies of the larger contextualization of the German entanglement in the global metal trade well into the twentieth century
Reference:
Skowronek, T. B. (2025). Echoes from Benin: The unrecognized profits of the German heavy metal industry from the transatlantic slave trade – a provocation. Atlantic Studies, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1080/14788810.2025.2452546 