Filenews 2 August 2024
Another 36 Cypriot antiquities were repatriated from Stuttgart on Friday, July 26, the Department of Antiquities announced.
The antiquities were exported from the Republic of Cyprus between 1964-1968 by a German national, who worked at the German Embassy in Nicosia at the time. Following his death in 2023, his heiress, Eva-Maria Vaas, contacted the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Berlin expressing her wish to hand over the antiquities to the Cypriot authorities, with a view to their repatriation.
Antiquities include clay vessels dating from the Early-Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000 BC) to the Medieval period, as well as four clay lamps, which date from the Cypro-Classical to the Late-Roman period.
The Department of Antiquities expressed its sincere thanks to Eva-Maria Vaas, both for her initiative to return the antiquities to Cyprus and for her excellent cooperation in this endeavour.
Warmest thanks are also addressed to the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Berlin and especially to Ambassador Maria Papakyriakou and the Deputy Head of Mission Dimitris Demetriou, for their valuable contribution to the repatriation of antiquities.
The Department of Antiquities, as the Department responsible of the Republic of Cyprus for the protection and management of the archaeological heritage of Cyprus, recognises the important role that the public can play in the repatriation of antiquities and encourages those who wish to contribute in this field to contact it.
At the same time, it continues all efforts for the protection of the cultural heritage of Cyprus and other countries, always in close cooperation with the National Committee for the Suppression of Looting and Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Heritage.
