Overview
- The Schleswig-Holstein archives formally handed the pieces to France in Bayeux on Wednesday, according to the museum and archives director Rainer Hering.
- The return covers two non‑embroidered linen fragments measuring about one to two centimeters, believed to have been taken during a 1941 Ahnenerbe study involving textile specialist Karl Schlabow.
- Archivists discovered the fragments under a glass plate during a 2023 inventory and identified them through labels and supporting documents, after which they were shown in a 2025 exhibition in Schleswig-Holstein.
- The Bayeux Museum says analyses may follow to deepen material knowledge of the work, and staff suspect the samples came from near the start of the embroidery based on a 1941 photograph showing a hole.
- The pieces are not expected to go on public display, and the restitution comes as the tapestry is slated for a British Museum loan from September 2026 to July 2027, following earlier related donations in 2008 and 2019.