Italy Refuses to Return Roman Statue Bought by Hitler to German Museum

The dispute began when the National Roman Museum requested the return of the statue’s 17th-century marble base, leading to the German museum's request for the statue itself.

• Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano has refused a request from the German State Antiquities Collection in Munich to return the Discobolus Palombara, a 2nd-century Roman copy of a long-lost Greek original.
• The statue was bought by Adolf Hitler in 1938 from its private Italian owner under pressure from Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, despite opposition from Italy’s education minister and culture officials.
• The statue was returned to Italy in 1948 as part of works illegally obtained by the Nazis.
• The dispute began when the director of the National Roman Museum requested the return of the statue’s 17th-century marble base from the German museum, which instead asked for the return of the statue.
• The German museum justified its request by claiming that the statue had been illegally transported to Italy in 1948 and that it was legally bought by the German state at the time, with the Italian authorities’ permission.

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