Germany returns 14 smuggled artifacts to Italy

ROME

Germany returned 14 smuggled cultural artifacts to Italy, said Eurojust, an EU agency for criminal justice cooperation between member states.

These include an Attic black-figure kylix from 540-530 B.C., a Corinthian bronze helmet from the 4th century B.C., and several Roman bronze coins dating between 68 B.C. to the 3rd century B.C.

They also included less ancient assets, such as four gold coins of Valentinian II from the mint of Trier in Germany from the era 367-385 A.D. and an ivory box dated to the late Middle Ages.

The precious objects of considerable economic and cultural value had been stolen from Italy museums or illegally excavated, Eurojust said.

In particular, the coins and the medieval box were all stolen from two Italian museums in Parma and Milan in northern Italy.

The Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Italy’s Carabinieri police, the Bavarian State Criminal Police office in Germany, and the Ministries of Culture of both countries cooperated on seizing the cultural goods and the final handover to Italy, Eurojust added.