After 50 years woman returns ancient relic she stole from Greece, says it’s never too late

13.10.2025
A German woman who stole the top of an ancient column in Olympia over half a century ago has returned it to Greece, the Greek culture ministry said.
The capital of the column, made of limestone and measuring nine inches high and 33.5 cm 13 inches wide, was taken from the Leonidaion, a 4th-century BC guesthouse.
In a social media post, the Greek culture ministry praised the “sensitivity and courage” of the woman who returned the artifact.
It is the third artifact returned by the University of Muenster in recent years. The handover took place last Friday.
“Motivated by the recent return of important antiquities from the University of Muenster to their countries of origin, she decided to hand it over to the university, with whose valuable contribution it returned to Greece and Ancient Olympia”, the ministry said, hailing the “sensitivity and courage” of the woman.
The capital of the column, made of limestone and measuring nine inches high and 33.5 cm 13 inches wide, was taken from the Leonidaion, a 4th-century BC guesthouse.
In 2019, the University of Muenster returned a twin-handled wine cup belonging to a champion from the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896.
Then in 2024, it returned a Roman-era marble male head which came from a cemetery in Thessaloniki.
“This is a particularly moving moment. This act proves that culture and history know no borders but require cooperation, responsibility, and mutual respect,” Giorgios Didaskalou, a senior culture ministry official said.
Athens has been trying for years to broker deals for the repatriation of antiquities without resorting to legal action.