The Magnificent Boat: The Colonial Theft of a South Seas Cultural Treasure

The Humboldt Forum in Berlin displays predominantly non-Western art and artifacts in a modern reconstruction of the former Royal Palace. Its premier attraction, an ornately decorated fifteen-meter boat from the island of Luf in modern-day Papua New Guinea, was acquired under dubious circumstances by Max Thiel in 1902. Götz Aly's book tells the story of the German pillaging of Luf and surrounding islands, a campaign of violence in which Berlin ethnologists were complicit. The looted boat is a portal to a forgotten chapter in the history of empire, the conquest of the Bismarck Archipelago. Aly questions the legitimacy of allowing treasures from faraway, conquered places to remain located in the West.

Format: Hardback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 07 March 2023
Publisher: Harvard University Press

From an esteemed and thought-provoking historian, a poignant parable of the devastating consequences of colonialism in the South Pacific. Numerous museums in the West have faced criticism for their possession of looted treasures, but few have received such scathing rebuke as the Humboldt Forum, which showcases predominantly non-Western art and artifacts in a modern reimagining of the former Royal Palace in Berlin. The Forum's most prominent attraction, an intricately adorned fifteen-meter boat originating from the island of Luf in modern-day Papua New Guinea, was acquired under the most dubious circumstances by Max Thiel, a German trader, in 1902, following two decades of bloody German colonial expeditions in Oceania.

Götz Aly narrates the tale of the German plundering of Luf and its surrounding islands, a violent campaign in which Berlin ethnologists played a brazen role. In the aftermath, the majestic vessel was sold to the Ethnological Museum in the imperial capital, where it has remained ever since. In Aly's vivid retelling, the looted boat serves as a gateway to a forgotten chapter in the history of empire—the conquest of the Bismarck Archipelago. Among these islands was one named Aly, in tribute to the author's great-granduncle, Gottlob Johannes Aly, a naval chaplain who served aboard ships that contributed to the subjugation of the South Sea islands that Germany colonized.

While acknowledging the intricacies of cultural ownership debates, Götz Aly courageously raises questions about the legitimacy of allowing so many treasures from distant, conquered lands to remain housed in the West. Through the story of one emblematic object, The Magnificent Boat, Aly artfully sheds light on a realm of colonial brutality that remains relatively unknown to many today.

Dimension: 210 x 140 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780674276574