Athens, September 4th, 2006
SPEECH BY THE MINISTER OF CULTURE Mr. GIORGOS
VOULGARAKIS ΑΤ ΤΗΕ DELIVERY CEREMONY OF THE FIRST EVER
FRAGMENT OF THE PARTHENON SCULPTURES
RETURNED TO GREECE BY THE UNIVERSITY OF HEIDELBERG
It is a great honour for me to be here today at the University of Heidelberg, the oldest
German University, an academic Institution known for its traditional links with
Greece, which -as the Rector mentioned - has for centuries now been one of the most
important centres for the study of Greek Culture.
To day is indeed a historical day. For the first time, after nearly two hundred years, an
expatriate, precious piece of the Parthenon is being reincorporated into the monument
whence it originally came from: I am talking about the fragment from slab VIII of the
northern frieze. I am deeply touched, both as a Greek and as the Minister of Culture,
for the exceptional honour to be the one to receive it officially, and to be able to take
it back to its proper place. Today it is the University of Heidelberg that makes history
as it displays its solid academic ethos, as well as its high academic prestige by
recognizing de facto the significance that the reunification of the Parthenon
Sculptures holds for such a monument, unique amidst the world’s cultural heritage.
The imaginative decision of the Rectorate to transfer, upon Greece’s request,
ownership of the fragment to the Greek Ministry of Culture, has a great significance
both in substance and in its symbolism. This is the first time that a request for a return
of Parthenon Sculptures has been accepted in practice. This is the first time in many
decades, that world-wide efforts to reunify the dismembered pieces with the
monument they came from, have been vindicated. This is the first time that the tacit
agreement among museums in possession of Parthenon Sculptures, (London, Paris,
Vienna, Rome, Palermo, Copenhagen, Munich and Würzburg) is being broken.
Today, the symbolic and moral impact of the Heidelberg University’s gesture
removes the seeming impasse that bedevils the issue of the reunification of the
Parthenon Sculptures. It foreshadows a new area of actions to be taken and points the
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way to the rehabilitation of the architectural unity and the sculptural integrity of a
monument which is a symbol of world culture.
The cultural tradition of the European world, gestated in 5th century B.C. Athens,
represents an intellectual bequest of enormous importance to humanity. The great
discoveries in the fields of Politics, Education, Town planning, Architecture,
Sculpture, Painting, Music, Theatre, Poetry, Philosophy and History, are imprinted on
the Parthenon itself.
The Parthenon is not just one more architectural masterpiece coming to us from the
past. It is not special either for its size or for the materials used for its construction. It
stands out for the unique -in the history of human achievements- transmutation of
quantity into quality, that is, of material elements into spiritual values. It is a symbol
because it reveals how spirit can shape matter. It is a monument that marks the
awakening of individual consciousness within the collective social framework a
process that can only be guaranteed by the principles of Democracy.
The duty to reunify the Parthenon Sculptures is a duty of humanity towards Culture so
that the unity of the whole can be restored and so that the always topical human
message that it sends out can again be heard loud and clear.
At this point it must be made clear to all the world’s museums possessing Greek or
foreign collections that the Parthenon Sculptures constitute a special case entirely of
its own. In no way will their consent to the restoration of the Parthenon’s unity
deprive them of their other precious collections. The request for the reunification of
the Parthenon Sculptures is an exclusively ethical one and is not motivated by any
nation-centred obsessions. It is a request that is both self-evident and universal in
scope. The Greeks consider it an urgent priority, not because they are driven by
ancestor worship or obsolete nationalistic aspirations. They are simply aware of the
disruption of the moral order that depriving the monument of its sculptures does
indeed create. The Greeks feel a special obligation to restore the monument and hand
it down in its integrity, to future generations.
The New Acropolis Museum, that will soon open its gates to the public, is ready to
welcome the Parthenon Sculptures from abroad. It is there that works belonging to a
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specific monumental complex will be housed. The centre point of the Acropolis
Museum is the Parthenon Hall. It is there, for the first time in modern history, that the
reintegration of all the surviving parts will become possible through visual contact
with the actual monument. It is there that a large and homogeneous collection will be
exhibited, which will – I hope – include the Sculptures that we claim from the British
Museum. These are the missing, organic elements of the Parthenon, which have been
torn away from their historical, geographic and cultural background, without which
the cohesion, homogeneity and historical character of a site unique in its significance
is abolished. In the Parthenon Hall of the New Acropolis Museum, a number of
specially prepared show-cases will remain empty in expectation of the return of the
Parthenon Sculptures. For every single sculpture still in Britain, a special place has
been provided for. The New Acropolis Museum will not simply be an exhibition hall,
but also a place for study and research for scholars and artists from all over the world.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As a Minister of Culture I am aware that for this significant cultural vision of ours to
be realised straight thinking and courage are needed. Even for the smallest fragments
from the Parthenon there will be ‘gifts in return’ from our rich cultural past offered to
all the museums that will forward us the fragments belonging to the sculptural
decoration of this monument. We are ready to respond favourably to any request for
lending ancient works of art and to organise periodic exhibitions of them in great
museums abroad. We wish to launch a responsible dialogue with foreign museums on
this issue, as we firmly believe in the bright future that the European Idea holds for all
of us.
The Parthenon Sculptures have indeed started their trek home.
I would like finally, to express my warmest thanks to all those who have contributed,
in their own way each, to the return of this fragment back to Greece. I would like in
particular, to thank the Rector of the University of Heidelberg Dr. Peter Hommelhoff,
the Director of the Archaeological Institute of the University of Heidelberg Dr. Tonio
Hölscher, the Deputy Manager of the Archaeological Institute Dr. Reinhard
Stupperich, the former Vice-Rector Professor Angelos Chaniotis, and collectively the
entire academic community of this historical university. I would especially like to
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make special reference to Professor Angelos Delivorias, Director of the Benaki
Museum, for his active part in the return of the fragment.
I would also like to thank Germany, our friend, the Ministry of Culture of Waden
Würtemberg as well as the University of Heidelberg, for having. Through its gesture,
it has correctly redefined the request for the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures
as being self-evident and universal.
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