Dozens of artifacts vandalized in three Berlin museums
By Loveday Morris and Luisa Beck,
Fabrizio Bensch Reuters
BERLIN — Berlin police on Wednesday confirmed it was investigating the vandalizing of dozens of antiquities in three of the capital’s museums earlier this month.
Around 70 artifacts were visibly damaged at Berlin’s Pergamon Museum, Alte Nationalgalerie and Neues Museum, police said. All three are situated on Berlin’s Museum Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Spree River that courses through the city.
German news outlets Die Zeit and Deutschlandfunk, which first reported the damage, said that Egyptian sarcophagi were among the items visibly marked with an oily substance.
Police spokesman Benjamin Raschke said that he could not comment on the motivation but that investigations were being made in “all directions.” The incident took place on Oct. 3, the 30th anniversary of German reunification.
German media linked the incident to conspiracy theorists, such as QAnon and other far-fetched global conspiracies which are finding new followers during the coronavirus pandemic. The QAnon conspiracy baselessly alleges that a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles are running a global child sex-trafficking ring and battling to bring down President Trump.
Attila Hildman, a vegan chef who has grown to prominence during anti-lockdown protests in Germany spouting baseless theories on topics such as forced vaccines and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, is one of its most vocal proponents in Germany and he has also taken aim at the Pergamon Museum.
He has described the museum’s Pergamon Altar, a 2nd century B.C. construction built in Ancient Greece during the reign of King Eumenes II as the throne of Satan and a site for child sacrifice. He called on his followers to storm the museum in August, according to German press reports.
The Prussian Heritage Foundation, which oversees the museums, said it would not comment on the incident before a scheduled news conference on Wednesday afternoon. Berlin’s Neues Museum, which largely houses ancient Egyptian artifacts, is home to the famed bust of Queen Nefertiti. It was on display as usual on Tuesday, with little outward sign of extra security.
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