German woman who stole 2,400-year-old Greek relic returns it 50 years later: ‘Never too late to do the right thing’

A German woman who stole the top of an ancient Greek column more than half a century ago has returned it to Greece — ending a decades-long absence for the 2,400-year-old artifact taken from the birthplace of the Olympic Games.

The Ionic column capital, made of limestone and measuring about 9 inches high and 13 inches wide, was taken from the Leonidaion, a 4th-century BC guesthouse in Ancient Olympia.

Greek officials said the relic was handed back during a ceremony on Friday at the Ancient Olympia Conference Center, after the woman voluntarily surrendered it to the University of Münster in Germany, which arranged its repatriation.

The woman had snatched the artifact in the 1960s during a visit to the site and kept it for decades before deciding to return it. She said she was inspired by the university’s recent restitution of looted antiquities.

The Greek Culture Ministry praised her “sensitivity and courage” and said her act showed “it is never too late to do the right thing.”

The return marks the third major artifact the University of Münster has sent back to Greece in recent years.

In 2019, it repatriated the so-called Cup of Louis — linked to the Olympic champion of 1896 — and in 2024, it returned a marble male head from Roman-era Thessaloniki.

“This is a particularly moving moment,” said Culture Secretary General Georgios Didaskalos at the handover.

“This act proves that culture and history know no borders but require cooperation, responsibility, and mutual respect. Every such return is an act of restoring justice and at the same time a bridge of friendship between peoples.”

Dr. Torben Schreiber, curator of the Archaeological Museum at the University of Münster, said the institution would continue to return any object proven to have been illicitly acquired.

“It is never too late to do what is right, moral, and just,” he said.

The Leonidaion — named after its benefactor Leonidas of Naxos — is the largest structure in the sanctuary of Olympia, built with Ionic colonnades on all sides to host distinguished visitors.

The newly returned fragment will be conserved and exhibited in Ancient Olympia, officials said.