In a significant development, Germany has returned two small fragments of the renowned Bayeux Tapestry that were stolen by a German scientist during the Nazi occupation of France in 1941. The pieces of unembroidered fabric were discovered by historians in state archives in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany, as they sifted through the collection of German textile specialist Karl Schlabow.
The fragments were later identified as part of the Bayeux Tapestry, a 70-metre-long (230ft) embroidery that depicts the Norman conquest of England in 1066. Rainer Hering, the head of the archive, presented the mayor of Bayeux with the linen pieces on Thursday, stating that it was “obvious” they had to be returned to France.
Schlabow, who died in 1984, is believed to have stolen the fragments, each only a few centimetres long, when he was sent to Bayeux as part of a research team to study Germany’s “ancestral heritage” – a racist and anti-Semitic project run by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi SS.
Although Schlabow passed away decades ago, historians from the Schleswig-Holstein archive conducted an inventory of his collection in 2023 and discovered “a glass plate containing pieces of fabric”. Further documentation found alongside the collection and the labelling on the glass plate made it possible to identify the fragments as belonging to the Bayeux Tapestry.
“For our state archive service, it was obvious that these pieces of fabric taken by the Nazis 85 years earlier had to be returned to France,” Hering told Ici Normandie.
The fragments are thought to have been removed from the underside of the tapestry, which is composed of 58 scenes covering 20 years of history with 626 characters and 202 horses. It depicts William the Conqueror becoming the first Norman king of England by seizing the English throne from Harold Godwin at the Battle of Hastings.
The Bayeux Tapestry is set to go on display at the British Museum in London in September, under a controversial deal agreed between the UK and France. More than 77,000 people have signed a petition against moving the 11th-century tapestry, arguing that it is too fragile to travel.
British artist David Hockney has also criticised the idea of transporting the tapestry across the Channel, stating that the plan is “madness”. For the renowned artist, “some things are too precious to take a risk with”.
However, the British Museum has vowed to protect the historic tapestry. The UK government is insuring it during its loan to the museum for £800 million. Given its significance in British and French history, the tapestry was added to UNESCO’s “Memory of the World” register in 2007.