Proto-Corinthian Oinochoe

Proto-Corinthian Oinochoe

This early Corinthian jug was discovered in Greece in 1943 by members of Germany's occupying Nazi forces. 

Prof. Dr. Hannfrit Putzer described in a 1986 letter to the August Kestner Museum how “German engineers” had found the jug in 1943 during excavation work for “heavy naval guns” at the southern end of the Corinth Canal and handed it over to him.

Putzer was a top-ranking civil servant in German occupation forces in Greece, with a rank comparable to a Company Commander within the Army Geology Division No. 16. He had arrived at the Isthmus of Corinth on 15 May 15, 1943, when the German Wehrmacht was reinforcing its occupation forces in Greece, and performed geological surveys in the Isthmus area.

Putzer brought the ancient jug, known as a Proto-Corinthian Oinochoe, to Aegina between November 20th and 30th 1943, where he had it evaluated by the German archaeologist Gabriel Welter. Putzer then brought the jug to Germany on his next trip home, where it remained until 1986. In July of that year, Putzer, who by then had become an honorary professor of geology at Hannover University, offered the object to the Kestner Museum (now the Museum August Kestner) in Hannover. It was formally accessioned in 1988.

In August 2002, the provenance research unit of the City of Hannover began conducting in-depth research about Hannfrit Putzer as part of the agreement reached under at the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art of 1998. Based on the team's findings, the Cultural Committee of the City of Hannover decided on November 17, 2023 to return the jug to Greece.

On April 8, 2024, Belit Onay, the Lord Mayor of the City of Hannover, executed the restitution of the oinochoe to the Hellenic Republic.

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Vessel – pots, amphorae, vases, kraters

Greek

Dr. Hannfrit Putzer

Museum August Kestner

1988.108

Greece

Sarah Krienen

Dr. Johannes Schwartz

Jason Felch