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Neues Museum, Museum Island, Berlin
“WHAT THE GERMAN
people have, they keep,” Adolf Hitler famously responded when Egyptian
authorities suggested that the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti in Berlin ought
to be returned to Cairo.
I was standing
among other admiring visitors in front of the bust of the iconic queen in a
long gallery at the north cupola of the Neues Museum, when I recalled the
Fuehrer’s response. The suggestions from the Egyptian authorities had risen to
the level of rancorous clamour in recent years, yet there were still no signs
that Nefertiti was going back to Egypt anytime soon. The queen’s image was
everywhere, on postcards, in books and on publicity posters. Nefertiti had the
pulling power of a superstar.
Was it James Bond’s
creator Ian Fleming who’d remarked that the ancient queen of Egypt could make
an entrance today in a designer gown and give the beautiful people a run for
their money?
I never thought I’d
agree with Hitler on any subject, I reflected, shaking my head in wonder at her
beauty. The timeless elegance, lovely neck and airborne eyebrows produced a
powerful effect on the beholder. If I had Nefertiti I wouldn’t part with her
either…
('The Ibis Apocalypse')
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