Germany has agreed to return a 15th century artefact – a Stone Cross – it removed from the Namibian coastline in the 1890s.

The 3.5m navigation mark was erected by Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão on the treacherous West African coastline in 1498. It was taken to Germany in 1893 after the area became a German imperial protectorate. The cross has been on display at Berlin’s German Historical Museum ever since.

The cross bears the Portuguese coat of arms and featured on numerous old-world maps.

In June 2017, the Namibian government formally requested its return. Germany’s Minister of State for Media and Culture, Monica Gruetters, says the return of the cross showed that the country was committed to accounting for its colonial past.