Entertainment · Books & Arts · 5 hrs ago
Austrian candidate pledges to return Aztec headdress to Mexico
Austrian presidential candidate Gunther Fehlinger-Jahn has promised to return a 16th-century Aztec headdress to Mexico if he is elected.
The feathered object is held at Vienna’s Weltmuseum.
It is known as the quetzalapanecayotl and is linked to Aztec ruler Moctezuma, although he is believed never to have worn it.
Mexico has sought its return for decades, but it is unclear how the headdress first left the country.
In 2020, Austria refused Mexico’s request to borrow it for an exhibition, citing concerns about its fragility.
Fehlinger-Jahn said Austria and Mexico should negotiate a solution based on friendship rather than confrontation.
The pledge is conditional on his election; the headdress remains in Vienna for now.}
Austrian presidential candidate Gunther Fehlinger-Jahn says he would return a 16th-century Aztec headdress to Mexico if elected.
The headdress is held at Vienna’s Weltmuseum.
Mexico has requested the artifact’s return for decades.
Fehlinger-Jahn called for Austria and Mexico to negotiate a solution based on friendship.
Austrian officials refused a 2020 Mexican request to borrow the headdress, citing its fragility.
- Who
- Gunther Fehlinger-Jahn, an Austrian presidential candidate, says he would return the headdress.
- What
- He pledged to return a 16th-century Aztec feathered headdress to Mexico if elected.
- When
- He made the pledge before the Austrian presidential election; the article gives no date for the statement.
- Where
- The headdress is currently at Vienna’s Weltmuseum.
- Why
- Mexico has requested its return for decades. Fehlinger-Jahn called for a negotiated solution based on friendship.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Austria and Mexico should negotiate a bilateral solution based on friendship rather than confrontation
The Mexican government has requested the return of the headdress.
Mexico requested to borrow the headdress for an exhibition, but Austrian officials refused, citing its fragility.
Fehlinger-Jahn said he would return the headdress to Mexico if elected.
- Candidate
- Gunther Fehlinger-Jahn
- Object
- 16th-century feathered Aztec headdress
- Current location
- Weltmuseum, Vienna
- Dimensions
- 4½ feet high and 5¾ feet wide
- 2020 loan request
- Austrian officials refused, citing the headdress’s fragility
Sources
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