Ancient Marathon Trophy from the 1896 Olympics Discovered in the Collection of the University of Münster

The University returns ancient trophy to Greece / The skyphos was awarded during the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896 and had remained undetected in the the "Peek Collection" for years Provenance research revealed its historical origins: an ancient trophy, awarded to Spyridon ("Spyros") Louis, winner of the first marathon of the modern-day Olympic Games (1896) and later a Greek national hero, was stored in the depository of the Archaeological Museum of the University of Münster (WWU) for decades. The vessel, a skyphos dating back to the 6th century BC, has now returned to its homeland of Greece. A WWU delegation headed by Rector Johannes Wessels handed over the former athletic trophy as a gift to the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports in an official ceremony on Wednesday, 13 November. Greek officials announced that the skyphos would be given a place of honour in the Museum of the History of the Ancient Olympic Games (formerly the Archaeological Museum) in Olympia. "Its future place of honour is where the skyphos was naturally meant to be. I am very happy that the University of Münster could help make this possible," underlined Münster University's Rector Prof. Johannes Wessels. "The skyphos has a highly symbolic significance for Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic Games.