Hartwig Fischer (Hamburg, 1962), director of the British Museum, one of the largest museum institutions in the world, has submitted his resignation due to the inadequate handling of the thefts of numerous gems, jewels and crystals from the museum's collection -dating from the 15th century BC to the 19th century - by an employee. They would be between one thousand and two thousand pieces with a value of millions of pounds. A Dutch antiquities dealer, Ittai Gradel, who had bought hundreds of objects from the museum online, alerted the museum two years ago to the theft that was taking place and the deputy director of the museum replied in a message that "there was no evidence of crime " and that "the collection was protected". Gradel had accused the institution of sweeping the problem under the rug and had called for the resignation of Fischer and Williams.
Hartwig Fischer has finally announced that he is stepping down as director of the London institution with immediate effect. "Over the past few days I have been reviewing in detail the events surrounding the British Museum thefts and the investigation into them. It is clear that the museum has not responded as fully as it should in response to the 2021 warnings, and the issue has emerged now in its entirety", has admitted the German art historian.
And he has indicated that "the responsibility for this failure must ultimately correspond to the director". "I was also wrong about the statements I made earlier this week about Dr. Gradel. I want to express my regret and withdraw those statements." The German director, who has led the institution since 2016, has offered his resignation to the president of the trustees and will leave, he assures, as soon as an interim leadership is appointed who will be at the head of the center until a new direction is chosen.
Likewise, Fischer has recognized that the situation that the British Museum is going through is "of the greatest seriousness, I believe that we will get through the moment and emerge stronger but, sadly, I believe that my presence today is a distraction".
